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buying a diamond, whether it is a diamond ring or other diamond
jewellery you need to consider the four C's:
CUT
Cut is perhaps the most important of the 4Cs because a quality
cut releases the fire and brilliance of a diamond. A diamond
cutter must place each of the stone's facets and angles, which
act as light-dispersing mirrors, in exact geometric relation
to one another.
COLOUR
The rarest and most valuable diamonds are colourless, but most
contain a hint of colour. Evaluating a diamond's colour for
grading purposes is done by measuring the degree to which a
diamond approaches colourlessness. Gemologists and jewellers
describe the colour of diamonds on a letter scale beginning
with D (colourless) and move through the alphabet to Z. Our
diamonds are graded using the 'GIA' scale.
CLARITY
A diamond's clarity is determined by the degree to which it
is free from naturally occurring inclusions, often called nature's
fingerprints. Inclusions often require magnification under a
standard 10-power jeweller's loupe before they become apparent
to the eye. Those with the least inclusions are most precious.
CARAT
WEIGHT
Diamonds are weighed in metric carats; a carat is equivalent
to 0.20 of a gramme or 1/142 of an ounce. Jewellers, however,
refer to stones using "points" - one carat is divided
into 100 points.
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