What Do the 4c's Mean?

As the most precious and sought after stone in the world, there is much more to the diamond than meets the eye.

As the most precious and sought after stone in the world, there is much more to the diamond than meets the eye. You think of your diamond rings, your diamond wedding rings or even your diamond jewellery but there is plenty that goes into the immaculate design.

Diamond Heaven brings you this handy guide to understanding the Four C's, before you know it, you'll be just like one of the experts.

What are the Four C's?

The Four C's are the aspects that make up your perfect diamond. They stand for carat, cut, colour and clarity.

Colour

All diamonds are graded by their colour. The most highly desired is a colourless or ‘white' diamond. For pieces such as diamond engagement rings and diamond jewellery, this is the most popular colour of diamond used. However, look a little closer and you'll find that not all white diamonds are created equally. Grading them allows us to differentiate whether a slight yellow hue can be detected. To the naked eye, there will be virtually no visible difference. Yellow diamonds, black diamonds and different coloured diamonds are often referred to as ‘fancy diamonds.l

Cut

What springs to mind, when you think of a diamond? Its trademark glisten, of course. The cut of a diamond is tested in its interaction with the light. A diamond's brilliance is its most important characteristic and so requires precision. The cut of the diamond is easily confused with the ‘shape' of a diamond. Diamonds and gemstones come in a plethora of shapes, such as  princess, emerald, heart and so much more.

Clarity

Clarity in a diamond measures the amount of imperfections in a diamond. They are microscopic in size and cannot be seen with the naked eye, fear not. Imperfections in the diamond are referred to as ‘inclusions' by experts and may be caused by foreign materials in the stone. The higher the clarity grading, the rarer the diamond.

Carat

The carat of a diamond is its weight. Therefore, consider that the size of a diamond may not necessarily correlate with its value. The cut grade of the diamond and its carat work closely together to give it the ‘wow' factor we see in the finished product. Every 100 points is 1 carat. For pieces other than diamonds rings, say for example, earrings, carat is referred to as ‘t.c.w' which stands for total carat weight - this will indicate the weight of the entire set.

Discover more on Diamonds by visiting our diamond education resource.

Now, you know more than ever about the stone that the world knows and loves. Why not practise some of your new found knowledge here on our site or pop into store and have a look for yourself?