First you have the four "Cs" listed in order of importance.

Cut is the most important factor when buying a diamond. Did you know that if a diamond is not cut properly it will not shine? The value is just not there.The proportions on a diamond and how a diamond is faceted have the biggest impact on the look and value of your diamonds. There are 58 facets on a round brilliant cut. These facets reflect light and, if postioned correctly, make the diamond sparkle. If a diamond is cut too deep it will leak the light it has absorbed. If a diamond is cut too shallow it will face up larger, therefore looking bigger than the actual weight, but lacking brilliance. I always recommend you check proportion percentages on cut to make sure you are within a reasonable range of not being too deep or shallow.

Carat weight will be a determining factor on price as well. There are certain phrases you will hear in jewelry stores that you need to know. Pionts is one of them. Pionts are like pennies to the dollar. One hundred pennies equals a dollar, right? Well, a one carat diamond has one hundred points. Therefore, a sixty pointer would equal 0.60ct. There are price points when talking about solitaire diamond and carat weight. These price points are usually the quarter, third, half, three quarters, and full carat. Once you go higher than a full carat the prices can go up exponentially. So, just because you are looking for a two carat diamond you can't just double the price of a one carat. That is because a large diamond needs a larger piece of rough. When diamonds are cut you lose some weight.If you buy a diamond weighing 0.99, 0.24, 0.29, 0.65, and so on, you will pay a per carat price that is lower.

Color is how colorless (or absence of color) your diamond is graded. The scale starts at D and ends at Z. The top grades are D, E, and F. Think of them as a drop of water, this grade is termed colorless. Then you have near colorless which starts at G and ends with J. Most people can not distinguish color without a comparison stone. Without a comparision stone, they won't see color until grade J. When you go down the alphabet more you will see more brown, grey, or yellow. This will lower the value of your stone. There are exceptions when it comes to fancy colored diamonds (these are vibrant and rare).

Clarity is on the bottom of the list and you will see why when I explain the segments below.

BEST-------------------------------------------------WORST
[FL][IF ][vvs1][vvs2][VS1 ][ VS2 ][ SI1 ][ SI2 ] [ I1 ][ I2 ][ I3 ]

The clarity is actually how pure or clean the inside of the stone is. If the are cracks and chips we call them inclusions. They can lower the value of your stone, but they help you to identify that it is infact your stone. I3 is the lowest clarity grade and Flawless is the highest. There are more I3 stones than flawless ones and therefore you will pay more for a clearer diamond. clarity can affect the look of your stone. There are categories for each of the different clarity grades. Flawless, VVS, VS, SI, and I. The grade 1 is a higher grade than two based on the positioning of the inclusions and severity. Once you have an SI diamond you cannot see the inclusions with the naked eye. You will need a loupe or microscope to see the inclusions. An SI2 stone will show inclusions to the naked eye but only on the back side (pavillion) not face up. This means that once you go to a VVS stone you will not be physically able to distinguish the difference and will pay substantially more money.