Every Diamond is unique with its own individual beauty. The four most popular factors used to measure the quality and beauty of a Diamond are, Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat. These are known as the 4Cs. Diamond beauty is the result of a complex interaction between many individual characteristics of a diamond. Read through our 4Cs and be an informed and educated buyer.

 Carat

Refers to the Size of a Diamond

Carat is often confused with size even though it is actually a measure of weight. One Carat is the equivalent of 200 milligrams. One Carat can aslo be divided into 100 "points". A .75 carat diamond is the same as 75 points or 3/4 carat. It is often assumed that a 1 carat diamond costs twice as much as a 1/2 carat. That is not the case. since larger diamonds are found less frequently in nature, a 1 carat will cost more than twice as much as 1/2 carat, assuming color, clarity and cut remain constant.

The Size of a diamond has the biggest impact on its price. If other factors are equal, the more a stone weighs, the more you will pay for it. It is very common for people to favour the size of a diamond over all the other Cs in order to get the biggest diamond they can for their money. Even though size does matter we at Blue Ice Diamonds feel it is just as important for the quality of the stone to be high.

 Color

Refers to the degree to which a diamond is colorless

The Color of a diamond has the second biggest impact on its price, after carat weight. Grading color in the normal range involves deciding how closely a stone's body color approaches colorlessness. Most diamonds have at least a trace of yellow or brown body color. With the exception of some natural fancy colors, such as blue, pink, purple, or red, the colorless grade is the most valuable.

A diamond that does not have enough color to be graded fancy, is graded in a scale of colors ranging from Colorless to Light Yellow, "D" through "Z". A diamond with a "D" color is considered to be colorless. If the color is more intense than "Z", it is considered fancy. A fancy yellow diamond fetches a higher price than a light yellow diamond.
Color does to a great extent determine the price you will pay for a stone or for a piece of diamond jewelry. An H color stone will cost $1700 per carat more than a K color. Move up to an F and you will pay approximately $1100 per carat more. Now improve the color to a D and it will cost $900 more for carat. Get the picture? So when you compare prices make sure you always compare the color of the stones.

Most of the diamonds we use in our jewelry are in the G-H range.


Color Scale


D E F...................Colorless

G H I J.................Near Colorless (Used in most fine jewelry)

K L M...................Faint Yellow

N O P Q R...............Very Light Yellow

S T U V W X Y Z.........Light Yellow

..........Fancy Color..................

 Clarity

Refers to the degree of presence of inclusion in a diamond 

The Clarity of a diamond refers to how clear, or "clean" the diamond is. Diamonds like people have natural blemishes in their makeup. These tiny faults or "inclusions" are formed by minerals or fractures while the diamond is forming in the earth.

When light enters a diamond it is reflected and refracted out. If there is anything, disrupting the flow of light in the diamond, such as an inclusion, the proportion of that light reflected will be lost. Most inclusions are not visible to the naked eye unless magnified.

The clarity scale is a measure of the severity of those imperfections or "inclusions" as it is known in the jewelry trade.

The following is the GIA Diamond clarity scale:

FL-Flawless

These stones have no imperfections inside or on the outside of the stone under the magnification of a loupe of 10 power

IF-Internally Flawless

These stones have no inclusions under a loupe with a power 10 magnification.

VVS1,VVS2-Very Very Slight Inclusions

These stones have very small inclusions which are very difficult to see under a loupe with a 10 power magnification.

VS1,VS2-Very Slight Inclusions

These stones have small inclusions which are slightly difficult to difficult to see under a loupe with a 10 power magnification.

SI1,SI2-Slight Inclusions

These stones have inclusions which are fairly easy to see under a loupe with a 10 power magnification, or visible to the naked eye.

I1,I2,I3-Imperfect

These stones have inclusions which range from eye visible to very easily seen with the naked eye

SI3

Outside of the GIA Diamond clarity scale is a grade, you may have seen called 'SI3'. The Rap Sheet, which is a Trade Publication, honors the SI3 grade which is given by the EGL, The European Gemological Laboratory. it is described as a split between the SI2 and I1 clarity grade.

Like color, clarity too effects the price you will pay for a diamond. A VS1 will cost you approximately $1000 more per carat than a SI1 Move up to a VVS1 it will increase another $700 per carat. Improve the clarity to an IF and you will pay another $700 more per carat and so on. It is just as important for you to compare the clarity grades of two stones when you compare price.

 Cut

Refers to the angles and proportions of a diamond

The cut of a diamond is the only property which is totally dependent on man. Although often overlooked, cut is actually one of the most important aspects to consider when choosing your diamond. A Diamond Cutter analyzes the rough diamond, and has to determine how to extract the most beauty and most profit out of the rough stone.

Cut refers to not only the shape of the diamonds, but its proportions and finish, factors which determine the sparkle of the diamond.

It is possible to take the same stone, and depending on which method the cutter decides to use, to either cut it into the most beautiful stone it can be despite heavy weight loss and perhaps lower monetary value. Or else, he can cut a stone to its maximum weight and monetary value, but lose some "brilliance"and "sparkle".

The goal is to have light enter a Diamond, disperse the light as it bounces inside the Diamond, thereby producing the different colors and sparkly effect, and finally returning as much light to the eye as possible.

Hence cuts can be shallow, deep, or ideal. Each one effects the price of the stone, of course the "ideal" being the best.

A well cut diamond will reflect light internally from one mirror like facet to another, dispersing it throught the top of the stone. Cuts that are too deep or too shallow lose or leak light through the side or bottom, affecting the diamonds brilliance. the facets, when arranged in precise proportions, will maximise the fire, life and brilliance of a diamond.

The various shapes, like, round, princess, heart, oval, emerald and pear can also to some extent effect the reflection and dispersion of light. The Round Cut is the most brilliant. Its symmetrical shape allows it to reflect nearly all the light entering the diamond.