Northwest Jewelry

Grading Diamonds

Have you heard about the Four C’s of diamond grading? Most people have some familiarity with them: Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat weight. When buying either loose diamonds or a diamond already set, a consumer is often given information about their diamonds grade, either in the form of an appraisal, or a certificate of authenticity. This information will generally include the diamond’s color and clarity characteristics, as well as the carat weight. Sometimes the diamond’s proportions are included as well. It is important to have a generally accepted grading system so as to have an objective way to determine a diamond’s value.

Color:

Most diamonds fall in the range of colorless to yellowish-brown. The generally accepted color range grades are D-Z. All other factors being equal, colorless diamonds have more value than those with faint or light color. This does not apply to fancy-colored diamonds, which are graded differently.

Following are the grades with brief descriptions of their colors:

DEF: colorless
G-J : near colorless ~ most of the commercially available diamonds
fall within this range
K-M: faint
N-R: very light
S-Z : light

Clarity:

There are eleven generally accepted clarity grades. Clarity measures the “imperfections” in a gemstone and rank them based upon their size and position on the gemstone. Flawless and internally flawless gemstones will have a higher value, if all other factors are equal, while I-1, I-2 and I-3 gemstones will have lesser value.

Clarity grades:

Flawless
Internally Flawless
VVS1 and VVS2: very, very slightly included
VS1 and VS2: very slightly included
SI1 and SI2: slightly included
I-1, I-2 and I-3: included

VS, SI, and I gemstones have eye-visible inclusions. The inclusions in VVS gemstones are visible under magnification.

Cut:

The cut of the diamond also affects the value. How well a diamond gemstone is cut will determine how much light is reflected, which will affect the diamond’s brilliance.

Carat Weight:

Generally speaking, the larger the gemstone, the higher the value. At each carat level, the price increases significantly. If you are in the market for a one-carat gemstone, price the stones slightly less than a carat to get a price break.Grading diamonds is not an exact science, but by using the standards generally accepted, the consumer can expect to have a good idea of a diamond’s value.

At Northwest Jewelry, we guarantee the authenticity of all gemstones in our fine jewelry-visit us here.