Diamonds 101

The 4 C’s of a Diamond

1. Cut

Cut is probably the most important and most challenging of the four C’s to understand and the one element that is directly affected by human skill and expertise. The brilliance of a diamond depends heavily on its cut. The cut describes the way in which a diamond has been shaped and polished from the rough stone to the final gem.

In order to capitalize on the fire and brilliance, the diamond cutter must position each of the stone’s facets in precise geometric relation to one another. A classic round brilliant well cut diamond has fifty-seven or fifty-eight facets that are exactly aligned. When a diamond is cut too deep or too shallow, light leaks out of the bottom or the side of the diamond instead of reflecting back to you. This expalins why some diamonds are much more brilliant than others.

Too Shallow: light will be lost through the bottom of the stone

Too Deep: light will escape through the side of the stone

The cut also determines the shape of a diamond. The most common diamond shapes are the round brilliant, the marquise, the pear, the oval, the emerald, and the square (princess cut)

The Canadian Love Diamond™ is the most brilliant ideal cut diamond in the market. This is because an ideal cut diamond only has 57 facets whereas the Canadian Love Diamond has 58 facets. Every single Canadian Love Diamond™ is precisely cut to expose 8 symmetrical hearts and 8 summetrical arrows, the dimension of excellence™. Less than 1% of the diamonds that are mined, cut and polished in Canada qualify for The Canadian Love Diamond™ status.

Princess of Hearts™ is the most brilliant square cut diamond that exhibits the Hearts and Arrows pattern. MOreover, as the Princess of Hearts Diamond is cut to “ideal” proportions, it generates scintillation that is beyond any existing standard square cut diamond.

2. Clarity

Most diamonds contain some inner flaws, or inclusions, that occur during the formation process. The visibility, number and size of these inclusions determine diamond’s clarity. Diamonds that are clear create more brilliance, and thus are more highly appreciated and priced.

FL-IF: Flawless or Internally Flawless. This diamond has no internal inclusions

VVS1-VVS2: Very very slightly inclusions. Very difficult to detect under 10x magnification

VS1-VS2: Very Slightly included. Tiny inclusions are invisible to the naked eye and seen only with difficulty under 10x magnification.

SI1-SI2-SI3: Slightly included. Tiny inclusions can be seen under 10x magnification and in some cases, in SI3, inclusions are visible to the naked eye.

I1-I2-I3: Included. Inclusions are visible under 10x magnification as well as to the human eye.

3. Colour

When jewellers speak of a diamond’s colour, they are usually referring to the existence or absence of colour in white diamonds. Colour is a result of the composition of the diamond and it never changes over time. Because a colourless diamond, like clear glass, allows more light to pass through it than a coloured diamond, colourless diamonds produce more sparkle and fire. Thus, the whiter a diamond’s colour, the greater its value. Diamond graded D through F are absolutely colourless. Diamonds graded G through I show virtually no colour that is visible to the untrained eye.

4. Carat

A carat is the unit of weight by which a diamond is measured. One carat is equal to 200 miligrams or 2 grams. Because large diamonds are less common than small diamonds, the price of a diamond rises exponentially to its size.