Diamond Ring Buying Guide

The "Four Cs" of Diamonds

The value of a diamond is determined by four factors known as the "Four Cs": Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat.

Cut

Cut is the way in which the rough stone has been fashioned into a gem. Most gemologists consider cut the most important diamond characteristic because it has the largest impact on a diamond's brilliance. Even if a diamond has perfect color and clarity, poor cut can seriously dull brilliance, making the diamond less valuable. A particularly well-cut diamond can mask issues of clarity and color. Labs such as GIA and AGS determines cut grade using light performance, proportion, and finish (polish and symmetry) characteristics to determine a diamond's fire and brilliance.

The GIA cut grade system includes ratings of Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. GIA does not assign an Ideal cut and an Excellent rating is their highest grade. Most GIA diamonds graded prior to January 1st, 2006 will not have a laboratory-assigned cut grade.

AGS assigns cut grades of Ideal, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor. AGS labels a diamond that meets their standard of perfect proportions, polish, and symmetry as "Cut grade: Ideal". An AGS Ideal is known throughout the diamond industry as a "triple-zero" grade. An AGSL Ideal cut is the equivalent of a GIA cut grade of Excellent.

Hearts and arrows (Also called H&A) is a style of cut used for round brilliant diamonds. The hearts and arrows pattern appears in brilliant-cut diamonds that have very good parallelism and symmetry. When viewed from above the "crown," the pattern is a series of eight gray arrowheads. From below the "pavilion," the pattern appears as eight heart shapes. In order to display this pattern flawlessly, the diamond's top facet or "table facet" must be exactly perpendicular to the bottom of the diamond or "pavilion". It must also be cut to have great symmetry of its major facets and have particular lengths of its lower girdle facets.

Diamonds with a H&A cut command a price premium in the U.S. market, reflecting the generally greater time needed to produce them and the greater loss of weight from rough, as well as their generally better overall cut quality. It has also become a popular sales tool in diamond marketing. Although the hearts and arrows property is indicative of a top-tier cut, it does not always mean the diamond will be the most brilliant. Optimal facet placement is the key to brilliance and more important than facet patterning. Some people may dislike the hearts and arrows patterning as well, since they may see dark arrow-shaped shadows in their diamond under certain lighting conditions.

Color

White diamond color scale ranges from D which is totally colorless to Z which is a pale yellow or brown color. Diamonds with more depth of color than Z color fall into the fancy color diamond range.

GIA		AGS
grade and description		grade
D	Colorless	0
E		0.5
F		1.0
G	Near Colorless	1.5
H		2.0
I		2.5
J		3.0
K	Faint Yellow	3.5
L		4.0
M		4.5
N	Very Light Yellow	5.0
O		5.5
P		6.0
Q		6.5
R		7.0
S	Light Yellow	7.5
T		8.0
U		8.5
V		9.0
W		9.5
X		10.0
Y
Z

For white diamonds, the closer its color is to colorless, the more valuable it is from the color perspective. A "D" or "E" rated diamond (both grades are considered colorless) is much more valuable than an "R" or "Y" rated diamond (light yellow or brown). This is due to two effects: high-color diamonds are rarer, limiting supply; and the bright white appearance of high-color diamonds is more desired by consumers, increasing demand.

Yellow or brown color diamonds having color more intense than "Z", as well as diamonds exhibitng color other than yellow or brown are considered fancy colored diamonds. These diamonds are graded using separate systems which indicate the characteristics of the color, and not just its presence. These color grading systems are similar to those used for other colored gemstones, such as ruby, sapphire and emerald, than they are to the system used for white diamonds.

Internationally recognized laboratories (GIA and IGI for example) laboratories uses a list of 27 color hues that span the full spectrum of colors. The tone and saturation of these hues are then described with one of nine descriptors:

Faint
Very Light
Light
Fancy Light
Fancy
Fancy Intense
Fancy Vivid
Fancy Deep
Fancy Dark

For fancy colored diamonds, When the color is rare, the more intensely colored a diamond is, the more valuable it becomes. Fancy colored diamonds such as blue, green, orange and pink ones are very rare and valuable. Red diamonds are the rarest of all fancy colored diamonds and are therefore considered the most valuable.

