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| CUT | ||||||
| A diamond's brilliance emanates from the quality of its cut. The cut brings a rough diamond to life. It gathers light into the stone through the table. The facets of a diamond act as prisms to capture and break white light into a spectrum and they act as mirrors that reflect back multi - colored and white light to the eye as a rainbow of fire. A well cut diamond is carefully crafted and polished until it sparkles. Its brilliance and fire are at optimum when the cut delivers the maximum amount of light passing through to the eye. A well cut diamond must have the right proportions, symmetry and polish. A diamond cut with precise angles and proportions will reflect and disperse the light through the top ( table ) of the diamond, not through the sides or the bottom which would reduce the brilliance of the diamond making it watery, glassy, dark, lifeless and with no sparkle. | ||||||
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 The cut is the only factor that can be controlled outside of nature. The diamond's clarity, weight and color occur naturally but the hands of a human master diamond cutter are needed to ignite its sparkling fire and brilliance. Diamonds are cut into various shapes, such as round, oval, pear, marquise, princess, radiant and heart. Each shape requires its own expert master craftsman who will cut and enhance the diamond to its fullest potential. The symmetry, polish and finish determine the fire and brilliance of each diamond. A master diamond cutter will determine the ultimate value of a diamond, by creating its very essence of brilliance and sparkle. At Jaffe's our cut is, above all, the most important factor. Our diamonds are cut to insure optimum proportions that will reflect from one facet to another as well as disperse light through the top (table) as an array of color. The girdle is polished and faceted for maximum brilliance. Our diamonds are truly a cut above the rest. | ||||||
| COLOR | ||||||
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| Diamonds come in an array of natural colors. A pure diamond, a colorless diamond, is considered the most stunning and the most rare. The near colorless ( white ) is the second most expensive color group of diamonds. The difference between one color grade and another is very subtle, especially to the untrained eye. When mounted in jewelry even experts may find it difficult to distinguish the colorless gem from the near colorless gem. The more yellow shading a diamond has will reduce its value, but not necessarily its beauty. A well cut diamond will by its refraction and dispersion of light enhance certain degrees of coloration. The gemologists have devised a scale for grading the color of a diamond. The scale ranges from "D" the colorless diamond, continuing down the alphabet. Although diamonds may appear to be colorless, from "I" onwards the diamond will have some subtle yellow or brownish tones. Even a stone graded "M" is still beautiful, but is less rare and therefore less valuable. Fancy diamonds are diamonds in well defined colors, such as blue, canary, green, red or pink. They are highly prized and particularly rare. They are valued for their depth of color, just as white diamonds are valued for their lack of color. | ||||||
| CLARITY | ||||||
The flawless diamond is a rarity. The purer the clarity, the more beautiful and valuable the diamond is. The clarity of a diamond is determined by the presence or absence of tiny natural birthmarks known as "inclusions". Most inclusions are not visible to the naked eye. They can usually be seen through a 10X magnifying loupe or microscope. They look like crystals or clouds. The fewer and smaller the inclusions the higher the price. Even though inclusions can not easily be seen their presence reduces the price because they effect the beauty and the value of the diamond by absorbing the light rather then allowing it to be reflected back through the front side of the stone. How much they reduce the value of a diamond depends on their size, number and position throughout the diamond. An inclusion in the center is more visible than one near the edge. The inclusion can also be mirrored many times by adjoining facets. Clarity is graded on a scale with a range from internally flawless (IF) to very very small inclusions (VVS1-VVS2), very small inclusions (VS1-VS2), small inclusions (SI1-SI2), and imperfect (I1-I2) with eye-visible inclusions. The larger the inclusion, the lower the grade and the less rare the diamond. | ||||||
| CARAT WEIGHT | ||||||
Diamonds are measured by weight. The unit measurement is called a carat. A carat equals 0.2 grams or 200 milligrams. Each carat is divided into 100 points. A .50 carat diamond is the same as a 50 point diamond or a 1/2 carat diamond. Varying degrees of quality can be found in diamonds of all carat weights. Large diamonds are rarer than smaller ones. Therefore, a three carat diamond will be more expensive per carat than the one carat diamond of equal quality. A one carat diamond will be more expensive than two half carat diamonds given the same color, clarity and cut. A diamond can not be evaluated by weight alone. A diamond should be cut for its beauty and brilliance, not for its maximum yield in weight. A heavy lumpy diamond will not have the sparkle, fire, beauty or value of the well cut diamond. Diamonds of equal size will vary in value and brilliance depending on the quality of their color, clarity and cut, the other three "C's". | ||||||
