Choosing your diamond is a deeply personal experience, but much of the scientific information about gems may seem confusing or new to you. Melbourne Diamond Importers is equipped to assist you in this area, and has trained consultants to educate you on the diamond selection process.

The “Four Cs” is the name given to the four scientific characteristics used to grade diamonds. These are as follows:

Cut

A grade given to a particular diamond’s brightness, cut refers to the proportions, finish, symmetry, and polish of the diamond. These factors determine the fire and brilliance of a diamond or, to put it simply, how much your diamond sparkles. This is the only diamond attribute not influenced by nature.

Colour

A grade that judges the whiteness of a particular diamond or, in the event of a fancy coloured diamond, the depth of the diamond’s shade. White diamonds can range from colourless (D colour) to fancy colour (Z colour) with shades in between giving slight tints of yellow, grey or brown. Fancy colours can include intense yellows, browns, blues, greens, pinks and reds. The more colourless a white diamond, the more valuable it is.

Clarity

A grading that denotes the type and visibility of imperfections in a particular diamond. A clarity scale from IF (internally flawless) to I3 (included) is based upon the number, size, nature, and location of internal imperfections (inclusions) and external imperfections (blemishes).

Carat

A unit of measurement to describe a particular diamond’s weight. One carat is equal to 0.20 grams and is divided into 100 points (0.01 carat = 1 point). A larger carat size gives a greater worth. Please note the following diagram is an example of the size differences.  Your monitor resolution may affect the size they appear on screen.  If you would like to see examples of carat please come in and see us.

Detailed information on these topics as well as different diamond shapes and setting (and how they affect the price of diamonds) will be provided by Melbourne Diamond Importers during your consultation.

Melbourne Diamond Importers… demystifying diamonds.