A diamond is given its value by taking in to consideration four main elements we call the Four Cs - carat, colour, clarity and cut.

CUT: The brilliance of a diamond is determined by the precision with which it is cut. Perfect proportions allow light to reflect internally and disperse through the top of the diamond, giving it that unmistakable sparkle. The round brilliant cut is the most popular shape, although there are others such as emerald, princess, oval, marquise, pear and heart.

COLOUR: Diamond colour is graded from D (colourless) to Z (tinted) using the international colour grading scale as reference. The closer a diamond is to colourless, the rarer and more valuable it is. Coloured diamonds are those which have a strong, even colour such as yellow, pink or blue. These are referred to as 'fancy diamonds' and are extremely rare.

Colour chart:

D - E = Exceptional white

F - G = Rare white

H = White

I - J = slightly tinted white

K - L = Tinted white

M - Z = Tinted colour

CLARITY: Clarity indicates the degree to which a stone is 'included'. It is extremely rare to find a perfectly clear diamond therefore most have tiny inclusions otherwise referred to as nature's fingerprints. Clarity grading ranges from internally flawless stones (FI/IF) to those that have tiny inclusions which can just be seen by the naked eye.

Clarity chart:

FI - IF = Flawless/Internally flawless

V VS1 - V VS2 = Very very small inclusions

VS1 - VS2 = Very small inclusions

SI1 - SI2 = Slight inclusions

I1 - I2 - I3 = Inclusions visible to the naked eye

CARAT: The size of a diamond is determined by its carat weight, for example one carat can be broken down in to 100 points, so half a carat equals 50 points.

The larger the carat weight of a diaomond, the rarer and more valuable it becomes.