diamond guide

The 4C’s of diamonds

The diamond 4C’s are cut, color, clarity and carat. Each C is a way to measure quality, and together they help determine the value of every natural and lab grown diamond. Understanding them will help you choose the diamond of your dreams.

Understanding the 4C’s:

Diamond cut, color, clarity and carat

A diamond’s sparkle, size and setting may be what catch your eye, but it’s the combination of cut, color, clarity and carat that will help you decide on the right stone for your budget. The 4C standards were developed by the Gemological Institute of America to give jewelers and customers all over the world an objective way of comparing diamonds, whether they’re lab grown or natural. Many Helzberg diamonds have been graded by some of the most trusted third-party labs in the industry, such as GIA®, American Gem Society (AGS) and the Gem Certification and Assurance Lab (GCAL).

A Helzberg diamond engagement ring with two loose diamonds next to it.

Diamond cut

Your diamond’s cut has the biggest effect on how it sparkles. The most skilled cutters bring out the beauty and flashes of light hiding inside a rough diamond with a combination of experience, expertise and artistry. Cut grading tells us about the quality of a diamond’s surface, symmetry and proportions.

Don’t confuse cut and shape. The cut is about the quality of the shape; the shape is the form of the diamond.

How is diamond cut quality decided?

Cuts are graded in a range: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Helzberg sources and recommends diamond quality grades between Very Good and Excellent.

The polish and symmetry of the cut surfaces — called facets — determine how the diamond reflects light. The depth of a diamond cut matters, too. If the cut is too deep, light escapes through the sides of the stone. Too shallow, and light bounces out the bottom. With well-proportioned cuts, light reflects from one facet to another, sending the light through the top of the diamond, where we can see it sparkle.

Three round diamonds in varying color grades

Diamond color

Completely colorless diamonds — the ones as clear as a drop of water — are exceptionally rare. Color comes from the way diamonds are created, whether that takes place over eons in nature or through a controlled process in a lab. Whether you choose a natural or lab grown diamond, Helzberg’s experts can help you find one in the color range you’re looking for.

How is diamond color quality graded?

The universal standard color scale created by GIA goes from D (colorless) to Z (light). When experts grade a diamond, it’s under controlled lighting and they use “masterstones” with established colors for comparison. The chart below tells you what to expect from the main three categories of diamond color quality: colorless, near colorless and faint.

Colorless (D E F)

To the naked eye, a colorless diamond looks like a drop of pure water — it will have little to no tint of a yellow or brown hue. Because they’re so rare, diamonds in the colorless category are the most valuable.

Near Colorless (G H I J)

A near-colorless diamond will have a very slight tint of yellow or brown that’s difficult to see without magnification or controlled lighting. They offer rarity for a good value.

Faint (K L M)

You might detect a faint yellow or brown tint if you look at an unmounted, K-graded diamond. But once it’s mounted in a setting, the faint color is often difficult to detect with an untrained eye unless it’s right next to a near-colorless or colorless stone. That makes one of these diamonds a great value.

Diamond clarity

Whether diamonds are formed naturally over eons or grown in a lab, the intense conditions will cause most to have external blemishes or internal imperfections, called inclusions, that affect their clarity grade. Grading the precise number, size, location and visibility of the flaws tells buyers and consumers what they need to know about a diamond’s quality and value.

You can think of clarity as the quality of the stone and cut as the quality of the craftsmanship.

How is diamond clarity determined?

It’s hard to see many blemishes and inclusions with the naked eye. The GIA requires viewing under a 10x loupe — an industry-standard viewing tool for jewelers and gemologists — to finalize grades for clarity, polish and symmetry. The term “eye clean” means you can’t see imperfections in a diamond without magnification, in normal lighting, from about 10 inches away.

To see the visual impact of inclusions on a diamond, compare the small red marks in the illustrations below to the differences in the photographs.

Diamond clarity scale chart

Clarity may seem like a complicated concept, but once you know the abbreviations it’s easy to understand. There are 11 levels of clarity — listed and explained below — from Flawless (very rare) to Included. Helzberg buyers look for diamonds with a range of clarity grades to fit any shopper’s budget.

Flawless (FL) 
Internally Flawless (IF)

These are flawless diamonds, no matter how closely you look. Flawless and Internally Flawless stones are the rarest and get the highest quality diamond clarity grades.

Very Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2)

Very, very slight internal flaws are only visible under a microscope and challenging for even a trained gemologist to see.

Very Slightly Included (VS1, VS2)

These very slight imperfections are somewhat difficult to see even when magnified and hard to see with the naked eye.

Slightly Included (SI1, SI2)

Someone with training can spot these slight inclusions with 10x magnification. They might even be visible to the naked eye — but more difficult to see in diamonds smaller than 1 carat.

Included (I1, I2, I3)

These inclusions are easy for a trained jeweler or gemologist to see with a 10x loupe and are often visible to the naked eye. I3 diamonds may have inclusions severe enough to affect the stone’s structural integrity and brilliance.

5 diamond engagement rings on a white background

Diamond carat

Carat is probably the most familiar of the 4C’s. It’s a measure of weight: One carat is 200 milligrams. While the other C’s are important in determining quality, carat weight is one of the most significant factors in a diamond's value.

What carat weight should you choose?

It depends on the other C’s and the shape, setting and style of your jewelry.  Besides budget, here are a few things to consider:

a gif showing the before and after of an oval solitaire engagement ring in .5 carat, 1 carat, 2 carats, 3, carats, 4 carats, and 5 carats.

⦁ The most common diamond weights range from .5 to 5 carats. But don’t let that limit you! Helzberg carries diamonds up to 10 carats, and if your dream ring is bigger, we know people.

⦁ Size preferences are personal — they’re influenced by everything from personal style and aesthetic to finger size and hand shape to where and how often you’ll wear a piece of jewelry.

⦁ Different shapes and cuts can make diamonds of the same carat weight seem bigger or smaller. For example, the elongated shapes of a marquise or elongated cushion cut diamond have more visible surface area than other shapes.

⦁ Styles and settings can impact the look of a diamond’s size, as well. A solitaire spotlights a single diamond — it’s simple, classic and timeless. A halo style gives a diamond more dazzle by framing the center stone with smaller diamonds.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does diamond cut matter?

The better the cut, the brighter the sparkle. An excellent cut brings out a diamond’s best features.

Why does diamond color matter?

Diamond color is a matter of preference, which means you can go up or down a few grades based on the other 4C’s to get the most value for your budget.

Why does diamond clarity matter?

Clarity affects a diamonds appearance and price, but beautiful doesn’t always mean flawless. Every diamond is unique, and Helzberg’s jewelry experts will work with you to find one you love.

Why does diamond carat weight matter?

Other than its impact on the value, this C really is just a number. Beautiful diamond jewelry comes in all sizes.

What does “sparkle” mean?

Sparkle is more than flash or bling. A diamond’s sparkle comes from three things: Brilliance or brightness, which is the internal and external reflection of white light. Fire, which refers to the reflections of the colors in a rainbow, like a prism. And scintillation — the pattern of light and dark flashes when the diamond is moved.

What's the 5th C?

At Helzberg, it's Choice – your decision to purchase a lab grown or natural diamond.

Do the 4C’s apply to pavé diamonds?

Yes. But because the diamonds are smaller, they’re measured together, so you’ll see “ct. tw.” or “ctw” for “carat total weight” instead of a number for each stone. Their size makes clarity and color less important – jewelers select diamonds that complement each other or the center stone.