Diamond Education
For most people, buying a diamond is a new experience, but that doesn't mean it should be overwhelming. Understanding a diamond's quality characteristics is straightforward and simple. Somerton's diamond education is designed to answer all your questions. It explains a diamond's characteristics, how those characteristics influence appearance, and which are more important than others. In just a few minutes you'll know everything you need to know to find your perfect diamond.
For most people, buying a diamond is a new experience, but that doesn't mean it should be overwhelming. Understanding a diamond's quality characteristics is straightforward and simple. Somerton's diamond education is designed to answer all your questions. It explains a diamond's characteristics, how those characteristics influence appearance, and which are more important than others. In just a few minutes you'll know everything you need to know to find your perfect diamond.
Every diamond is a unique miracle of nature, so there are almost as many ways to describe a diamond as there are diamonds. To standardize descriptions of every diamond’s characteristics, a language known as the 4Cs was developed. GIA, the Gemological Institute of America, created the first, and now globally accepted standard for describing diamonds: Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat Weight. Today, the 4Cs of Diamond Quality is the universal method for assessing the quality of any diamond, anywhere in the world.
These characteristics can be helpful when learning about diamonds, but they are only four of the many, many criteria that can be used to evaluate a diamond. As a result, two diamonds with the same 4Cs criteria may be very different. Somerton selects diamonds using criteria beyond the 4Cs to ensure that every diamond is truly a beautiful diamond.
These characteristics can be helpful when learning about diamonds, but they are only four of the many, many criteria that can be used to evaluate a diamond. As a result, two diamonds with the same 4Cs criteria may be very different. Somerton selects diamonds using criteria beyond the 4Cs to ensure that every diamond is truly a beautiful diamond.
Cut is the factor with the most influence on the sparkle of a polished diamond. Cut is expressed in terms of the brilliance, fire, and scintillation of a diamond. To maximize sparkle, a diamond must be cut to very specific parameters of angle and dimension with a strict attention to the polished finish of the diamond.
Clarity is a measure of a diamond’s purity. Naturally occurring features (known as inclusions) provide a special fingerprint within the diamond. Usually invisible to the naked eye, these tiny features appeared while the diamonds were forming in the earth hundreds of millions or even billions of years ago. Clarity measures the diamond’s purity; it refers to how free a diamond is from these tiny blemishes and inclusions. Somerton diamonds are available from Flawless to VS2 (Very Slightly Included), providing any inclusions do not interfere with the beauty of the diamond, as determined by our experts.
Diamonds occur naturally in all colors of the rainbow. The rarest diamonds exhibit no color at all, apart from fancy colors. Polished diamonds are graded for minute variations in depth of color, from ‘colorless’ to ‘light color’. This is universally known as the D to Z color scale (D meaning ‘exceptional’ and Z meaning ‘tinted color’). Many of these color distinctions are so subtle that they are invisible to the untrained eye; however, these distinctions make a very big difference in diamond quality and price.
Carat is a measure of weight. One carat (1 ct) equals 0.20 grams and is divided into 100 points (so a 1/2 carat − or 0.50 carat − diamond can also be described as a 50 points diamond). All else being equal, diamond price increases with diamond carat weight, because larger diamonds are rarer and more desirable. But two diamonds of equal carat weight can have very different values (and prices) depending on three other factors of the diamond 4Cs: Clarity, Color, and Cut.
It’s important to remember that a diamond’s value is determined using all of the 4Cs, not just carat weight.
It’s important to remember that a diamond’s value is determined using all of the 4Cs, not just carat weight.
