Diamond Education

Since 1997, we've been building lasting relationships with all our customers to help you make the best possible decisions for you and your jewelry. We know your jewelry can become lasting family heirlooms, and we want to help you learn how to care for your jewelry and your diamonds so they can last for generations. Explore our diamond education page to find out more. Want to learn how to best care for your jewelry? Visit Jewelry Care Guide

The 4 C’s of Diamonds

The quality of a diamond is evaluated using four primary characteristics known as the 4C'S - cut, color, clarity and carat. There is a wide range of diamond sizes and qualities available within any given budget. The challenge is to determine which of the 4C's are most important to you in order to narrow this range so you can make the best choice.

CUT

Cut is important because it is a direct indication of the brilliance and sparkle of a diamond. Diamonds with perfect clarity or color, but which are badly cut can appear dull and lifeless, but finely cut diamonds can in many cases be brilliant, even with average or below average color and clarity. The better the cut, the more rare and the more valuable is the diamond.


COLOR

The color of a diamond results from light passing through chemical impurities and/or defects is the crystalline structure. These inclusions alter the amount of light absorption so that color is visible to the human eye. While diamonds come in many colors and many hues, the most common is yellow. The amount of yellow hue is graded according to a scale which ranges from D (colorless) to Z (light). A diamond whose color is saturated beyond a Z rating is denoted as a "fancy" color and are graded using a specialized scale. The saturated and intense the color, the rarer and more valuable is the diamond.


CLARITY

The clarity grade of a diamond measures the gemstone's relative freedom from clarity characteristics, known as inclusions or blemishes. Clarity is graded on a relative scale under 10X magnification. The rating system ranges from Flawless to Included and is based on five factors: size, number, location, relief (contrast between characteristic and gem), and nature (type).


CARAT

The term "carat" refers to the weight of a diamond. The value of a diamond rises with its size because larger diamonds are more rare and desirable.

Here at CALVIN'S, we specialize in 1.00 carat - 4.00 carat diamonds, both Natural and Lab Grown.