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The 4Cs of Diamonds:
Our Guide
When buying a diamond there are four essential elements to consider, Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat. These are known as the 4 Cs.
Although each of these characteristics are significant and play an essential role in contributing towards a diamonds overall value and beauty, the Cut is considered to be the most important.
Read on to find out why each ‘C’ is important when choosing a diamond.
Diamond Carat
Carat is the unit of weight which diamonds and precious gemstones are measured in (not to be confused with “karat”, which is the gold measuring unit). Usually abbreviated to “ct” when written, a carat equals 0.20g, or a fifth of a gram.
The word carat comes from “carob”, a seed which was traditionally used by traders to measure the weight of gemstones in ancient times. Carobs were used because it was believed that they all had a consistent weight of around 0.20g. The metric carat, weighing 200mg, became the official gemstone measurement at the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1907, and is now used the world over.
Diamonds weighing less than I carat are often referred to by points, where 1 point is equivalent to 0.01cts. Therefore a 0.50ct diamond is also called a 50 pointer.
Generally speaking, the larger a diamond is, the higher carat weight it will have. However, carat is not necessarily indicative of how large a stone will appear as the measurements of a diamond are important in reflecting the actual size. Different shapes such as oval, pear & marquise of the same carat weights, often appear bigger or longer than a round brilliant or a princess cut.
