Diamonds: The Four C's - Cut, Clarity, Carat and Colour

A diamond's beauty, rarity and price depend on the interplay of all the four C's. The four C's are used throughout the world to classify the rarity of diamonds. The more rare the diamond's characteristics, the higher the price it demands.

Cut
Refers to the angles and the proportions of a diamond. A well cut diamond will internally reflect light from one mirror-like facet to another and disperse and reflect it through the top of the stone. Diamonds that are cut too deep or too shallow lose light through the sides and bottom, resulting in less brilliance and value. The cut also refers to the shape of the stone - round, square or oval for example.

Clarity
Every diamond is unique. Naturally occurring, known as inclusions, provide each diamond with its own fingerprint within the stone. These inclusions are natural identifying characteristics such as minerals or fractures, appearing while diamonds are formed in the earth. To view inclusions, jewellers use a 10x magnifying loupe. Inclusions are ranked on a scale of perfection, ranging from F (flawless), VVS (very very slightly included), VS (very slightly included), SI (slightly included) to I (included). The greater a diamond's clarity, the more valuable and rare it is.

Carat
Refers to the weight of the diamond. One carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams. One carat can also be divided up into 100 points, for example, a 0.75 carat diamond is the same as 75 points or 3/4 carat diamond. Since larger diamonds are rarer, a 1 carat diamond will cost more than twice a 1/2 carat diamond (assuming the cut, clarity and colour are the same in both stones).

Colour
Refers to the degree to which a diamond is colourless. Diamonds are graded on a colour scale established by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which ranges from D (colourless) to Z. Truly colourless stones, graded D, are the rarest and come the highest on the diamond quality scale. These diamonds also have more brilliance.

Nature has also created diamonds in shades of blue, black, green, yellow, orange, pink and rarest of all, red. These diamonds are extremely rare and highly treasured. When choosing a diamond, nature's variety means you will always find a diamond to suit your taste and budget. Jacks, as standard, always uses diamonds of grade F (colour) or higher, and VS (clarity) for the smaller diamonds and SI (clarity) for the larger diamonds. Jacks is always happy to use diamonds of higher or lower grades at the customer's request. Jacks only uses reputable diamond suppliers that purchase their diamonds from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict diamonds, in compliance with United Nations resolutions. The supplier guarantees that their diamonds are conflict-free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees.