How to Judge a Diamond's Quality

When begin to search for a perfect diamond, We will certainly find that there is a big difference in price, and price is usually based on assessing the quality of the four Cs of diamonds, including cut, clarity, color, and carat.

Before we make a diamond purchase, we need to familiarize yourself with these terms, and we also need to find a reputable jewelry. Although we can examine the diamond yourself, we can ensure that we get value for the price only if we rely on the expertise of a specialist diamond.

Judging Cut
One of the most important factors in judging diamond quality is judging the cut of a diamond. It’s important because a quality cut diamond will be more brilliant and reflects light more beautifully, and yet the cut of a diamond has the least impact on the overall price of the diamond.

When judging diamond quality on the cut of a diamond, look at the stone in a well lit area. If the light seems to go into the stone and bounce back, showing a sparkling reflective surface, the diamond has a good cut. The angles and shapes of a diamond are important to judging diamond quality and the overall appearance of your diamond.

Not the shape of the stone, cut refers to how well a diamond’s facets are proportioned and aligned to maximize brilliance. According to Tiffany, an excellent diamond cut might sacrifice as much as 62 percent of a stone’s total weight.

Read more about Diamond Cut

Judging Color
Most diamonds are considered to be ideal if they are transparent, or colorless. Diamonds that are rated as colorless are the most expensive of diamonds.

There are two main ways that jewelers’ use when judging diamond quality based on color. They may pull out a set of reference stones, and find the closest match between the diamond and the reference stone to determine its letter grade. Alternatively, the jeweler may use a colorimeter, which can electronically measure the color of the stone and determine its grade within 1/3 of a grade.

When rating the color of a diamond, jewelers commonly use the letters D through Z. The more yellow or brown tint a diamond has, the less value it receives. The rating D represents a diamond that is colorless; while the rating Z has a yellow or light brown hue.

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Judging Clarity
The clarity of a diamond refers to whether or not the diamond is clear all the way through, or whether it has tiny flaws and cloudy areas within the gemstone. It’s actually very rare to have a diamond with absolute perfect clarity and no flaws, but most diamond flaws are not visible to the naked eye and can only be seen with a magnifying device.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) uses a magnification of about 10x when judging diamond quality based on the clarity. There are treatments available to make a diamond appear nicer than it actually is, and the treatments should lower the overall price of the diamond so it is important to do your research before purchasing a diamond to be sure you are not spending more money than you should.

Judging Carat Weight
Carat is the term we used to describe the weight of a diamond gemstone. One carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams of weight. A single diamond with a high amount of carat weight is more expensive than the equivalent amount of carats in multiple stones. This is because finding the larger diamonds is much more rare of an occurrence.

So if you want a 2-carat diamond ring, for example, you may decide to go with a half-carat diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds that add up to one and a half carats to give you the total of 2 carats! Judging diamond quality by the amount of carats is difficult, since different shaped gemstones, and stones with different levels of clarity will be priced differently even if they have the same amount of carats.

Read More about Diamond Carat Weight

Evaluating Diamond Color, Diamonds Graded, And Fluorescence of Diamonds

Evaluating Diamond Color

What exactly is diamond color? While most people think of the classic, transparent diamond, which happens to be the most rare and valuable, the colors of diamonds actually range from transparent all the way to a brownish color. There are different saturations of diamond color, and tones.

The Gemological Institute of America, known as the GIA for short, is the most commonly used system for evaluating diamond color. They've created something known as the “GIA Color Grade Scale”, and it has placed a grading system on the many different colors and shades of diamonds, classifying into 22 letter grades.

How Diamonds are Graded
The Gemological Institute of America has certified diamond color grades as “master color comparison” diamonds. When a diamond is being graded, it is compared against these master color comparison grades, to find the shades that match it most closely. The diamond that is being graded must be thoroughly cleaned and all oil must be removed from the surface before being examined, since even small amounts of dirt or oils on the surface of the diamond can alter the color.

