In my previous article, I mentioned that I wanted to explain just how diamonds are classified by the GIA. The different classification each diamond undergoes helps to determine just how much the diamond is actually worth, as well as to protect both the buyer of the diamond from getting a phony or a bad diamond at a good diamond’s cost. It’s good to know these things when you’re shopping for a diamond. I’m not saying that all diamond sellers are untrustworthy or out to swindle you out of your hard earned cash, not at all. I am saying though that once you’re looking at the diamonds, understanding their ratings will help you to understand if they are giving you a good price, and what ranges of classification you want for the diamond to buy.

There are four basic areas that professionals look at when they are inspecting a diamond to determine it’s grade. One of them, diamond clarity, is something that I discussed in greater detail in my previous article, What is a Diamond Clarity Scale? I was going to do an article on each of the other three classifications that a diamond is given, but have decided instead to simply cover the rest of them in this article.

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When you’re planning a wedding, there are a lot of decisions and details to consider. Perhaps one of the first decisions that you’re going to have to make is the ring. Guys, if you’re buying an engagement ring for your sweetheart, you’ll want to know a little something about diamonds before you jump right in there and buy one. An engagement ring is a huge purchase, and you want to know you’re getting a good deal and not being sold a piece of junk that is way overpriced. So if you’ve decided to go ahead and pop that question with a beautiful diamond engagement ring, thats great. But like I said, you need to know something about how diamonds are classified and about their worth so that you can make an informed decision.

The 4 C’s to Choosing a Diamond

Back in the early 1950’s, the diamond industry set up a set of guidelines for grading and rating a diamond. The grading system ended up as it is today, with a GIA rating system. This system grades a diamond based off of 4 basic qualities. They are: clarity, cut, carat and color. I feel that each area is too important to simply leave to giving you a quick description of them, and thus have decided to make this a little mini-series. As you can tell from the title, I’ve decided to discuss the clarity aspect first.

What is Diamond Clarity?

Diamond clarity is basically the quality of diamonds in relation to the existence and visual appearance of internal characteristics of a diamond.

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