Diamond
Many women dream of getting a 1 carat diamond ring. Some women dream about a getting a diamond that 3 carats or more.
Carat
Actually carat tells you the weight of the stone. 1 carat is 200mg. The heavier the diamond, all other things remaining unchanged, the more expensive the stone.Besides the weight, or size of the stone, the clarity, color and cut of a diamond determine its value. A diamond could be huge, but if it has many visible flaws, is cut badly and the color is obviously yellowish or brownish, it would not be worth much. In terms of diamond colors, anything brown would be of the lowest value.
The 4 Cs that tell you the value of a diamond are Carat, Clarity, Color and Cut.
Clarity
The clarity of a diamond tells you how clear it is. Of flawless or flawed it is. It measures the visibility of the inclusions, or flaws, if any, within the stone. A perfect diamond is flawless under a 10x magnification. No flaws on the surface, no flaws within the diamonds. Such a diamond is extremely rare, very valuable and should be locked in a safe for investment purposes, rather than worn.Likewise, the internally flawless diamonds should also be kept safely rather than worn. These might have tiny, near scratches on the surface but internally, no flaws can be seen even under 10x magnification.
Next come the VVS1 and VVS2 clarity grades. VVS stand for very very small. Referring to the very very small flaws you see under 10x magnification.
Then come the VS clarity grades. VS meaning very small. These flaws are still invisible under the naked eye.
Forfine jewelry, VS and VVS are the clarity grades to go for.
Next come the SI clarity grades. SI means slightly included. Which means you can see the flaws without any assistance from lenses. They are still used in some jewelry, but the visible flaws make these diamonds slightly cloudy. How cloudy depends on the extent of the flaws. Flawless diamonds are the most valuable while SI diamonds are the cheapest, all other things begin equal.
Color
The color of the diamond determines how white, yellow or even brown it might be. The best color starts at D. These are the whitest diamonds and usually the most valuable ones of all. I say usually because at the other end of the spectrum, the naturally richly colored diamonds like the blue diamond is rarer and more valuable than a D grade diamond. Even the canary yellow is rare and valuable. Words like champagne, cognac and coffee are fancy names for brown. Brown diamonds are of the least value among colored diamonds.D, E and F are the colorless and best diamond grades. G,H, I and J have a yellow tinge. The further down the alphabet you go, the more obvious the coloration. For diamonds, you want the extreme. Either colorless, or richly colored. <