03 / 09

Diamonds and the 4Cs

A diamond's price depends on four properties — carat, cut, colour and clarity — but they are not equally important. What the eye actually sees is cut: a well-cut smaller stone outshines a poorly cut large one. Between clarity grades that no naked eye can tell apart, there is no sense paying a difference only a loupe can see. Every stone we set above 0.3 carats carries a GIA or IGI certificate. Here you learn to read a certificate like a goldsmith — and to know where saving is smart and where it is foolish.