A Guide to the 4 C's
The Jewellery Edit · Arnold & Co
A Guide to the 4 C's
Every diamond, natural or lab-grown, is judged on four things: Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat. Together they decide how a stone looks and what it costs. Here is what each one really means, without the jargon.
01
Cut
Cut is how well a diamond is shaped and faceted to bounce light straight back at you, and it is the single biggest reason a stone looks alive and sparkly. Cut too shallow or too deep and the light leaks out the bottom or sides instead of returning to your eye. Do not confuse it with shape, like round or oval; cut is about the quality of the angles and polish, and a beautifully cut diamond can out-sparkle a bigger or whiter one.
02
Colour
Colour grades how icy-white or how slightly tinted a diamond is, on a scale from D (completely colourless) down to Z (noticeably warm). The steps are subtle, and most become invisible once the stone is set and catching the light. You rarely need the very top of the scale, as a near-colourless grade (around G to I) usually faces up beautifully white for a good deal less.
03
Clarity
Clarity is about the tiny natural marks, called inclusions, found inside almost every diamond. The grades run from flawless down to included, but the real question is simple: can you see anything without magnification? An 'eye-clean' stone, with inclusions too small to spot, looks just as pure to the naked eye as a flawless one, at a fraction of the price.
04
Carat
Carat is the diamond's weight, not strictly its size, though a higher carat usually means a bigger look. Two stones of the same carat can wear quite differently depending on how they are cut and their shape. Prices also tend to jump at the round numbers like 1.00ct, so choosing just under can give you a near-identical look for noticeably less.
How to Balance the Four C's
No single C tells the whole story; the magic is in the balance. A brilliant cut, an eye-clean clarity and a near-colourless grade often give the most sparkle for your money, leaving room to go a little larger if size matters most to you. Whether you choose natural or lab-grown, always buy from a jeweller who can show you certification and let you compare stones in person.
Visit us at Arnold and Co Jewellers in Canberra Centre and we will put real diamonds side by side, so you can see the differences with your own eyes and choose with confidence.
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