The 4Cs of diamonds, explained in five minutes
Cut, colour, clarity and carat: which ones you can see, which ones you pay for, and where to save.
Diamond grading reports list four things: cut, colour, clarity and carat weight. They all affect the price, but they do not all affect what you see across a dinner table.
Cut is the one to protect
Cut decides how much light comes back out of the stone. An excellent cut makes a smaller diamond look brighter and bigger than a poorly cut larger one.
Where to save
Clarity grades from VS2 are usually clean to the eye, and near-colourless G or H stones look bright white in yellow or rose gold. Spend the difference on cut.
