The 4 C’s of diamonds

Clarity
A diamonds clarity refers to the clearness or purity of a diamond. Diamonds may have various inclusions or imperfections. The number and size of these determines the clarity grading. A lot of imperfections in diamonds are not visible to the naked eye. For this reason clarity is graded under 10 x magnification.

Cut
Cut refers not only to the shape and style of the diamond, but its proportions, symmetry, and finish or “make”. The best cut will reflect light from facet to facet and return light through the top of the diamond.

Diamond shapes

Color
describes the amount of color the diamond contains. Diamonds range from colorless to yellow with slight tints of yellow, gray or brown. Colors can also range from intense yellow to brown, blue, green, pink and red. These fancy colors are rare and therefore more valuable.

Carat Weight
The weight of a diamond is measured in carats. A carat is subdivided into 100 points. 1.00ct = 1 Carat = 100 points 0.50ct = ˝ Carat = 50 points

Rough Diamonds

Gold

Metal	Stampings for precious metal in Australia
Platinum	PT
Palladium	PD
18ct Gold	750 or 18ct
9ct Gold	375 or 9ct
Sterling silver	925

The stamping of numbers show the parts per 1000 of the particular metal e.g. 9ct is 375 so it 37.5% gold contents and 18ct is 750 so it is 75% gold contents.

Modern birthstones

Month	Birthstone
January	Garnet
February	Amethyst
March	Aquamarine
April	Diamond
May	Emerald
June	Pearl or Alexandrite
July	Ruby
August	Peridot
September	Sapphire or Lapis Lazuli
October	Opal or Tourmaline
November	Topaz or Citrine
December	Turquoise