THE 4 C'S OF DIAMOND
You know our love for diamonds, so we wanted to talk about their carat weight with you! All of our natural diamonds are sourced to order and are certified by independent laboratories that issue us GIA (Gemological Institute of America) or HRD (Diamond High Council) certificates. These come from countries that are signatories to the Kimberley Process.
It is the unit of measurement for the weight of a diamond. The term comes from the seed of a tree called carob or “Kuara”. The latter had the particularity of keeping the same weight over time. The carat entered the metric systems in 1906 during the Congress of Weights and Measures in Paris, where it was defined that 1 carat would represent 0.20 grams. Namely, the largest diamonds are also the rarest, and as you have understood, its price is linked exponentially!
Note that a diamond is also appreciated according to color criteria. The white diamond color scale includes 23 shades, classified from D to Z (from more or less white). At Douze Paris, we use G and H color diamonds.
Clarity means imperfection, and every diamond has some. These "flaws" are called inclusions. In most cases, these are not visible to the naked eye and will not affect the diamond's brilliance. At Douze Paris, we use VS clarity diamonds. Richard T. Liddicoat and his colleagues established the Gemological Institute of America's (GIA) diamond grading system and clarity scale in 1953. This table lists the different classification categories and clarity grades for diamonds, the main ones being:
- FL: Flawless : Perfectly pure under the microscope.
- IF: Internally Flawless : Pure under the microscope.
- VVS 1-2: Very Very Small inclusions : Very very small inclusions.
- VS 1-2: Very Small inclusions : Very small inclusions.
- S 1-2: Small inclusions : Small inclusions.
- I 1-2-3: Included Inclusions : Visible inclusions.
The quality of the diamond cut is the only one of the 4 criteria to depend on human work. Its size will reveal the luster and brilliance of the stone. For example, the brilliant (or round) cut has 57 facets which maximize the refraction of light. Sizes may change over time for purely aesthetic reasons or technical improvements. The rose cut is the perfect illustration of this phenomenon! Indeed, this cut developed in the 16th century saw its number of facets increase over time. Long neglected, it is gradually returning to the agenda!
