Ideally, a diamond should have no colour at all. Increasing degrees of body colour are measured on a scale ranging from colourless (D) to deeply coloured (Z). Beyond “Z” is the range where the diamond’s colour is vivid and rich, called “fancy colours”. Diamonds of known colour are used as comparison stones for colour grading. Grading is done by comparing the diamond to be graded against these “master stones” under good lighting.

A diamond’s clarity is determined by the number, nature, position, size and colour of internal characteristics called “inclusions” and surface features called “blemishes”. These show themselves as the various characteristics which make up the clarity of a diamond (included crystals, feathers, clouds etc). Clarity is measured on a scale ranging from pure (flawless) to heavily included (I-3). The clarity of a diamond is graded by using 10X magnification under good lighting by an experienced grader.

Carat is the unit of weight for all gemstones. One carat is subdivided into 100 “points”. There are five carats in a gram. As diamonds increase in size, their cost tends to increase exponentially.

Cut, sometimes the forgotten “C”, ensures that a given stone has maximum brilliance and sparkle which would not be the case were the stone cut for weight alone. Of all the 4 C’s, cut has the greatest effect on a diamond’s beauty. Two diamonds of the same size, colour and clarity will look vastly different to the eye if cut differently The better quality the cut the more brilliance and beauty the diamond will have. Grading cut of a diamond requires closely measuring the angles and percentages for round brilliant cut diamonds.