Making Sense of Diamond Grading Specs!Written by Keith Thompson
Anyone wanting to make an informed purchase of diamond jewelry needs at least a cursory understanding of Four C's. These are standards by which diamonds are graded, and ultimately determine their value. They are Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat weight. What follows is a brief description to acquaint diamond shoppers with these essential benchmarks.CARAT WEIGHT - Contrary to popular belief, a large stone alone does not a valuable diamond make! While bigger can be better, it's not only factor. All other C's carry as much weight in end, and be sure to use size as a factor, though not necessarily a determining one. A carat is actually a measurement of weight, not size, equal to 200 Milligrams. COLOR - The less color better. In other words, everything else being equal, a colorless diamond will be much more valuable. Diamonds range in color from colorless to brown, and are ranked by letter starting with "D",(colorless) to "Z", (brownish) This is determined under special lighting, and does not include "fancy colored diamonds", as these are graded differently. In short, clearer better! CLARITY - Another important characteristic of a diamond's value is it's clarity. This deals with number and size of any inclusions; small clouds, crystals, feathers or cavities noticeable under 10X magnification. The clarity grades are F-Flawless (extremely rare); IF-Internally Flawless; VVS1, VVS2- Very, Very Slightly Included; VS1, VS2 - Very Slightly Included; SI1, SI2- Slightly Included; and I1,I2,I3- Included. All you really need to know about this though, (other than your diamond's grade) is that you should not be able to see any inclusions with naked eye.
| | A smile a day keeps the demons awayWritten by Stephen Hill
I like to be around positive people, people who tend to be happy, who look on bright side of life. Far too many people walk around in what seems like a depressed state. Come on people, it costs nothing to smile.I must admit, I used to be one of ones who walked around in a depressed state. I had many things on my mind, many things I was not happy with, I used to feel so sorry for myself. Even when I write about it now, I laugh about how pathetic I used to be. Things were about to change however. At time a new employee joined company where I worked, his name was Stuart. Now this may seem cruel but Stuart did not have a lot going for him. I won't go into details but lets just say I did not feel jealous of his life. I became quite good friends with Stuart and
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