How to Choose a Good Diamond Ring (A Quick Guide to the 4Cs)

Want to know how to choose a good diamond ring? We’ve put together a quick guide to the 4Cs of Diamonds for Your Engagement Ring. We hope you will be able to use this guide to choose a diamond ring that you will love for a long time!

First of all, what are the 4Cs?

The 4Cs of diamonds are used to determine their value. Diamonds are usually ranked by the American Gem Society or the Gemological Institute of America.

The 4Cs enable you to understand why a diamond is priced as it is and helps you understand what you’re paying for. Of course, if you love a diamond, its value is often determined by your feelings. However, use the 4Cs to ensure that you’re getting what you pay for.
The 4Cs are cut, clarity, color, and carat weight.

Diamond Cut

The cut of a diamond typically has the most influence on its appearance. The cut also plays a role in the value of the diamond. A gem that is cut more precisely generally costs more than one isn’t as meticulous.

When we talk about the cut of a diamond, it also refers to its shape – diamond, square, circle, or pear, for example. Symmetry and sparkle are also aspects of the diamond’s cut that you should pay attention to.

Diamond Clarity

All diamonds have characteristics on the inside that are called inclusions, as well as characteristics on the outside that are called blemishes. These characteristics are evaluated by determining a diamond’s clarity, which is determined by how many inclusions and blemishes there are and how large they are. Did you know? Clarity is ranked in 11 different grades.

Diamond Color

When it comes to diamonds, the absence of color is actually what you’re looking for. A pure diamond without any hue is worth a lot more money than one that is slightly colored.

Often, you can’t see this coloring with the naked eye, but a gem expert will use the right lighting conditions and other measures to determine the color of the diamond. The scale ranges from D (colorless) to Z.

The same criteria applies to colored diamonds. Colored diamonds occur when an otherwise pure diamond contains interstitial impurities (elements such as sulfur, nitrogen, boron etc.) or structural defects. Typically, colored diamonds are yellow, blue, and pink, but they also come in steel gray, orange, green, purple, brown, and black. As with pure (colorless) diamonds, the depth and brilliance of color are important (as are the other 3Cs).

Diamond Carat Weight

Finally, the carat weight of a diamond is the final of the 4Cs. Obviously, the higher the carat weight, the more costly the diamond.

A carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams and each carat is divided into 100 subcategories. This provides experts to give a diamond a carat weight to the hundredth decimal point. Larger diamonds are rarer, making them more valuable.

Photo Credit: Stephen R Nichols Photography

Photo Credit: Luisa Starling Weddings

The bottom line when you choose a diamond is how much you love it, but keep the 4Cs in mind so you get what you’re paying for and so that you fully understand its value. And always ensure you buy from a reputable dealer!

We hope this quick diamond guide was helpful to you. Now that you know more about the 4Cs and how to choose a good diamond ring, let us know which C is your favorite in the comments below.

For more diamond engagement ring ideas, check out this blog post.