Cut

Cut is the only diamond characteristic directly influenced by man – the other three are dictated by nature. A good round brilliant cut releases the life, fire and sparkle of a diamond through the arrangement and proportions of its 57 to 58 facets (tiny planes that create angles to reflect light). When a diamond is cut the light will reflect from one facet to another and disperse through the top of the stone, resulting in a display of brilliance and fire. Diamonds that are cut to deep or shallow lose light that spills through the side or bottom.

The shape of a diamond is a matter of personal taste, with the round brilliant being the most popular of the shapes. Other shapes include the emerald cut, pear shape, marquise, princess cut, oval and heart shape.

Colour

While most diamonds appear white many of them display hints of colour barely discernable to the naked eye. The closer a diamond approaches colourless, the rarer and more valuable the stone.

Diamonds with a strong blue colour are extremely rare and are called 'fancies'. Amongst them can be found pink, blue, yellow, green and orange.

Clarity

A diamonds clarity is determined by the degree to which it is free from naturally occurring inclusions, often called "nature's fingerprints".

The number, type, colour, size and position of the internal birthmarks can affect a diamond's value. However many are undetectable to the naked eye requiring magnification under a standard 10x magnification loupe before they become apparent. The fewer the inclusions the rarer the stone. Below is a table describing the differences between the grades.

	FL, IF Diamonds Has no internal or external inclusions. Very rare and beautiful diamonds.
	VVS1, VVS2 Diamonds Very, very slight inclusions. Very difficult to see under 10 x magnification, an excellent quality diamond.
	VS1, VS2 Diamonds Very slight inclusions. Unable to see imperfections with unaided eye. Much less expensive than VVS grades.
	SI1, SI2 Diamonds Slight inclusions visible under 10 x magnification, not with unaided eye.
	I1, I2, I3 Diamonds Inclusions. Visible to naked eye.

Carat-weight

Carat refers to the weight and therefore the size of the diamond. One carat is divided into 100 points. Therefore, a diamond weighing 50 points is half a carat. Size is the most obvious factor in determining the value of a diamond. But two diamonds of equal size can have very different values, depending on their cut, clarity and colour (not to scale).

	1.5 carat
	1.0 carat
	0.75 carat
	0.50 carat
	0.30carat