Knowing how to buy the diamonds is essential so that you will get the most desirable diamond engagement ring for your money. People who are looking for diamond engagement rings should start with the Four C’s of diamonds since these are the criteria on how diamonds are graded and valued.

The Four C’s of the diamond industry are the Cut, Clarity, Color and Carat of the diamond. When buying a diamond engagement ring, it is now a usual to select the diamond first before choosing the base and the design for the engagement ring band.

The Cut
The first C that you need to consider when choosing that most endeared diamond for the engagement ring is the Cut. A lot of people mistake cut for the shape of the diamond which comes in different styles. Shapes of loose diamonds include marquise, pear, heart, emerald, princess, cushion, and round brilliant. Among these shapes, the common choices are the princess and the round brilliant. However, as mentioned earlier, the shape of the diamond is not the criteria for grading the cut.

The Cut of the diamond illustrates the expertise and skill involved in the actual cutting and polishing of the diamond. This also refers to the degree of symmetry the diamond has in accordance to its table (the flat surface area of the diamond) and the depth (the length from table to the tip). Furthermore, a diamond’s cut is also judged on the number of angles and facets which can affect the brilliance and sparkle of the diamond.

A diamond with a superb cut grading is one that will be able to show an excellent light performance. Light performance refers to the way light dances, refracts and reflects as it hits all the facets of the diamond. Diamonds with symmetrical and properly angled facets will show off an excellent light performance. This performance of light will show the diamond’s brilliance, fire, and sparkle (collectively known as obeying or other gaga factor).

There are a lot of scientific ways to measure a diamond’s blink or light performance. Diamond traders are now using different types of visual scopes to determine the brilliance and sparkle of the diamond. Poorly cut diamonds are usually unsymmetrical and can let light out which makes it appear less brilliant than diamonds of superb cut.

If you are going for a diamond engagement ring with more obeying, the round brilliant diamond is fitting.

The Clarity
A diamond’s clarity grading is a measure of the number of blemishes and inclusions (collectively known as flaws) that a diamond posses. Although, the clarity of the diamond does not significantly influence/affect its brilliance, the greater the blemishes or inclusions a diamond has, the poorer is its value.

However, a diamond that has minimal inclusions is still a note worthy diamond if the inclusions cannot be seen by the unaided eye. Remember that there is no such thing as a perfect diamond and that a majority of loose diamonds in the market nowadays possess inclusions or blemishes. As a number jewelers point out, the inclusions in diamonds is one way of identifying a diamond because the patterns that these inclusions form act as the diamond’s fingerprint.

When buying a diamond for an engagement ring, it is ok to choose one that has a few inclusions just as long as these are only visible under magnification.

The Color

Colorless diamonds are scored using a letter scale which starts from a D rating (truly colorless) to a Z rating (brownish). A top quality diamond is one that is close to being colorless as possible. This means that it is graded within the D-F color bracket.

When you select a diamond within the D-F color bracket, you should have it set on white gold or white platinum to further enhance its colorless quality.

The Carat

The carat weight of the diamond is one of the important considerations in how a diamond is priced. Most diamonds that are used for engagement rings average from .50 carat to 1.25 carat. However, there are people who desire their diamond engagement rings to be unique and therefore select a stone with a higher carat weight.

You must remember that a high quality diamond does not necessarily have to be a larger stone. The size of the diamond is not a guarantee of its quality. The quality of the diamond for your engagement ring is determined by the combination of all the factors that were mentioned in this article. It is up to you, as the buyer, to determine which of these grading criteria you are going to prioritize and base your buying decision.

No matter what diamond you purchase with, as long as you made sound decision and used the diamond wisdom given you, you will still end up with a beautiful diamond engagement ring.