Designer Jewelry Blog: Girl's best friend - Diamond and its 4Cs quality

Going through the jewellery that a woman owns, it is not hard to find a diamond among them. It may be a solitaire diamond, pave diamond, or diamond look-like. A diamond can stand on its own as a centrepiece or add sparkles to a gemstone centrepiece. Using the analogy of diamonds, it also reflects how a woman can be a leader or team member in the organisation and do well in both situations - i.e. she 'sparkles'. Hence, it is apt to say a diamond is a girl's best friend.

As you may have known that choosing a diamond depends on the 4Cs - carat, colour, clarity and cut. These standards are summarised in the table below :

Standards	Highest - - > Lowest
Carat	1 carat is divided into 100 points or 200 milligrams
Clarity	F -> VVS₁-> VVS₂ -> VS₁ -> VS₂ -> SI₁-> SI₂ -> I₁->I₂ -> I₃
Colour	D -> Z or colourless, near colourless, faint, very light, light
Cut	Excellent -> Very Good -> Good -> Fair -> Poor

For more information, you may watch the video : GIA Video

The question that one may ask should I choose a bigger carat diamond with low clarity or a smaller carat diamond with high clarity given the same budget? Well, the seller usually values the latter than former, i.e. a smaller carat diamond with high clarity. It is rarer to find a diamond of flawless or F clarity. However, if one is buying a diamond ring to propose, it does not hurt to choose the bigger diamond. After all, one cannot tell the difference between F and VS1 without a microscope, and the perceived value of a bigger diamond is higher.

However, one should not compromise on the colour and cut though. If you are considering a white colour diamond, the recommended grading is colour grade D to H (within the colourless group). Or you may consider the other end of the spectrum, i.e. a warm or yellowish colour diamond, the recommended grading is colour grade S to Z. Depending on the cut, a yellowish-colour diamond does not lose out to white-colour diamond in brilliance. I will mention coloured diamonds in my future post.

The next question is the cut. Thanks to the advancement in technology, most of the diamonds are of good cut and above. I seldom come across a poorly cut diamond. The cut one may also consider is the shape of the diamond, i.e. heart shaped, cushion shaped or round brilliant. A point to note - different cut provides different light return through the top of the diamond, affecting the brilliance of a diamond. Thus, an emerald cut diamond is not as brilliant as a round brilliant cut. Depending on what suits you or the person who you are buying for, you decide which diamond is the best for you or the person.

Depending on the your 4Cs criteria and budget, one may proceed to choose a loose diamond from jewellery stores. Personally, I refer to the mobile apps 'My Jewelry' and 'Caraters' to find the guided price of a loose diamond. Remember each diamond is unique because of its 4Cs.