Diamonds are the hardest natural mineral on earth, which makes them perfectly suited for everyday wear in jewelry like engagement and wedding rings. Anyone who begins to research buying or selling diamonds will encounter references to "The Four C's," which are cut, color, clarity and carat weight.

Cut: The cut, or make, of a diamond is the single most important factor in determining its beauty and ultimate value, and it is the only part left to the artisan. A diamond's cut is based upon the precise combination of angles and proportions that maximize the brilliance (white light), fire (rainbow colors), and scintillation (sparkle) inside a diamond.

Color: The term 'color' is often misleading, as diamonds are characterized by or graded on their absence of color. It is important to know that most diamonds naturally display a hint of color, and only the rarest are truly white or colorless. The higher a diamond's color grade, or the closer a diamond is to colorless, the more rare and valuable it is.

Clarity: A diamond's clarity refers to the number, color, and location of internal inclusions (inner blemishes) or external inclusions (surface blemishes) it carries. Although all diamonds have inclusions, they are not often seen by the unaided eye. Clarity grade is determined by viewing diamonds under ten power magnification, the industry standard.

Carat Weight: The term 'carat', though commonly misused in reference to a diamond's physical size or size appearance due to cut, actually refers to a diamond's metric unit of weight. With all other factors being equal, heavier diamonds are rarer and thus more valuable.

Most people think of diamonds as colorless and transparent, however diamonds are found in many different colors, the most common of which are yellow and brown. In between these colors a number of variations exist and these are known as "fancy color diamonds." For every natural color diamond, there are 10,000 colorless ones that have made the trip to the Earth's surface.