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4 C 4 C

4 C's of Diamonds

Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat... the perfect place to start.

Cut

The cut of a diamond is much more than it's overall shape (ex. Round, Oval etc.) The cut of a diamond is what translates into sparkle. Cut can get up to three different grades ranging from Poor all the way up to Excellent.

Cut is based on many factors but it esentially comes down to how proportional and symetrical the diamond is. The better the cut the better light can work inside the stone. A well cut diamond allows the light to enter and return through the table of the diamond. Inferior cuts allow light to leak out the bottom and sides of the diamond. This results in dark edges or centers of the diamond that hinder your sparkle. Round is the only cut that gets a grade in all three areas (polish, symetry and overall cut). This is because Round sparkles the best due to how light works inside the shape. All other fancy shapes typically have a polish and symetry grade, but no overall cut. 

Pro Tip: Cut equals sparkle, so the closer you are to Excellent the more sparkle you will have!

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Baxters Fine Jewelry Warwick, RI

Color

Color, in this case, does not refer to the rainbow. While diamonds do come in almost every color, the color they are refering to here is yellow; or rather the absence of yellow. When nitrogren is present in a diamond it appears yellow. The varying amounts of nitrogren in diamonds produces the varying color scale.

The scale starts at D, being the rarest and whitest color, and goes all the way to Z which is a strong yellow. The un-aided eye picks up yellow at M without problem, but most people start to see the difference at J.

Pro Tip: If you are using a yellow gold setting, color is less noticeable!

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Baxters Fine Jewelry Warwick, RI

Clarity

What is intersting about clarity is a majority of the scale is based on 10X magification. Before discussing the range, it is imporatnt to understand what an inclusion is and how they can affect the diamond. Think of an inclusion as a birthmark within the stone, it grows whent the stone is forming underground and remains after cutting and polishing to retain weight and beauty of the stone. Inclusions can we white, black and even clear inside a diamond and clarity is how hard or easy they are to see. 

As with all things relating to diamonds, clarity, is a range. The I range (I3-I1) means that with the unaied eye you are going to see some inclusions that can affect the sparkle of the stone. Next on the scale is the SI range (SI2-SI1) this is where 10x power becomes important becuase these inclusions are not visbile without power, but are easy to see with maginfication. As we increase the scale to VS (VS2-VS1) and VVS (VVS2-VVS1) the inclusions get smaller, and harder to find with magification and are not seen with an unaided eye. Once you reach Internally Flawless and Flawless the diamond has little to no inclusions inside or on the surface of the stone. 

Pro Tip: With the unaided eye SI2 all the way Flawless look very similar, so keep in mind you are looking at the stone everyday, not the paperwork.

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Baxters Fine Jewelry Warwick, RI

Carat

Carat is the first thing we think of when talking about a Diamond. Carat is what the diamond weighs when put on a scale. This number (.50ct, 1ct, 3ct etc) is how most people describe the size of their stone. What is less known about carat is the dimension of the stone. For example a 1 carat diamond should measure approximately 6.5mm in diameter. Now since all the 4 C's realte to each other, we jump back to cut, which explains why one 1ct diamond may measure 6.5mm and the other 1ct diamond may measure 6.0mm. A well cut diamond, that is within its correct proportions will weight and look like its weight should, a lesser cut stone with variying measurements will still weigh the same but will look slightly different loose, and in the setting you choose. 

Pro Tip: Try to not let the weight of the stone sway your decision, buy a diamond based on the look of the stone, not what is weighs on the scale.

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Baxters Fine Jewelry Warwick, RI

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