Tag Archives: 4 C’s

15 Feb

The 4 C’s of Engagement Rings: Clarity

Schwanke-Kasten encourages you to consider the third installment in our 4 C’s series, a diamond’s clarity.

In fact, the diamond clarity refers to the presence, or absence, of tiny inclusions or birthmarks which occur during the forming period of the diamond. A lot of inclusions in a diamond can result in less light passing through, which reduces sparkle.

schwanke-kasten-jewelry-4-Cs-clarity

The G.I.A. created an 11-point clarity scale to grade diamonds, meaning they take into account size, color, number, and position of every flaw that is seen under a 10 x magnified lens:

FL: Flawless – No inclusions or blemishes. Extremely rare, in fact, the G.I.A. rates less than 1 in 5,000 diamonds as FL.

IF: Internal Flawless – No inclusions; blemishes are only visible under a 10 x microscope. Shockingly, the G.I.A. rates less than 3% of diamonds as IF.

VVS1/VVS2: Very, Very Slightly Included – Inclusions are very difficult to detect, even under magnification. Their appearance to the naked eye is extremely similar to IF graded diamonds

VS1/VS2: Very Slightly Included – Inclusions are clearly visible under 10x magnifications but are very hard to detect with the naked eye.

SI1/SI2: Slightly Included – The lowest grade of flaws that are typical invisible to the naked eye.

I1/I2/I3: Included – Inclusions are almost always visible to the naked eye. They are very obvious under 10 x magnification and often affect transparency and brilliance.

Anyways, Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers encourages you to come to our Whitefish Bay location to view our full selection of diamond engagement rings.

08 Feb

4 C’s of Engagement Rings: Color

With the second article of the 4 C’s series, Schwanke Kasten would like you to explore a diamond’s color. Diamond color refers to the presence of any color at all. A perfect diamond is completely colorless, allowing the most amount of light to pass through creating a wonderful effect. Along with being completely colorless, diamonds can also have a slight cloudy appearance or can contain some yellow color. The more color a diamond has the lower its quality and the less valuable the diamond is.

4 C's - Color | Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers

An alphabetical scale was developed by the Gemological Institute of America (G.I.A.) to represent a diamond’s color. The scale ranges from D – Z. (According to the G.I.A., the scale starts at D in order to differentiate itself from other scales at the time, all of which started with A)

D-F: Colorless

G-J: Near Colorless

K-M: Faint Yellow

N-R: Very Light Yellow

S-Z: Light Yellow

Obviously, it is ideal to purchase a diamond rated D-F. However, even though a diamond rated G-J might contain a minuscule amount of color, it is almost always invisible to the untrained eye, so it is perfect for someone whose budget doesn’t allow for them to purchase the highest rated diamonds.

Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers has a great selection of diamond engagement rings.  Visit our diamonds on the Schwanke-Kasten website.

 

 

 

24 Jan

Diamond Cut – 4 C’s of Engagement Rings

The 4 C’s of are the main criteria you should use when purchasing a diamond engagement ring, which  are cut, diamond color, diamond clarity, and carat weight.  Let’s begin by exploring the first C, the diamond cutting.

Diamond Cut - Diamond Cutting

Source: Wikipedia

Many consider the diamond’s cut as the most important of the 4 C’s. The cut has the biggest impact on the stone’s brilliance. Light play within the diamond is what we refer to as brilliance. There are a variety of different diamond cuts to choose from, and the different cuts will alter the look of your finished product.   In 2005, the International Diamond Grading System released the GIA cut scale which is a uniform system used to determine the grade of round-cut diamonds.

Ideal Cut Diamonds

Ideal cut diamonds reflect nearly all light that enters the stone through the top which maximize the brilliance of a diamond and yields the highest possible grades of symmetry and polish.

Very Good Cut

Diamonds that sacrifice a little brilliance for a larger size. These are a cost-effective option.

Good cut

Quality diamonds, but do show a significant lack in brilliance.

Fair or Poor cut 

Fair or Poor Cut Diamonds lack the ability to reflect a sufficient amount of light. They are usually shallow or deep cut and inexpensively priced.

Explore some of the best diamond cut by visiting with Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers.

Diamond cutters will train for years and years to be apt at cutting diamonds. The slightest mishap can have detrimental affects to the structure of the diamond as well as the value. Definitely make sure that you check the diamond’s, if it is a GIA certified diamond, cut grade. GIA Grading cards will give you valuable information regarding not only the cut of the diamond but the rest of the four c’s.