With cut the single most important thing to keep in mind is that a stone’s brilliance is determined by the angle and placement of the diamond’s facets. Cut is classified by both shape and brilliance of proportions. Standard cuts include round, princess, square, oval, pear, and radiant. The round shape has always been the preferred cut of diamond. Diamonds with the best proportions refract nearly all light entering the stone out the top and sides of the stone which provides the most brilliance.

The importance of color in a diamond is actually the opposite. Diamonds that are colorless are the highest quality diamonds. The scale is characterized by letter beginning with a flawless “D” and going down to “Z” which has a yellowish color to it. Color can affect the value of a diamond by thousands of dollars, but the color differences cannot be detected by the naked eye for the ranges D through I. Therefore, any diamond buyer on a budget would be wise to chose an “H or I” color for his or her stone.

Clarity measures the inclusions or flaws that an individual diamond has. Almost every diamond has some flaw, but the highest grade for clarity is called “flawless.” The worst grade for diamond clarity is “included.” I will let you consult the provided chart for further analysis. All in all, the naked eye cannot detect any imperfections up to VS2, or very small inclusions.

Now to what everyone refers to when they see a diamond. Carat weight is defined as the weight of a diamond. For reference, a one carat diamond weighs only .20 grams. Often times, a diamond that is less carats than another diamond but has better characteristics in the other three C’s will cost more than the diamond that has a higher carat weight. The chart to the right should give you a better idea of how size changes with respect to carat weight.