Choosing a Diamond

1
Choosing a Diamond
2
The 4Cs

• Cut
• Clarity
• Color
• Carat Weight

3
Cut

• Cut is the most important factor to a diamond's
  beauty. Regardless of the color, clarity, and
  carat weight, a well-cut diamond will be
  beautiful.

4
Shapes of Cuts
5
Optical Beauty

• Ability to reflect and refract light
• Four factors
• Luster quantity and quality of reflecting light
• Brilliance amount of light returned to the eye
  from the diamond
• Dispersion amount of rainbow colors returned to
  the eye from the diamond
• Scintillation the sparkle when there is
  movement by the wearer or a light source

6
Cut Diagram

• There are 57 or 58 angled planes called facets in
  a good cut that release the brilliant colors of a
  diamond.

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Ideal Cut

• Light entering the diamond reflects internally
  from facet to facet and is reflected back through
  the top only
• Optimal proportions, with optimal polish and
  symmetry
• Produces maximum luster, brilliance, dispersion,
  and scintillation.
• Most valuable (only 5 of the round brilliant
  diamonds)

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Inferior (Deep) Cut

• Will appear smaller than it weighs because it's
  weight is retained in the depth.
• It is cut with a deep pavilion (bottom of the
  diamond) that does not reflect light back through
  the crown (top of the diamond).
• Light leaks out the pavilion brilliance is lost
  and the center of the diamond will appear to be
  dark.

9
Inferior (Shallow) Cut

• Do not reflect light back through their crown,
  light leaks out of the bottom.
• Produces a washed-out or watery appearance that
  is not beautiful.
• These diamonds are sometimes called fisheyes, due
  to unsightly reflections in the crown area.
• Weight is retained in the diameter, making the
  diamonds appear larger than they weight.

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Cut and Relation to Value

• Cut quality commands a premium for two reasons.
  First, you are paying for a highly skilled
  diamond cutter's time, and it can take many hours
  to get all the proportions and angles to fall
  within the Ideal or SuperIdeal ranges. Second,
  more of the diamond is lost in the cutting
  process, because the goal is not to cut the
  heaviest diamond, but the best performing diamond
• Cut can affect the value by 25 to over 50.
• Fancy-shaped diamonds, since they retain weight
  from unusual shaped rough crystals, are often
  less expensive then comparable round diamonds.

11
Color

• Amount or presence of body color in a diamond.
• Diamonds come in all colors.
• The most rare diamond colors are red, pink,
  green, and blue.
• The absence of color in diamonds is most rare.
• Most diamonds mined in nature have traces of
  yellow, some brown or gray.
• Color is caused in diamonds by minute traces of
  other elements, such as nitrogen yellow and
  boron blue.
• Color is an important factor to beauty, rarity,
  and value because it is something a consumer can
  see without the aid of equipment.

12
Diamond Fluorescence

• A unique quality possessed by some diamonds to
  give off light when exposed to specific
  ultraviolet wavelengths. It is an unusual quality
  that can enhance the appearance of a diamond in
  certain.
• Very strong fluorescence may produce an oily
  appearance that detracts from beauty and value.
• Only 50 of all gem-quality diamonds fluoresce,
  and only 10 strongly fluoresce. When gem-quality
  diamonds fluoresce it is a bluish color.

13
Color Scale

• Colors D, E and F are essentially without color
  and differ more in transparency.
• Colors G, H, I and sometimes J, will usually show
  little or no color.

14
Color and Price

• The more yellow the stone, the lower the value.
• Price can decrease by 5 - 20 on each increment
  of the AGS diamond grading scale.
• Prices fall about 25 in going from D to E color,
  and then about 10 more for each additional grade
  (F-35, G-45, H-55) until one gets to H
  color, where the difference decreases to about 5
  less going from H to I color (I-60).

