No day during the year evokes the sense of ‘love” like Valentine’s Day. Cupid works his magic and as a result Valentine’s Day has become a popular day for engagements. After the monumental decision to pop the question….the next step – find the perfect ring. To make this less daunting, you will want to make sure that you are fully educated on diamonds – or what we call the 4 C’s.
As Valentine’s Day approaches we thought it would be helpful to provide you with the basic in diamonds. We turned to the experts (and our friends) from Kwiat, one of the industry leaders in diamonds and bridal jewelry.
From Kwiat:
“Understanding the “4 Cs” of diamonds is the first step in your education process. Once you understand each of the 4 Cs – Carat Weight, Color, Clarity and Cut – and how these characteristics affect value, you are officially no longer a novice. The next step is taking this information and putting it to practical use in the selection of a diamond engagement ring. With a little guidance, it doesn’t have to be a confusing and intimidating process. What you will find is that the process of choosing a diamond ring is all about tradeoffs and finding your perfect balance between the size, the quality and the budget.
A Typical Starting Point – Carat Size:
In our experience, most people start by narrowing on a carat size target. Maybe you (or perhaps she) have a minimum size in mind, for example 1 carat, 2 carats or 3 carats. The carat size is the most visually apparent characteristic and has the most impact on the price. With this starting point, we can narrow down the search and start to understand what mix of color and clarity is the best fit for the budget.
Cut – One Factor NOT to Compromise
By now, you’ve hopefully learned about diamond cut and how important it is in determining the beauty of the stone. With 100 years of experience, we can’t stress enough how important it is to buy a diamond of a high quality cut. Whether a round diamond or a fancy shape, a beautifully cut stone will be brighter, more brilliant, and more attractive in any color and clarity combination. A lesser cut stone will be dull, dark and lifeless and is always a bad choice. There are many tradeoffs and compromises to consider in purchasing a diamond. This is NOT one of them.
Color and Clarity – Thresholds and Decisions
In advising people on color and clarity, I always start by setting the lower thresholds. On the color scale, you want a stone that appears white and bright with no obvious tint of yellow. <Color> This starting point is different for round diamonds and fancy shapes. In our experience, for round diamonds this threshold is typically the I or J color range. In fancy shapes, the starting point is typically in the G or H range.
On the clarity scale, you want a stone that is clean to the naked eye, meaning you don’t see any obvious imperfections when you look at it without magnification. <Clarity> Keep in mind that nearly all of the world’s diamonds have some type of imperfections when viewed under magnification. This is not a problem – the decision to be made about clarity is about what type and how pronounced the imperfections are in the diamond you select. In round diamonds and other brilliant cut shapes (e.g., cushion, radiant, oval), the SI1 grade is sometimes clean to the eye, the SI2 is very rarely clean and the VS1-VS2 range is typically always clean. In step cut shapes like emerald cuts or asscher cuts where you can more easily see into the heart of the diamond, the starting point should typically be VS2 or better.
From that starting point, each step higher on the color and clarity scales will cost more. How high you choose to go should be dependent on what you differences you personally can see and what your budget will allow.
Which is More Important, Color or Clarity?
We’re often asked which is more important, color or clarity. While the answer to this question depends on what combination you are considering, we do tend to favor color over clarity in many situations. In our experience, color is more visually apparent when a diamond is set in a ring or other jewelry. This is particularly true in step cut stones, such as emerald cuts and asscher cuts.
There is a perfect diamond for every person and every budget. Finding your diamond ring is all about understanding how to navigate the tradeoffs among the different characteristics and setting your personal priorities.”
McCaskill & Company is pleased to offer a wide selection of bridal and diamond jewelry from Kwiat. We would be honored to be an part of selecting the perfect ring or diamond jewelry for the most important person in your life. This is a responsibility that we take very seriously and promise that it will be the most beautiful ring that she has ever seen. We are so confident in this that we offer a written “Beautiful Diamond Guarantee” whereby you may return the ring if she does not say “This is the most beautiful ring that I have ever seen”. Please drop by our gallery in Destin – between Destin and Sandestin.
