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The Four Cs
By now, most consumers have heard of the "Four C's" for diamonds: carat weight,
color, clarity, and
cut.
That's mainly because De Beers, the South African mining company that controls
most of the world's diamond supply, has been promoting these quality factors
since 1948.
Besides communicating quality, the Four C's determine value. The bigger a stone, or the better its color, clarity and cut, the more it is worth. But only one of these four factors tells you much about a diamond's beauty.
Diamond beauty depends primarily on cut-or, more accurately, cutting. Why? Because only proper cutting unlocks the spectacular brilliance, fire and sparkle that are the diamond's chief aesthetic attributes. [Note: "cutting" refers to proportions and workmanship while "cut" refers to particular shapes such as the round.]
The diamond world has long used universal grading systems to judge color and clarity. Now, with cutting increasingly recognized as the key to diamond beauty, it is seeking a grading system for this factor, too.
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