Every Diamond Has a Story:
Understanding the 4 Cs
What Gives a Diamond Its Exceptional Beauty?
The answer lies in the 4 Cs: cut, colour, clarity and carat. These universally recognised standards are used to assess the quality of both natural and lab-grown diamonds, helping you understand exactly what makes each gemstone unique.
As you explore this guide, you'll discover how these qualities are brought to life within our Compose by Clogau engagement rings, giving you the confidence to find the perfect balance of beauty, quality and value.
The 4 Cs
We have the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) to thank for the 4 Cs. They transformed diamond grading by creating a clear, consistent system that replaced confusing terminology with scientific standards.
Why does GIA grading remain the industry benchmark? Because it provides an accurate and consistent way to assess a diamond's quality, giving you confidence in your purchase. Let's explore each of the 4 Cs.
Cut
The term cut may evoke shapes such as Round Brilliant, Princess and Emerald; however, these refer to a diamond's shape. Cut also describes how well a diamond interacts with light, based on the proportions and placement of its facets.
A beautifully cut diamond maximises light reflection, creating the dazzling sparkle that diamonds are known for. Even a diamond with an impressive carat weight or exceptional colour can appear dull if it is poorly cut.
Within our Compose by Clogau engagement rings, you can choose from Princess, Round Brilliant, Emerald and Oval cuts in either natural or lab-grown diamonds.
Colour
When talking about diamond colour, less colour is more desirable. The closer a diamond is to being colourless, the more brilliantly it reflects light.
Diamonds are graded on a D–Z colour scale, as shown below:
- D-F: Colourless - the most brilliant diamonds.
- G-J: Near colourless - slight colour detectable only under close inspection
- K-M: Faint yellow or brown tint.
- N-Z: Increasingly noticeable yellow or brown colour.
Within the Compose by Clogau collection, our natural diamond engagement rings are available in D, G and I colour grades, whilst our lab-grown diamonds are exclusively available in the highest D colour grade.
Before the D–Z scale was introduced, colour grading varied widely, using Roman numerals and subjective descriptions, often leading to confusion.
Clarity
Clarity refers to a diamond's natural internal characteristics, known as inclusions. Natural diamonds were formed millions (and sometimes billions) of years ago beneath the Earth's surface, making these tiny characteristics part of their unique story.
Lab-grown diamonds can also contain inclusions, although the controlled growing process often results in fewer visible imperfections.
Most inclusions cannot be seen with the naked eye and are only visible under magnification. Within our Compose by Clogau collection, the minimum clarity we offer is SI1 for natural diamonds and VS1 for lab-grown diamonds.
- VS1 (Very Slightly Included 1): Around 95% are eye-clean.
- VS2 (Very Slightly Included 2): Around 85% are eye-clean.
- SI1 (Slightly Included 1): Around 50% are eye-clean.
The term eye-clean means that the inclusions cannot be seen without magnification.
Carat
Carat refers to the weight of a diamond rather than its size. By considering the other three Cs alongside carat, you can choose a diamond that offers the best balance of beauty, quality and value within your budget.
Rather than focusing solely on size, remember that a smaller diamond with exceptional cut, colour and clarity will often appear more brilliant than a larger diamond of lower quality.
Fun fact: The term carat comes from the seeds of the carob tree, which were once used as a standard unit of weight for gemstones because of their remarkably consistent size.
You can see the visible difference between carat weights here.
Diamonds Are Forever
Understanding the 4 Cs empowers you to choose the diamond qualities that matter most to you. If you're looking for exceptional sparkle without compromising on quality or value, our Compose by Clogau Celebration engagement ring is the perfect example.
Available in either a Princess or Round Brilliant cut, it features a stunning 1.0 carat lab-grown diamond with D colour and VS1 clarity, a remarkable combination of the 4 Cs. Best of all, this ring starts from just £1,200, making exceptional diamond quality more attainable than ever.
Now that you understand the 4 Cs, you can confidently choose the diamond, whether natural or lab-grown, that's right for you.
Remember, you can always balance cut, colour, clarity and carat to suit your style and budget.
With brilliance,
Lydia Carter