Choosing Your Diamonds
Diamonds
Clarity
Colour
Cut
A well-cut diamond can make light perform in breathtaking ways, resulting in a magnificent display of three important diamond attributes: brilliance, fire, and scintillation.
The standard round brilliant is by far the most popular diamond cut. It has 57 or 58 facets, depending on whether there’s a cult or not.
Carat Weight
Diamond weights are stated in metric carats, abbreviated ‘cts.’ One metric carat (abbreviated ’ct.’) is one-fifth (0.2000) of a gram-just over seven thousandths(0.007) of an ounce. One ounce contains almost 142 carats.
The metric carat is divided into 100 points. A point (pt) is one hundredth of a carat.
Large diamonds are more rare than small ones, so a large stone doesn’t just cost more. It also cost more per carat. A 1.00-ct. diamond weights the same as four 0.25-ct. diamonds. But even if all the other quality factors are equal, the larger diamond is worth much more than the sum of the four smaller diamonds.