YOU CAN’T BUY DIAMONDS BASED UPON JUST ONE OF THE 4C’S

Engagement Ring Shopping?

I’m here to help…

Because people get so misguided, so misinformed, and some, well some just don’t know what to look for.

Until now!

For this post will be a real eye-opener for all those diamond shopping.

I get so many people that come into the jewelry store and say something like, “I’d like to compare SI1 diamonds, please“.

Sure, no problem.

I pull some out and show them SI1 clarity diamonds. And just to show you for example, take a look at these SI1 clarity diamonds below…

They all look very different, don’t they?

The prices are all different too. Some are $1,000 cheaper than others… It goes to show you that all SI1 diamonds will look totally unique and different, but that’s because there’s more that goes into a diamond’s look and price than just ONE of the 4 C’s.

The 4 C’s are Four Topics:

• Cut
• Color
• Clarity
• Carat Weight

(In order of importance).

And just one of them alone will not make a great looking stone.

Some people come in looking for “Pure White” diamonds. Those are diamonds graded D, E, and F in color (my favorite color is E). Fabulous. Here are some pure white stones for you…

Crazy Difference, eh?

They don’t look anything alike. You wouldn’t even think they were the same color…

That’s because their clarity and cut range from one spectrum to the other. It impacts the visual aspect of a diamond in its entirety.

Now let’s take a Peek at Cut

A customer may say they want an “Ideal Cut” diamond.

Sure, here’s a bunch that’s Ideal:

Great Cut, but still so different!

Color and clarity even affects Cut!

It shows you how no two diamonds are alike.

Some people come in and only Compare Size.

They come in wanting a “1.00 Carat Diamond” and are comparing prices down the street. Here are 1 carat diamonds for you…

Okay, you get it…

Just one of the 4 C’s won’t do it…

How about TWO? Many people shop by looking at a certain color and clarity “SI1, E, Diamonds” (Which is by far the most popular clarity and color).

Sure, here you go…

Do they look the same to you?

No. No. No. Not even close. This is because most people skip the most important 4C: CUT.

Cut is crucial to a diamond’s beauty and sparkle.

CRUCIAL!

But even then, it’s still NOT ENOUGH.

Compare these diamonds that are all “Ideal Cut, VS2, G Diamonds“…

It’s Better…

But there are still apparent differences.

How can this be?

There are more things we have not compared… Things that can still affect the look and feel of a diamond. Which are:

• Symmetry
• Polish
• Fluorescence
• Certification

These can not only change the appearance of a diamond, but also the price by THOUSANDS!

When you get into Symmetry and Polish, you get into diamonds that are cut like those wonderful “Hearts and Arrows” diamonds (Called True Hearts at James Allen).

These are truly impressive cuts of diamond that will outshine any other cut of diamond (including the standard “Ideal” cut).

Fluorescence is often overlooked, too.

Which is sad. But it can make a diamond look foggy or cloudy, regardless of the quality. And so many stores don’t even mention it… They could easily sell you a VVS1, E, Hearts and Arrows Diamond, and it could have Strong Fluorescence, and look like crap.

Really!

So always look at the diamond report for Fluorescence. Make sure it has “none“, or at the very least, that the Fluorescence doesn’t affect the beauty of the stone (this means you have to view the stone in all different types of lighting, outside, inside… to see if it affects the stone visually. Some do, some don’t.)

And Certification even matters.

GIA is the best, but if you look at other diamond reports (like IGI, or EGL), those 4c’s listed could be off. They could be slightly exaggerated or bumped higher than they really are. That’s why I recommend GIA diamonds only (a second best is AGS). When you compare GIA diamonds against other certificate companies with the same characteristics, you’ll see that GIA’s always looks better!

Now, let’s really compare:

So, now that we have 8 items to compare (which is really comparing apples to apples), let’s see what they look like now:

When we adjust the cut to “True Hearts“, select “Excellent” for both “Polish” and “Symmetry” (which is easy to do with Jame’s Allen’s diamond tools and advanced options), and making sure the diamond has “none” fluorescence, the diamonds really start to look more similar. Not exact, for nothing in nature is exact or perfect, but very, very close. Side by side you’d have a very hard time telling any of these stones apart. And that’s how you truly compare diamonds and prices.

But any of the other stones on this page…

Well, those are pretty obvious to spot. It’s like night and day.

There is more than just 1 4C. And even then, color, clarity, carat weight and cut aren’t enough.

You have to also include polish, symmetry, fluorescence and certification.

It’s a lot to look at…

I know. But it makes all the difference in the world. And your diamond.

See truly exceptional diamonds (SI1, E, True Hearts) at James Allen HERE.

Cheers! :)