Diamonds and the four C’s – Clarity, Colour,
Cut and Carat Clarity
Clarity
Clarity is a measure of the number and size of the tiny imperfections that occur in almost all diamonds. Many of these imperfections are microscopic, and do not affect a diamond’s beauty.
Clarity grades:
FL – IF = Flawless, Internally Flawless: No Internal or external imperfections. Internally Flawless: No internal imperfections.
VVS1 – VVS2 = Very, Very Slightly Included: Very difficult to see imperfections under 10x magnification.
VS1 – VS2 = Very Slightly Included: Imperfections are not typically visible to the unaided eye.
SI1 – SI2 = Slightly Included: Imperfections re visible under 10x magnification, and maybe visible with the unaided eye. I1 – I2, I3 = Included: Imperfections are visible with the unaided eye
Colour:
Colour refers to a diamond’s lack of colour, grading the whiteness of a diamond. A colour grade of D is the highest possible, while Z is the lowest. D = Absolutely colourless: The highest colour grade.
Colour grades:
D-F = Colourless: Minute traces of colour can be detected by an expert gemmologist.
G-H = Near-colourless: Colour is difficult to detect unless compared side-by-side against diamonds of better grades.
Cut
Cut is a diamond’s most important characteristic. It has the greatest overall influence on a diamond’s beauty and determines what we generally think of as sparkle.
Cut grades
Ideal Cut: Reflects nearly all light that enters the diamond.
Very Good Cut: Reflects nearly as much light as the ideal cut.
Good Cut: Reflects most if the light that enters.
Fair Cut: Still a quality diamond, but a fair cut will not be as brilliant (sparkly) as a good cut.
Poor Cut: (Deep or Shallow) The diamond will lose most of the reflective light out the sides and or the bottom of the diamond.
Carat
Carat is the standard international unit of weight for Diamonds and does not refer directly to the Diamonds size. 1 Carat = 1/5 (0.2) Gram. The Carat is further divided into points; a unit of weight used only for Diamonds. 1 Point = 1/100 (0.01) Carat. We tend to evaluate diamond size by viewing it from the top because that is how diamonds are presented to us when set into a ring.
At Dominic Walmsley Jewellery, we only use diamonds of a very high quality. All of the diamonds in our collections are of at least F/G in colour and Si1 in purity (unless otherwise stated). In addition, our diamonds have been purchased from legitimate sources and we guarantee – based on personal knowledge and written guarantees by our suppliers – that these diamonds are “conflict-free”.