Clarity

Clarity is a quality of diamonds relating to the existence and visual appearance of internal characteristics of a diamond called inclusions, and surface defects called blemishes.

Diamonds with higher clarity grades are more valued, with the exceedingly rare "flawless" graded diamond fetching the highest price. Minor inclusions or blemishes can be used as unique identifying marks analogous to fingerprints.

Diamond Clarity Grading Scale

GIA	FL	IF	VVS1	VVS2	VS1	VS2	SI1	SI2	I1		I2		I3
AGS	0		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8		9		10

Diamond clarity enhancements are specific treatments performed on natural diamond to enhance to improve clarity characteristics. Laser "drilling" involves using a laser to burn a hole to a colored inclusion, followed by acid washing to remove the coloring agent. The clarity grade is the grade after the treatment. The treatment is considered permanent. Clarity can also be "enhanced" by filling the fracture much like a car windshield crack can be treated. Such diamonds are sometimes called "fracture filled diamonds". Reputable vendors must disclose this filling and reputable filling companies use filling agents which show a flash of color, commonly orange or pink, when viewed closely. There is a significant price discount for fracture-filled diamonds. The GIA will not grade fracture-filled diamonds, in part because the treatment isn't as permanent as the diamond itself. Reputable companies often provide for repeat treatments if heat causes damage to the filling. The heat required to cause damage is that of a blowtorch used to work on settings, and it is essential to inform anyone working on a setting if the diamond is fracture-filled, so they can apply cooling agents to the diamond and use greater care while working on it.GIA, as a matter of policy, does NOT certify clarity-enhanced diamonds. If you see a GIA Diamond Report with the words "clarity enhanced" or "fracture-filled," it is surely counterfeit.

Faith Diamonds DOES NOT sell any clarity enhanced diamonds, period.

Carat

Carat is the unit of weight for the diamond. The diamond industry also refers to 0.01 carat as l point. One carat is equal to 0.20 gram. Value per carat increases with carat size, because larger rough diamonds occur less frequently. In other words, two 1 carat diamonds taken together will not cost as much as one 2 carat diamond, as the 2 carat stone is more rare.

Precious Metals for Jewelry

Gold

Gold is the timeless, ageless, universal choice of metal for jewelry. The higher the karat number, the higher the percentage of gold in your gold jewelry.

24K gold is pure gold.
18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 75% (18/24) gold.
14K gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 58.3% (14/24) gold.
12K gold contains 12 parts gold and 12 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 50% (12/24) gold.
10K gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 41.7% (10/24)gold.

24k pure gold is soft and isn't practical for daily wear. Other metals are mixed with it to make it more durable, as well as to change the color of gold. Palladium or nickel can be added to create white gold. Adding copper produces rose gold, while silver gives gold a greenish cast.

Solid gold is a term that can be used to describe an item that's at least 10K gold all the way through, which means it's not gold filled or gold plated. Even though it's a gold alloy--18K, 14K, or anything down to 10K--it can be called solid gold. All gold jewelry sold by Faith Diamonds are Solid gold.

Platinum

Platinum, rare and elegant, is the top choice of metal for jewelry. It is one of the rarest precious metals on earth, and there are only 2 major sources of platinum in the world: South Africa and Russia. It takes 10 tons of ore and 8 weeks to process a single ounce of platinum. Being one of the strongest and most enduring metals in the world, platinum is also one of the heaviest: it is 60% heavier than 14kt gold.

the content of platinum is displayed in parts per thousand. Platinum will be stamped 500, 850, 900, 950, etc. In "950" platinum, 95% of the weight of the net alloy will be platinum mixed with 5% of another platinum group metal. The standard hallmark for platinum that must appear on your jewelry along with the alloy stamp includes: PT, Platinum and Plat.