15
Clarity

• A a measure of the surface (blemishes) and
  internal (inclusions) characteristics of a
  polished diamond, and has, as does color, a major
  impact on value.
• Clarity characteristics are an inherent part of a
  diamond's life, and can arise from events which
  occurred during its formation deep in the earth,
  the mining procedures used to collect it, the
  cutting of rough into its final shape and the
  wearing of the stone.

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How Clarity is Graded

• Using a 10x magnification and also the assessment
  of the trained unaided eye.
• When a diamond is examined, the size, type,
  position, number, color, and relief of clarity
  features are observed.

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Clarity and Price

• Going from IF to VVS1 clarity will result in
  about a 25 decrease in price, and a further 10
  decrease for each clarity grade (VVS2-35,
  VS1-45, VS2-55) until SI1 and SI2 where 5
  further decreases are in order (SI1-60,
  SI2-65).
• Clarity is a rarity factor that affects diamond
  value by 5 - 20 for each increment on the AGS
  diamond grading scale.

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CARAT WEIGHT

• A measurement of weight used in determining
  rarity in evaluating a diamond.The term Carat is
  derived from the ancient Carob Seed from the
  locust tree, used as a medium of exchange on
  early pan-balances. In the early 1900's the
  Metric Carat was established.
• 1 Carat .2 Gram
• There are 100 Points to a Carat.

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Carats and Cuts

• For well-proportioned, round diamonds a 1.00ct.
  stone should normally be about 6.5mm in diameter,
  a 3.00ct. would be 9.3mm, etc.
• However, if a 1.00ct. round diamond has a shallow
  cut, it will look larger than a well-cut stone of
  the same weight because its diameter will be
  larger than 6.5mm.
• Conversely, when a 1.00ct. round diamond is cut
  too deep, it appears to be of smaller size than a
  well-cut stone, because the diameter will be
  smaller than the expected 6.5mm. This means that
  you are paying for extra weight in the pavilion
  and girdle areas, which doesn't add to the beauty
  of the diamond.

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Carat Weight and Its Relation to Value

• Carat weight usually has the greatest impact on
  value, based on rarity. Most people aspire to own
  at least a 1-carat diamond. DeBeers states,
  "fewer than 1 of all women will ever own a 2
  carat or larger diamond".
• Most fancy-shaped diamonds are elongated in shape
  and appear larger than a comparable round
  brilliant diamond. In addition, fancy-shaped
  diamonds are priced less than round brilliants.

22
Miscellaneous Facts

• Eighty percent of the world's rough diamond
  supply are produced in seven countries, Botswana,
  Russia, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Australia
  and Zaire.
• The most frequently found diamonds (80) are of
  industrial quality. Those suitable for gem use
  (20) usually have some yellow tint, due to the
  presence of a small amount of contaminating
  nitrogen.

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Questions to Ask Jeweler

• Do you have a microscope (not just a loupe) so I
  can easily see the diamond under magnification?
• Do you have a set of diamond or CZ master color
  grading stones to compare the color of the
  diamond I choose?
• Do you have a GIA graduate gemologist in-house to
  answer my diamond questions?
• Do you have a full-spectrum diamond light for
  color grading (instead of the regular display
  lights that artificially enhance color)?

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Questions to Ask Jeweler

• Is there a gemological report from an independent
  gem trading laboratory available for the diamond.
• Will you show me the Rapaport wholesale diamond
  price list for the diamond I choose?
• Does each diamond come with a grading certificate
  from one of the respected independent gem labs
  (GIA, AGS, or EGL)?
• Will you give me the full price if I want to
  trade the diamond later for a larger size?
• How long has your company been in the diamond
  business?

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GIA and AGS Grading

• A final point about GIA and AGS grading reports.
  Diamonds graded by these labs. Carry about an 8
  premium over those graded by other labs. Such as
  EGL, IGI, HRD, etc. The reason is due to their
  strict grading guidelines, which are respected
  and accepted worldwide. You can rest assured that
  if your diamond is graded by either GIA or AGS
  that the color, clarity, polish and symmetry are
  what the report says, so you know what you are
  paying for.