Choose Your Diamond

Because every diamond is unique — and none more so than the one that will mark an engagement — it is worth knowing the features that set stones apart. These are the four Cs: Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat. Each shapes the beauty of a diamond, and each, in turn, moves its price.

The four Cs, briefly

Cut is, for most graders, the most important of the four. It governs more than a diamond’s outline; it decides how much light the stone gives back, and how that light breaks into colour. Cut is the sum of proportion, symmetry and polish; done well, it makes a stone return light to the eye instead of leaking it through the bottom.

Colour. Diamonds are typically transparent, carrying only the faintest hint of colour. With the exception of fancy-coloured stones, the rarest diamonds are the most colourless. Grades run from D to Z, D being the rarest of all.

Clarity. Most diamonds look completely transparent to the naked eye. In fact they often hold inclusions — crystals, feathers, clouds — so slight that a loupe is needed to find them. The rarest of all are the stones free of inclusions or external marks: the Flawless diamonds.

Carat is weight, not size: one carat is 0.20 grams, also counted as 100 points. Larger diamonds are found far more rarely in nature, and are valued accordingly.

Shape as temperament

Beyond the four Cs lies a quieter decision: how the stone should feel on the hand. Shape is the outline of a diamond, and at VHENY we read each one for the mood it sets — a small note on the disposition it carries, and a help in matching a stone to the person who will wear it.

Shape	What it carries
Round	Timeless and assured
Princess	Crisp and contemporary
Emerald	Composed and architectural
Asscher	Quietly period
Cushion	Soft and tender
Marquise	Bold and theatrical
Oval	Fluid and forward-looking
Pear	Singular
Radiant	Vivid and full of fire
Heart	Openly affectionate