Education

DIAMOND EDUCATION

GEMSTONE EDUCATION

DIAMONDS:

When choosing a diamond, there are 4 C's that you should be familiar with:

Color
Clarity
Carat Weight
Cut

The 4 C's determine the rarity, and thus, the value of a diamond. Here you will find the informational tools to assist you in selecting your diamond.

The Basics Diamond Color

The rarest diamonds are white, or colorless. Poor quality diamond tend to be more yellowish or brownish in color. Diamond color is graded on a scale from "D" the highest quality or most white, to "Z", the most yellowish or brownish. Even though the most valuable diamond is D color, a diamond which grades G through J will appear nearly colorless. Sometimes a jeweler will speak of how diamonds "face up" to the eye, referring to the fact that diamonds are graded for color from bottom of the stone and therefore give the illusion of less body color from the top because facets on the diamond disperse spectral colors to the eye.

The Basics Diamond Clarity
Clarity is the presence or lack of inclusions (small crystalline fractures or irregular crystal growth) inside the diamond. Clarity grading
is done using a binocular microscope under 10x magnification.



 

The Basics  Carat Weight
Carat weight is referred to in fractions or decimal points. A 1/2 Carat stone can be called .50 Carat or 50 "points". You may encounter the abbreviation "ct. tw." within our merchandise descriptions, indicating "carat total weight". This is the combined weight of all the diamonds
in the item, as opposed to the weight of a single diamond in a solitaire ring, for instance.


 

The Basics Diamond Cut
The cut or make of a diamond is very important to the overall appearance of the diamond. As the chart above indicates, a diamond relies on light refracting and reflecting into and out of the top to make it "sparkle and shine". A "D" color flawless diamond could be destroyed by having a poor cut. Similiarly, a diamond with lower clarity and color could look better than the mentioned "D Flawless" stone due to a more brilliant appearance (hiding the imperfections and yellow body color).

GEMSTONES:

The colored gemstones in Ultra Diamonds's collection may have been treated to enhance their color and beauty, as is common with most colored gemstones on today's market. More specifically, all of our colored diamonds have been treated unless we describe them as "natural." Additionally, as is trade custom, select rubies and emeralds may be filled to improve their appearance and clarity.