A line of master color comparison diamonds or shade chart is set up, with each grade placed about one inch apart, ranging from the lightest and highest graded D shade, to the darkest, graded Z diamonds. The diamond color that is being graded is moved from the left side of the comparison units to the right, until it matches one of the shades.

Diamond grading should take place in a colorless environment, using a balanced fluorescent light source that has a filtered, cool white sun like ray. The room where the grading takes place is dark, all except for the special grading light, in order to obtain the most accurate grading of the diamond color.

Fluorescence of Diamonds
Yet another consideration when considering the diamond color is diamond fluorescence, and how it will effect the actual appearance in the diamond color. Fluorescence causes some diamonds to change color when viewed in our everyday, ultraviolet lighting, as well as under fluorescent light bulbs.

When a diamond color is graded, the strength of the fluorescence of that diamond must also be indicated. It may be considered to be strong, moderate, or weak fluorescence, and the reports must also indicate what color the diamond will change to due to the fluorescence. The reason for this is when people are in the jewelry store, looking at diamonds in the special lighting of the store, they may all appear to be the colorless, transparent diamonds. When you purchase a diamond and get it home under normal lighting, you could find your diamond is yellowish in color!

You can ask your jeweler to provide grading documentation and information about the fluorescent value of a particular diamond before purchasing, to make sure that you will be happy with the diamond you buy. Many jewelers also can show you the diamond under different lighting conditions, which will enable you to fully appreciate the beauty of the diamond before you buy it. Some individuals like a diamond color with a darker shade, while others are insistent on the transparent diamond color. The diamond color is one of personal preference, so be sure to do a little research before making your final selection.

The Best Diamond Pricing Process

If you have been shopping for diamond jewelry, you have probably noticed that jewelry such as engagement rings, eternity rings, diamond necklaces and earrings are on the market for a wide range of prices. In fact, the difference from one diamond ring to the next can easily be several thousand dollars. For most consumers, price is an important factor in a buying decision, so it is important to understand what you are paying for when you purchase a brilliant piece of diamond jewelry.

Pricing most products is quite easy. Determine how much it costs to make the item, how much it costs to market that item, and then mark it up by 15 – 30% or more. Simple, right? Well, pricing diamonds isn’t quite that simple. There are many factors that are considered when diamonds are priced.

Diamond prices are determined first by adding the cost of the rough diamond, the cost of cutting the diamond, and all other costs necessary to turn the rough diamond into a marketable diamond. Depending on the importance of the diamond, an independent company may be called in to certify the grade of the diamond based on color, cut, clarity, and weight.

At this point, the diamond becomes more expensive each time it changes hands, untilit finally reaches a retailer, where the price is raised a bit more. Before reaching the retailer, however, the diamond must travel from the mine, to the cutter and polisher, to the independent grading company, and then to the Primary market. Once it has reached the primary market, it will be purchased by diamond dealers and wholesalers, and from there it will be sold to retailers.

As you can see, the earlier you can purchase a diamond in the process, the lower the cost of the diamond will be – but not the value. The value is based on what the diamond will sell for in the market place – through a retailer.

If you own a diamond, and you have no idea how much it is worth, you can have it appraised, but the appraisal may not be accurate. You will be better off obtaining a certificate through GIA – Gemological Institute of America. With the information on this certificate, you can use a cutter’s guide to accurately determine what yourdiamond is worth.

There are also many diamond price calculators available. These can be found on the Internet, and many diamond dealers use these as well. You must realize, however, that before you can accurately price a diamond, without a Diamond Grade Report, you need to know quite a bit about diamonds, such as different cuts, clarity, color, and weight – and how each of those aspects adds to the value of a diamond, or decreases the value of the diamond as the case may be.

Again, you will be better off if you get a Diamond Grading Report on the diamond, and use that information to look up the price in one of the guides that the diamond cutting industry uses. This will give you the most accurate value of the diamond in your possession, or of the diamond you are considering purchasing.