Please take some time and read this diamond guide. It will enable you to make the process of the choosing and buying of your diamond less complicated, and by educating yourself about diamonds, you will be able to make an intelligent decision regarding what type of diamond is perfect for you.

Diamond Cut

The way a diamond is cut and polished is very vital to its sparkle and brilliance. The price of a diamond greatly depends on how it was cut. It is the precision and delicacy of the cut that dictates the maximum amount of light that the diamond will refract and reflect. The better it is cut, the more greater will be its brilliance and sparkle. When a diamond is cut into good proportions, light is internally reflected from one facet to another and then dispersed through the crown. If the cut is too deep, then some light will escape through the opposite side of the pavilion, or bottom of the diamond. If the cut is too shallow, then some light will escape through the pavilion, or bottom, before it can be reflected. So, a well-cut diamond is comprised of facets with the correct angles, which are perfectly placed to maximize the diamond's brilliance.

Most diamonds look white, but there are many subtle shades. The closer a diamond is colorless, the more valuable it becomes. Diamonds with no hint of color at all are very rare, and are called colorless. Grading laboratories use a color scale that ranges from D (completely colorless) to Z (strong yellow).

Diamonds ranging from D to F in color have virtually no color tone and are the most valuable. Diamonds in the range of G to J are almost colorless and most people cannot detect color tones in them, they are less expensive. Diamonds of K color and lower have enough yellow color tone which most people can easily detect, nevertheless, these stones can still make fine jewelry and their cost is much less than higher color grade diamonds.

The scale for clarity grading ranges from FL (flawless), to I-3 (many imperfections or inclusions that are easily visible to the naked eye). The sample illustration above shows different variations of clarity amongst stones of different qualities.

A diamond weight is used to calculate one the value of the diamond. One carat is a unity of weight and it is equal to a fifth of a gram. Each carat is divided into 100 points, for example, a quarter carat is 25 points and half a carat is 50 points and so on. Larger diamonds are more valuable than smaller ones from the simple fact that they are found in nature less frequently than smaller ones. The larger the diamond is, the more rare it is, and therefore, the price per carat increases, as the diamond gets larger. However, carat weight has no bearing on diamond color, clarity, or cut. To give you a sense of the relative size for a round diamond, you will find the chart below: This chart may not be to scale and it will depend on the resolution of your monitor.