Characteristics of a Diamond

Are you on your way to buy diamond jewellery for yourself or for a loved one? If your answer is yes, then you must go through the four characteristics of a diamond before making a decision. This guide will help you to know what are the four diamond characteristics, and how do they influence your purchase decision.

Usually, every person who adores diamonds and wished to own the rock one day only looks at its beauty and sparkle. While the outer appearance and the aesthetic factor of the stone are majorly essential, we are here to tell you that a diamond's sparkle is not just the result of the outside light setting. The inner facets, the shape of the diamond stone, the external and internal appearance, and the natural shade of the rock determines how sparkly will be your jewellery design.

But how could you possibly know that all these factors would be responsible behind the diamond's appearance? The answer lies in this guide.

What are the Four Characteristics of a Diamond?

You might have heard about the 4Cs of a diamond: cut, colour, clarity, and carat. The characteristics of a diamond are nothing but these 4Cs.

Diamond cut

Scientifically speaking, a well-cut diamond will reflect most of the light entering it through the top or crown of the stone
The sparkle, brilliance, and fire of the diamond stone is the result of this reflection
A diamond with better reflection is placed at the top of the quality pyramid as compared to a stone that has a deep or a shallow cut
If a diamond stone has cut that is too shallow or deep, then most of the light leaks out of the rock through its bottom surface, making it lose its fire and brilliance
A diamond's cut also refers to its shape, such as round, pear, emerald, square, and more, with round being the best diamond shape among them

Diamond colour

Diamonds are naturally occurring precious stones that have several shades, but the colourless diamonds are the most preferred ones
Diamonds are graded on a scale of colour with values ranging from D-F to S-Z. The more colourless a diamond, the higher its position on the scale (D-I)
Most of the diamonds contain faint yellow tint that is invisible to the naked eye
The price of a diamond is drastically affected due to the presence of the yellow shade. This can help you to buy diamond jewellery within your budget if you opt for a stone that has an invisible yellow shade
Lower-grade diamonds (L-Z) are generally not preferred for jewellery making

Diamond clarity

Several diamond stones have internal and external natural irregularities, which makes them unfit for jewellery making
Only those diamond rocks that have invisible or slightly visible internal and external issues are used in diamond rings or pendants or jewellery sets
Internal irregularity (inclusions) and external deformity (blemishes) profoundly impact a stone's market value
Diamonds are graded for their inclusions based on their clarity on a scale with values ranging from FL (flawless) to I (inclusions); more clear a diamond, higher its grade and price
A diamond's clarity alone does not define its market value. The cut and colour also chip in. So, always look for diamond jewellery with all these factors in mind

Diamond carat

The carat characteristics of the diamond determine the weight of the stone and not its size
A carat of a diamond is usually equal to 0.2 grams. The carat is further divided into 100 'points'
A diamond with carat weight 0.50 is same as a 50-point. The point system helps jewellers and diamond sellers to weigh small stones
Carat only determines the diamond's market price as per its weight. The overall cost still depends on the cut, colour, and clarity of the rock
A heavier diamond stone need not be costly compared to a lighter stone if it does not have a good cut, clarity, and no colour

These are the four characteristics of a diamond. You can visit our 4Cs of a diamond guide to get in-detail information about all these four characteristics separately.

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