As you begin your diamond shopping experience, you will want to have a good understanding of the terms used to describe the various aspects of the beauty of a diamond. Four major characteristics are used to describe and value a diamond including: Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat weight. By understanding these characteristics and how they affect a diamond’s look, feel and value, you will be able to make a sound decision on which diamond is perfect for you.
Cut
Understanding the way a diamond is cut will allow you to gain a tremendous appreciation for the fire and scintillation that catches your eye every time you gaze upon a diamond. Many confuse the cut of a diamond with its shape; however, in this aspect, we are referring to the proportions, angles, and symmetry of the diamond. When a diamond is well proportioned by the size, shape and angle of the facets (small surfaces on the diamond) more light is reflected back to the viewer’s eye. This creates the rays of light that catch your eye. When a diamond is cut too deeply, light leeks out the sides of diamond creating a dark and dull look. When a diamond is cut too shallowly, light leeks out causing a loss of brilliance or sparkle. At Epic Jewelry, only well cut diamonds are accepted. Our belief is that a diamond should catch the eye of those around.
Clarity
A diamond’s clarity is measured the amount of trace minerals included in the diamond as it was created, hence the term inclusions. The pattern and types of inclusions in a diamond act as natural birthmarks and give a diamond its character. They are much like fingerprints in that every diamond’s inclusions are unique just like a fingerprint. By using a jeweler’s loupe or a microscope at 10x magnification, we measure the amount and type of inclusions. Small changes in the size and type of these inclusions can greatly affect the value with out tremendously affecting a diamond’s beauty. At Epic Jewelry, we believe that a diamond’s beauty is paramount and therefore only carry diamonds that are either completely eye clean of inclusions or show only small eye visible inclusions to allow you to choose which best fits your budget.
Color
The beauty of a diamond centers on its ability to reflect light to the admirer. The most rare and valuable of diamonds project a clear, icy color. Most diamonds project a light yellow or brown color as some of the light is absorbed instead of reflected. As with clarity, small differences in color effect the value of a diamond without tremendously affecting the overall beauty of the diamond. At Epic Jewelry, we believe that maximizing a value for customers involves providing a selection of diamonds all along the color spectrum. Customers may select the premium colorless diamonds or a near colorless diamond with faint shades of coloring. Our belief is once a diamond carries too much coloring, the beauty is too drastically affected to project the beauty we expect of our diamonds.
Carat
Carat is often the most well-known of the 4 C’s. While many assume it is the size of a diamond, they are only half right. Carat measures the weight of diamond, just like pounds measure weight. One carat equals 1/5 of a gram and is subdivided into 100 points. Therefore, a .90 carat diamond is said to be ninety points. As with all of the other characteristics of diamonds, the more a diamond weighs the rarer and more valuable it is. Often, carat will be the last of the 4 C’s that is determined in choosing a diamond. After a budget is set, generally we recommend selecting the cut, color and clarity to give you the look and feel of the diamond that you want and then select the carat weight that fits in the budget.
