THE 4Cs

The quality and price of a cut diamond are determined according to the 4C rule: carat, cut, color & clarity.

CARAT

The “carat” is a unit of mass used for Gems. This word comes from the Arabic Kharoub, because a tree, the carob tree, was used, whose seeds served as a reference for weight.

Old diamond dealers still call a 1 carat diamond a “4 grain diamond”, that is to say weighing the equivalent of 4 carob seeds. In 1907, the metric carat was determined to be equal to 200 mg , i.e. 5 carats = 1 gram.

CUT OR SIZE

The diamond is cut in an infinite number of different sizes, the main ones being:


  • Round ;
  • Princess;
  • Emerald;
  • Asscher
  • Marquise
  • Oval
  • Radiant
  • Pear
  • Heart
  • Cushion



The size of the diamond is classified according to the criteria of cutting precision, symmetry and polishing in different classifications from “excellent” to “poor”.

COLOR

The diamond is colorless or almost, but it is classified in different colors from the first D “Exceptional White ” to Z “Tinted”. Next come fancy colored diamonds, the most common of which are brown, yellow, green, then rarer ones, such as blue or red.

CLARITY OR PURITY

Diamonds are graded from Flawless Pure (FL) with no inclusions to Pique3 (I3) with many inclusions.