What are the 4 C's when selecting a diamond wedding or engagement ring?

Your wedding or engagement ring is selected according to it's Cut, Colour, Caret or Clarity. These are the 4 C's when selecting any type of diamond ring. We have a look below at the 4 C's in more detail.

Diamond Cut

The cut of your wedding or engagement ring refers to the diamond and is the most important of all the C's. It ultimately determines the brilliance or dullness of the diamond. There are primarily two types of diamond cuts, 'The Step Cut' and 'The Brilliant Cut'. From these cuts a further 8 cuts are commonly derived.

See our section on diamond cuts for more information

Diamond Colour

The highest value diamond is one that has absolutely no colour whatsoever. If you were to purchase such a diamond, it would be categorised with the letter 'D' and cost a small fortune. As each diamond varies in colour and colour depth, so does the value of each diamond.

As diamonds change in colour through the colour spectrum, they are assigned a letter anywhere from colourless ('D') to Z. For example, diamonds in the lower end of the alphabet (eg. D, E, F) are almost icy-white in colour, whereas diamonds in the mid range (eg,I, J, K), are considerably warmer in colour.

The colour you choose largely depends on both your personal taste, and of course your budget constraints.

Diamond Clarity

The clarity of a diamond refers to it's purity or it's level of obvious or subtle flaws. Just like the diamond colour scale above, diamond clarity is categorised by it's flaws and determines the value of a diamond (the more flaws, the less valuable).

Flawless Diamonds

A diamond with no obvious flaws or blemishes would be categorised by the letters 'VVS' (very very slight), 'VS' (very slight) or 'VI1' (Slight Inclusions 1).

Borderline Diamonds

A diamond which is neither flawed or flawless would be categorised by the letters 'SI2' (Slight Inclusion 2) and would generally mean that the flaws in the diamond a faintly visible to the naked eye.

Flawed Diamonds

A diamond that has obvious flaws and blemishes that are visible to the naked eye, would be categorised 'I' (Inclusion). These diamonds are the least valuable of all.

Diamond Carat

The term 'carat' simply refers to the weight of a diamond and can help to determine the value of the diamond. A carat is equal to 1/5 of a gram. Whilst the weight of a diamond is important, the cut, clarity and colour of the diamond must also be taken into careful consideration when determining overall value.

For example, if you have a large diamond but it has been poorly cut, then it's value would be vastly diminished.

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