Remembering the Four Cs when buying a diamond engagement ring

12/05/2011

 

The Four Cs stands for: cut, colour, clarity and carat. All of these must be taken into consideration when purchasing a diamond engagement ring. 

Cut: The cut is possibly the most important part of the diamond engagement ring. The way in which it is cut will dictate how the light will reflect from it. Light reflects from a diamond off the 57 or 58 facets, which are the tiny planes that are cut on the diamond’s surface. These are angled and sized in order to create the best possible shape and are described as the diamond engagement rings “fire”. The cut will determine the shape of the diamond. More traditional diamond engagement rings are round cut, but others include the marquise engagement rings and princess cut diamond engagement rings. Make sure that you look at all of the options before choosing the perfect diamond engagement ring.

Colour: The most valuable and rare colour is white. Jewellers grade the colour of diamonds with colourless being “D” and the top of the scale being “Z”. Diamonds display subtle coloured tones and that is one of the main reasons they are used for engagement rings.

Clarity: For people who don’t know much about diamonds clarity isn’t much of an issue. For those who do, many get hung up on maintaining clarity on a diamond engagement ring. When looking for your engagement ring, your jeweller will ask you to look though the loupe and you will see an illusion form. These illusions are usually invisible to the naked eye, so why should we be so bothered? When choosing your diamond engagement ring make sure your diamond ring isn’t flawed. The best diamond engagement ring you can get will be graded IF, Internally Flawless. Just make sure you steer away from the I3, Imperfect 3, and your diamond engagement ring search will be successful.

Finally, Carat: The weight and size of a diamond is measured by carat. The average size of diamonds in diamond engagement rings is between one carat and half a carat. When you are looking for your diamond engagement ring, do not get confused with karats as this is the unit for pure gold.

At Mad About Diamonds we are more than happy to give our clients advice on the Four Cs. If you are looking for a diamond engagement ring,  contact us today on 0151 632 7747 and we can help you find your perfect engagement ring.

Posted by SMG