Buy With Confidence

Jewelry Education

Understanding what makes a diamond beautiful can make choosing one feel simpler. Start with the four qualities used to describe and compare diamonds: cut, clarity, color, and carat weight.

The 4Cs of Diamonds

Four Qualities, One Remarkable Diamond

Every diamond is unique. Its beauty, rarity, and value are shaped by the combination of all four Cs—not by any single grade alone.

Cut

Cut describes a diamond's proportions, angles, and craftsmanship—not its shape.

A beautifully cut diamond directs light from one mirror-like facet to another and returns it through the top of the stone, producing brilliance and fire. A diamond cut too deeply or too shallowly allows light to escape through the sides or bottom, which can create a duller appearance and reduce its value.

Clarity

Clarity measures the natural characteristics found within and on the surface of a diamond.

Diamonds form deep within the earth, and many contain tiny minerals, fractures, or other identifying marks called inclusions. Jewelers evaluate these details under 10× magnification using the clarity scale established by the Gemological Institute of America. In general, greater clarity means greater rarity.

Color

Color grades describe how colorless a white diamond appears under controlled viewing conditions.

The GIA color scale runs from D, meaning colorless, through Z, where warmer tones are more noticeable. Differences between adjacent grades can be extremely subtle, so diamonds are compared with master stones under consistent lighting. Colorless diamonds are prized for their rarity, but the right color is also a matter of personal preference.

Carat

Carat is a measure of a diamond's weight—not its visible size.

One carat equals 100 points, so a three-quarter-carat diamond weighs 75 points. Because larger diamonds are found less often in nature, prices rise at a faster rate as carat weight increases when cut, color, and clarity are comparable. Shape, cut, and mounting can all influence how large a diamond appears.

Celebrate Every Milestone

Anniversary Gift Guide

The right gift can add sparkle to any anniversary. Use this guide to explore traditional, modern, and gemstone ideas for each milestone year.

Year	Traditional	Modern	Gemstone
1st	Paper	Clocks	Gold jewelry
2nd	Cotton	China	Garnet
3rd	Leather	Crystal or glass	Pearls
4th	Fruit or flowers	Appliances	Blue topaz
5th	Wood	Silverware	Sapphire
6th	Candy or iron	Wood	Amethyst
7th	Wool or copper	Desk sets	Onyx
8th	Bronze or pottery	Linens or lace	Tourmaline
9th	Pottery or willow	Leather	Lapis lazuli
10th	Tin or aluminum	Diamond jewelry	Diamond
11th	Steel	Fashion jewelry	Turquoise
12th	Silk or linen	Pearls	Jade
13th	Lace	Textiles or furs	Citrine
14th	Ivory	Gold jewelry	Opal
15th	Crystal	Watches	Ruby
20th	China	Platinum	Peridot
25th	Silver	Silver	Silver jubilee
30th	Pearl	Diamond	Pearl jubilee
35th	Coral	Jade	Emerald
40th	Ruby	Ruby	Ruby
45th	Sapphire	Sapphire	Sapphire
50th	Gold	Gold	Golden jubilee
55th	Emerald	Emerald	Alexandrite
60th	Diamond	Diamond	Diamond jubilee

Personal Diamond Guidance

See the Difference for Yourself

Let our experienced team show you different diamond grades side by side and explain how the four Cs work together.