Educational Gems Mini-Series

How to Select A Quality Diamond: The Four C’s of Diamonds – #4 Carats August 3, 2021 – Posted in: Educational Gems Mini-Series, Gemstones

Image credit: IGI (International Gemological Institute) Carats It’s important to clarify what a carat is and what it is not. The diamond carat starts with a ‘c’ and is abbreviated to ct. This carat can often be mistaken for the gold purity karat which is ‘kt’. Furthermore, carats reflect the weight of a diamond and not its size: 1 metric carat is exactly 0.2 grams or 200 milligrams. The carat is then divided into 100…

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How to Select A Quality Diamond: The Four C’s of Diamonds – #3 Cut August 2, 2021 – Posted in: Educational Gems Mini-Series, Gemstones

Cut CUT refers to the diamond’s symmetry, as opposed to its SHAPE (such as Pear, Heart, Oval, Princess, etc) and gives the diamond its attributes of brilliance, fire and scintillation! A skilled diamond cutter will choose the most enhancing cut, as the diamond is viewed from above, maximizing the interplay with light through these attributes of appearance. Brilliance is the brightness you see from all internal and external white light reflections. Fire refers to the…

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How to Select A Quality Diamond: The Four C’s of Diamonds – #2 Clarity – Posted in: Educational Gems Mini-Series, Gemstones

Image credit: IGI (International Gemological Institute) Clarity Tiny imperfections inside the diamond are called inclusions or clarity characteristics which formed while the diamond was developing. Surface imperfections are called blemishes. These flaws interfere with the light’s path through your diamond and can affect the sparkle! Clarity is often not as important as cut and colour because most inclusions are microscopic. Furthermore, since no two diamonds are alike, knowing your diamond’s imperfections or inclusions can help…

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How to Select A Quality Diamond: The Four C’s of Diamonds – #1 Colour – Posted in: Educational Gems Mini-Series, Gemstones

Image credit: IGI (International Gemological Institute) Colour Although diamonds do come in various colours called the rare ‘Fancy Coloured’ diamonds, we will focus here on the increased value of the lack of colour in a diamond and the grading scale used. In a future post, Fancy Coloured diamond scales will be discussed. As mentioned on our site, less colour means a higher colour grade and thus, more value! A yellow tint would score lower on…