Clarity of a Diamond is Important

Clarity is one of the four Cs that determines a diamond’s value.  [NOTE: Diamonds are graded and certified based on the four Cs:  carat, cut, color, and clarity.] 

Clarity is a measure of internal defects of a diamond called inclusions.   Inclusions may be crystals of a foreign material or another diamond crystal, or structural imperfections such as tiny cracks that can appear whitish or cloudy. The number, size, color, relative location, orientation, and visibility of inclusions can all affect the relative clarity of a diamond. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and other organizations have developed systems to grade clarity, which are based on those inclusions which are visible to a trained professional when a diamond is viewed under 10x magnification.

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How to Evaluate the Color of Diamonds

One of the four Cs that determines a diamond’s value is “color.”  [NOTE: Diamonds are graded and certified based on the four Cs:  carat, cut, color, and clarity.]  Diamonds occur in a variety of colors — steel gray, white, blue, yellow, orange, red, green, pink to purple, brown, and black, virtually in every color of the rainbow.  

Colored diamonds contain chemical impurities or structural defects that cause the coloration, while pure diamonds are perfectly transparent and colorless.  Most diamonds used as gemstones are basically transparent with little tint, or white diamonds.

Hope Diamond

Hope Diamond

Depending on the hue and intensity of a diamond’s coloration, a diamond’s color can either detract from or enhance its value. For example, most white diamonds are discounted in price as more yellow hue is detectable, while intense pink or blue diamonds (such as the Hope Diamond) can be dramatically more valuable.   [NOTE: The Hope Diamond weighs 45.52 carats and can be seen at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.]

The most common impurity, nitrogen, replaces a small proportion of carbon atoms in a diamond’s structure and causes a yellowish to brownish tint.  This effect is present in almost all white diamonds; in only the rarest diamonds is the coloration from this effect undetectable.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has developed a rating system for color in white diamonds, from “D” to “Z” (with D being “colorless” and Z having a bright yellow coloration), which has been widely adopted in the industry and is universally recognized, superseding several older systems. [NOTE: They began with the letter D to avoid confusion with earlier inconsistent systems that used A, B, and C.]

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What is a Diamond? An Introduction

A diamond is one of the best-known and most sought-after gemstones.  Diamonds have been used as decorative items since ancient times.  Some of the earliest references can be traced to India.  Its name is derived from the ancient Greek word adamas which means “invincible, unalterable, and unconquerable.”

The hardness of a diamond and its high dispersion of light, giving the diamond its characteristic “fire,” make it useful for industrial applications and desirable as jewelry.  Diamonds are graded and certified based on the four Cs:  carat, cut, color, and clarity.  Consumers who purchase individual diamonds are often advised to use the four Cs to pick the diamond that is “right” for them.  We will discuss these individually in the next few posts.

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