Diamonds are made up of the element Carbon, which is also the same element of pencil lead. Carbon under certain temperatures and pressures determine which substance is formed. When Carbon is placed under highly extreme pressure and temperature, it forms the very sought after gem: the Diamond.

Diamonds are first formed from deep within the earth’s crust and mined in many different countries across the globe. Once mined, the rough diamonds are sent to “cutting centers” around the world where these rocks are cut, faceted, and sent to the distributors and wholesalers which then are sold to companies like Zander’s Jewelry (“the dealers”).

There are 4 value factors which Diamonds are based upon which are referred to as the “4 C’s”:

CUT, COLOR, CLARITY, AND CARAT (WEIGHT)

CUT is determined by its shape. The traditional “Round Cut”, also known as the “brilliant cut”, is the most well known diamond shape. It has been named the brilliant cut because of all the different shapes or cuts of diamonds, the Round Cut reflects the most white light back to your eye which is referred to as “sparkle”. Other shapes are called “Fancy Shapes” which include the “Princess Cut”, the “Marquise”, the “Oval”, and the “Pear Shape” to name a few.

COLOR is based on a letter scale beginning with the letter “D” and ranging through the letter “Z”. “D” color is considered completely colorless. As slight to more noticeable shades of yellow are present in the stone, the diamond loses value and is graded accordingly down the scale. A color stone would have enough yellowish tints for someone to clearly see there is yellow present in the diamond.

A “Z” color stone is considered “Fancy Yellow” which is similar to the primary color yellow and is popular in today’s market. Natural Fancy Yellow diamonds demand a higher price as do other natural colored diamonds. Diamonds come in other colors like pink and blue and are considered more valuable since they are rare.

CARAT WEIGHT is the last of the 4 C’s. Carat is the measuring scale by which diamonds are weighed. In a 1.00 carat diamond there are 100 points. Therefore if a diamond weighs 1/2 carat or .50 ct there are 50 points to it.