When you are contemplating buying a diamond whether it is loose or set into a piece of jewellery there are a few fundamental things you should be aware of first. The 4 C’s that pertain to buying diamonds are Clarity, Colour, Cut and Carat. These all refer to certain characteristics about the diamond.

From a cost perspective buying loose diamonds can be value for money once you are aware of what exactly you are buying. These gemstones can be categorised according to their colour and there are 6 colour categories ranging from colourless right through to a light yellow colour. When you are just buying the stone it is important to choose according to colour as different colours suit different settings and the colourless stones are the most rare and the most expensive.

Another one of the 4 C’s is the cut of the diamond. There are categorised into round cut,
emerald cut, oval cut, pear and marquise cut, heart cut and princess cut. Within these different cuts there is different quality depending on the depth and this is known as deep, ideal and shallow. The brilliance of the stone will depend on its depth.

The third C to consider is clarity. This term refers to inclusions or flaws within the stone. When you are choosing your diamond, choose one that is clean or eye-clean as this means that any flaws or inclusions will not be visible to the naked eye.

The final C to be considered is carat. The carat is the unit of measurement that is the industry standard for weighing diamonds and other gemstones. In terms of weight 1 carat is equal to .20 grams and there are 100 points in each carat. Unfortunately it is not true to say that bigger is better as diamonds are not priced on carat alone. It is also important when choosing a stone to ensure that it is an appropriate size for the wearer.