The Four Cs of Diamonds & How They Affect Value

If you’ve ever shopped for a diamond ring or owned a piece of diamond jewelry, you’ve likely heard of the four C’s of diamond quality: cut, color, clarity, and carat. These four Cs act as the universal standards for determining the quality of a diamond, and each C is given a grade. Those grades then help jewelers, pawn shops, and other sellers determine the value of a diamond. Below, we’ll talk more about what each of these four Cs mean in the context of diamonds and give you some insight into how they affect value. If you have any additional questions about diamond grades or would like to find out how much a piece of diamond jewelry you own is worth, please visit Empire Loan at one of our eight locations in New England or contact us today!

Cut

The cut of a diamond refers to everything that was done to the diamond in order to convert it from a raw crystal straight out of the mine to the gem you see on the piece of jewelry. The stone’s proportions, cut precision, and details of the finish all play a part in grading the diamond’s cut, which affects its value. The cut of a diamond also impacts how the stone performs in terms of reflection and refraction, which also affects the value of the stone. The most common grades for a diamond’s cut include Ideal/Excellent, Very Good, Good, and Fair, in order of highest to lowest quality cut.

Color

The color of a diamond actually refers to how colorless the diamond is, with colorless diamonds being the highest quality and most valuable, and those with yellow or brown hues being considered the lowest quality and therefore least valuable. Diamond graders determine the grade of a diamond by comparing it to the colors of pre-graded diamonds in a “master” set. The color of a diamond is typically graded on an alphabetical scale from D (completely colorless and most valuable) to Z (visible hue or tone of light yellow or light brown and least valuable).

Clarity

The clarity of a diamond measures the presence of characteristics or “inclusions” in the diamond. Inclusions are small, natural imperfections, like tiny crystals, clouds, feathers, carbon spots, or voids within a diamond. Clarity is graded on a scale from the highest clarity, meaning the least amount of inclusions, as Internally Flawless (IF) to the lowest clarity, meaning the most amount of inclusions, as Included (I). Each of these categories can then be divided into sub-grades: Very Very Slightly Inclusion (VVS), Very Slight Inclusion (VS), Slightly Inclusion (SI), and Included (I).

Carat

Finally, carat refers to a diamond’s physical weight, as measured in metric carats. Because carat simply refers to the weight of a diamond, it is by far the most objective measurement of the four Cs. In order to find out the carat of a diamond, you simply need a precise, well-balanced scale. One carat equals 0.200 grams. It is important to note that the weight of a diamond does not fully determine the value of said diamond; in order to determine value, all four Cs need to be evaluated and considered.