Diamond Grading - info on Grading a Diamond 


Diamond Grading
Most people do not know much about Diamond Grading. There a 4 important things at steak when grading a Diamond - cut, clarity, color, and carat determine diamond grading. We have provided a Diamond Grading Chart for you to learn how to grade a Diamond.

Diamond Grading - Carat weight
When Grading a Diamond, the size of a diamond has the biggest impact on its price. The metric carat, which equals 0.20 gram, is the standard unit of weight for diamonds and most other gems. If other factors are equal, the more a stone weighs, the more valuable it will be.

Many people would like to "understand" carat sizes in real terms. Here is a simple trick to get an idea when doing a Diamond Grading. Simply take a ruler, and look at the table below. These are some approximate, sample carat-weight to diameter-widths for popular sizes.

0.25 ct. –3.9mm- 4.1 mm

0.50 ct. –5.mm- 5.2 mm

0.75 ct. –5.7mm- 5.9 mm

1.00 ct. – 6.1mm-6.5 mm

Diamond Grading - Colour
The colour of a diamond has the second biggest impact on its price when doing a Diamond Grading, after carat weight. Did you know that diamonds come in every colour of the rainbow. Grading colour in the normal range involves deciding how closely a stones body colour approaches colourlessness. Most diamonds have at least a trace of yellow or brown body colour. With the exception of some natural fancy colours, such as blue, pink, purple, or red the colourless grade is the most valuable. If a diamond does not have enough colour to be called fancy, then it is graded in a scale of colours ranging from Colourless to Light Yellow, "D" through "Z". A diamond with a "D" colour is considered to be colourless. If the colour is more intense than "Z", it is considered fancy. A fancy yellow diamond fetches a higher price than a light yellow diamond. 

Diamond Grading - Clarity
The clarity of a diamond refers to how clear, or "clean" the diamond is. The more "clean" the diamond, the higher the price. Most diamonds have "imperfections" in them. They include either black or white natural internal inclusions. A Diamond Grading for clarity, is a measure of the severity of those imperfections or "inclusions" as it is known in the trade.

Diamond Grading - Cut
The cut of a Diamond is the only property which is totally dependent on man. When doing a Diamond Grading, the cut refers to not only the shape of the diamond, but its proportions and finish, factors which determine the sparkle of the diamond. The goal in terms of extracting the greatest beauty from a Diamond is to have light enter a Diamond, disperse the light as it bounces inside the Diamond. There by producing the different colours and sparkly effect, and finally returning as much light to the eye as possible.

"Diamonds are Forever" - By Shirley Bassey