Anything But Coffee

Choosing the perfect Diamond ring can be a hard task, specially if you don’t know what makes for a brilliant diamond. Considering there are so many different shapes and colors to choose from. Some of the more popular shapes for diamond jewelry are round, princess, emerald, asscher, oval, marquise, pear, radiant, cushion and heart. Luckily there is a simple rule to follow known as the 4 C’s Diamond Guide:

• Cut - Cut refers to a diamonds shape and more importantly its proportions. A well proportioned diamond brings out the maximum beauty. Diamonds cut to deep or shallow loose light through the side or bottom, resulting in loss of brilliance.
• Clarity - Clarity is the degree to which a diamond is free from inclusions and blemishes, which can hinder the light as it passes through the diamond.
• Color - Fancy color diamonds aside, the best, most beautiful color for a diamond is no color at all, The Gemological Institute of America has created a scale to measure diamond color, ranging from D (colorless) to Z (yellow) Fancy color diamonds are graded Z and higher.
• Carat - Diamonds are weighted in units called Carats. A carat is measured in increments called points, One carat is equal to 100 points. Carat weight is the easiest of the 4C’s to determine because it is measured on a diamond scale.

Additional Diamond Resources

View this Diamond Color Chart to see a nice example:

Remember the 4 C’s Diamond Guide is here to help you in your decision when buying a diamond ring but it ultimately comes down to your preference. Two diamonds of equal weight can have very unequal value depending upon the cut, color and clarity of each.