Diamond Education The 4Cs

The Diamond 4Cs system was developed as a way of assessing and communicating diamond quality using a universal standard. We at Hispek want to ensure customers are crystal clear on what they are purchasing and so have produced our Diamonds Made Easy guide below. The shape and cut have a profound effect on the light performance of a diamond, as they determine its ability to reflect and refract light internally. This is what gives diamonds their fiery scintillation. Whilst the colour and clarity of most diamonds are naturally determined, the cut and shape is where the expert diamond cutters make a diamond truly unique.

Diamond Colour

A diamond is graded to determine its relative absence of colour, based upon an internationally recognised colour scale which ranges from D (colourless) to Z ( Light yellow/brown).

Diamond Clarity

A diamond is assigned a clarity grade based upon the number and placement of naturally occurring internal inclusions and surface characteristics (blemishes) that are visible under 10X magnification. There are eleven universally recognised clarity grades ranging from Flawless down to I3.

Diamond Cut

Manufacturing a rough diamond into a precious piece of jewellery is an artistic process. Although the proportions and facets of a finished diamond are mostly determined by the original rough, the cut can affect a diamond in a variety of ways. The cut grading process, which ranges from Excellent to Poor, considers a range of characteristics: brightness, fire, scintillation, weight ratio, durability, polish and symmetry.

Diamond Carat

There is a misconception that carat measures the physical size of the diamond, but it is in fact a measure of the weight. It is also not to be confused with gold’s ‘Karat’, which measures the purity of gold. The quantity is as follows: 1 carat = 0.2 grams and 5 carat = 1 gram. As the carat weight increases so too does the size. However the two are not perfectly correlated. A 1.0ct diamond is not five times larger than a 0.2ct diamond.

Certification

The diamond industry has a robust and ethical approach to certification of the diamonds base upon the 4cs and the various attributes of Colour, Cut, Clarity and Carat. We at hispek diamonds only use the highly reputable diamond laboratories for the independent certification of our diamonds such as the Gemological institute of America (GIA), The International Gemological Institute ( IGI) or the European Gemological Institute .