Judging Diamond Quality

What to Look For

If you want to start judging the quality of diamonds, you must first learn and understand the 4 C's, which has four properties of diamonds that give the gem stone is the total value. 4 C-quality diamonds are color diamonds conviction, clarity, carat and cut.

Judging Color

Most diamonds are considered ideal if they are transparent, or colorless. Diamonds that are classified as colorless is the most expensive GIA certified diamonds. The colors of diamonds are marked with an alphabetic system that starts with "D" and ending with "Z". From white diamonds to yellow diamonds, completely colorless diamonds fall into the "D" and "E" quality, full-color; fancy diamonds are at the other end of the alphabet, the "Y" and "Z".

There are two main ways used to judge jeweler’s diamond quality based on color. You can leave a set of reference rocks and find the closest match between the diamond and the stone to determine its content reference letter. Moreover, the jeweler can use a colorimeter, which can electronically measure the color of the stone and determine its content in a third year.

Judging Clarity

The clarity diamonds refers to whether the diamond is clear through, or if it's minor flaws and cloudy areas within the gem. It's actually very rare to have a diamond with perfect clarity and no absolute wrong, but most diamond flaws are not visible to the naked eye and can not be seen with a magnifying device.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) uses a magnification of about 10x when judging diamond quality based on clarity and give GIA certified diamonds label. There are treatments to make a diamond appear nicer than it really is and the treatments should lower the overall price of the diamond, it is important to do your research before buying a diamond to be sure not spend more than you should.

Judging Carat Weight

The carat is the term used to describe the weight of a diamond and GIA diamond prices calculate using diamonds carat. One carat equals 200 milligrams of weight. A single diamond, with a large amount of carat weight is more expensive than the equivalent of several carat stone. This is because the search for diamonds is a much rarer event. So if you want a diamond ring 2 carat, for example, you may decide to go with a half-carat diamond surrounded by small diamonds that add up to year and a half carats for a total of 2 carats! Judging by the quality of the diamonds in the amount of carats is difficult due to different shaped stones, and stones with different levels of clarity, the price will be different, even if they have the same amount of carats.

Judging Cut

One of the most important factors in judging the quality of diamonds is judging by the cut of a diamond. It 'important, because the quality cut diamond is more brilliant, and reflects light beautifully, but the diamond is cut, at least for the overall effect of a diamond.

To judge the quality of the diamond the size of a diamond, look at the stone in a well lit. If the light appears to be the stone and bounce, showing a bright surface reflection, diamond has a good cut. The angles and shapes of a diamond are important to judge the quality of the diamonds and the overall appearance of your GIA diamond.

Diamond Color

Evaluating Diamond Color

What exactly is diamond color?  While most people think of the classic, transparent diamond, which happens to be the rare and valuable, the colors of diamonds actually range from transparent all the way to a brownish color. There are different saturations of diamond color, and tones. 

The GIA is the most commonly used system for evaluating diamond 4cs, and this type of diamonds called GIA certified diamonds.  They've created something known as the “GIA Color Grade Scale”, and it has placed a grading system on the many different colors and shades of diamonds, classifying into 22 letter grades.

How Diamonds are graded

Gemological Institute of America has been certified diamonds color grades of "master color comparison" diamonds. When a diamond is graded, it is compared to these masters of color degrees of comparison, looking for nuances that best matches. Diamond, which has been criticized, is clean and all the oil is removed from the surface before being examined, since even small amounts of dirt or oil on the surface of diamond can change the color.

A line of master comparison diamonds or color sample set, with each grade placed about one inch apart, ranging from the lightest shade and D the highest rank in the darkest, sorted diamonds Z. The color of the diamond is classified moves from the left side of the unit compared to the right until it matches one of the nuances.

GIA Diamond Grading should be done clearly, using a balanced source of fluorescent light that has filtered sun, cool white, like lightning. The room where the classification takes place is dark, all except for the special light of the notation, to obtain more accurate color grading diamonds.

Fluorescence of Diamonds

Another consideration when considering the color of the diamond is diamond fluorescence, and how they affect the actual appearance of the color of the diamond. Fluorescence makes some diamonds to change color when viewed in our daily lives, ultraviolet light and under fluorescent lights.

When a GIA certified diamonds rated, the strength of the fluorescence of a diamond is also mentioned. Can be considered strong, moderate or weak fluorescence, and the reports must also indicate what changes the color of a diamond because of fluorescence. The reason for this is when people trade in gold, diamonds, looking at shop, special lighting, all seem to be a colorless, transparent box. When you buy a diamond and make it home under normal lighting conditions, you can find the diamond is yellow!

You can ask the jeweler to provide grading documentation and information value of the fluorescent light, in particular diamond before you buy, make sure you're happy with the diamond buying. Many jewelers also can show you the diamond in different lighting conditions, allowing you to fully understand the beauty of a diamond before you buy. Some individuals like a diamond color of a darker shade, while others are firmly attached to a transparent diamond color. Diamond color is one of personal preference, so be sure to do a little research before making your final choice.

Diamond Certificates

Diamond certificates from independent organizations such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) provide a diamond grading report that gives you valuable information about the 4 C, which were taken into consideration when the diamond was valued. It is important that you use an outside source for certified diamonds, instead of the jeweler who sells diamonds you are interested, because the jeweler wants to make money on the sale of diamonds, the certificates may be slightly biased and you may be paying more than the market value of the GIA certified diamonds.

Reasons to have Diamond Certificates

When you go to trade in gold, or consider the purchase of an online retailer, jewelry, a diamond certificates tends to sell several hundred dollars more than diamonds, graded the same as those without certification. This is because the jeweler recognizes that in general the degree of their diamonds to a higher level of independent rating organization, such as the Gemological Institute of America. GIA is more conservative classification of diamonds, because there will be no sales of GIA diamond.

Pay the Right Price for your Diamond

Diamonds are evaluated according to their quality on the basis of a classification system that uses 4Cs. You should receive GIA certified diamond (also called performance reports) from independent companies, rather than a jeweler, to ensure collection of biased information about the diamonds prices. Otherwise, you may have to pay much more for your diamond than what the diamond is really worth.

Protecting Your Investment

Diamonds are not the same kind of investment as buying stocks and bonds, but having diamond certificates gives you a better investment than just having the diamond. GIA Diamond make it easier to sell a diamond in the future, because you have documentation of how much the diamond is worth and why it was valued that amount.  In fact, if you attempt to sell diamonds without having diamond certificates, most dealers will not buy from you and you would end up having a certificate drawn up anyway, so you may as well have a certificate grading report created at the time of purchase, for your current protection as well as future possibilities for selling.

Increased Security during Cleanings and Repairs

Multi hesitate to put in the jeweler's jewelry business, when they need repairs or cleaning services. It makes people wonder how they know for sure who received the same diamond back that brought a. And 'extremely rare diamond jewelry intentionally changes, but it could happen unintentionally. Diamond certification is an added security measure in this case. They are like fingerprints stored in police databases, which contain all the information necessary to satisfy the fingerprints, and diamond certificates have enough information on diamond with a certificate and the owner.