Diamond Grading ; Understanding the 4C's
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing... We know many people these days who get themselves certified as Polished Diamond Graders whether its for their profession, hobby or just acquiring extra knowledge so you can speak trade language when you walk into diamond retail shops. But the #real truth is Diamond Knowledge is extensive and never ending. So how does one become a #credible #real "Expert"?
Study, Experience, Time and seeing enough diamonds help of course. Growing up with diamonds can count as a blessing in this case, although Boonyong would say otherwise (he would tell you the outcome of not doing homework resulted in him sitting next to Daddy who was a Wholesaler and just like us today works from home, to manually sort diamonds according to color and sizes) That definitely trained his eye for detail and perfection (making him a black spot manager to other areas in life too LOL)
As for me, i did my part of STUDY which like it or not is the basic fundamentals to start on your Diamond Knowledge journey. I did my course in Mandarin back in 2010, Shanghai China because it made sense to study diamonds in a language widely or rather ONLY used then. For those who know me, I grew up in a local public school and spoke NO Mandarin till we moved to Shanghai so imagine my whole course duration learning something totally new to me in a 'foreign language'. Im glad i did all that and today I am able to share my passion and knowledge in diamonds in both Mandarin and English.
(Me back in December 2016 doing a workshop on Diamond Education with some ladies from a reputable Etiquette School)
So what is the 4C's?
Cut is not referring to the shape of the diamond but on how well the diamond is Proportionately cut for maximum light refraction, how the diamond facets are symmetrical to allow maximum scintillation and how well the diamond is polished to ensure the diamond surface is smooth, shiny and mirror-like so it shines as bright as it should.
Round shape diamonds have 3 components that are graded and stated in the GIA cert ; Proportion, Symmetry and Polish. *Note: in the GIA cert, Proportion is termed as CUT. This can be fairly confusing or misleading because in some shops that Ive gone to, the Sales Personnel would be quick to answer that their diamond is graded Excellent Cut because it is true at the 'Cut' section you see the grade Excellent but when you look further down the cert you will see that the Symmetry and Polish section only carries a grade 'Very Good' (VG) which means the diamond is not a Triple Excellent Cut (3EX) diamond.
So theres Triple Excellent Diamonds and then there's Love Diamonds. What are they?