Diamond guide
The 4Cs of diamonds
Cut, color, clarity and carat, the universal language for describing a diamond, graded on every certified stone in the Kiran inventory.
Cut
Cut is the most important of the four and the one most often misunderstood. It refers to how well a diamond’s facets are proportioned and finished, not its shape. A well-cut stone returns more light, so it looks brighter, livelier and larger for its weight. We grade cut as Excellent, Very Good or Good, and report polish and symmetry separately.
Color
Diamond color is graded from D, completely colorless, down the alphabet as a faint warmth appears. Kiran’s inventory runs D to K, which covers the colorless and near-colorless range most buyers want.
| D – F | Colorless. The rarest, with no detectable tint. |
| G – J | Near colorless. Excellent value; warmth is hard to see face-up. |
| K | A faint warmth that suits yellow and rose gold settings. |
Clarity
Clarity describes the natural inclusions inside a diamond and any surface marks. The scale runs from Flawless to Slightly Included. Most inclusions are invisible without magnification, so an eye-clean stone in the middle of the scale often offers the best value.
| FL – IF | Flawless to internally flawless. No inclusions under 10x. |
| VVS1 – VVS2 | Very, very slight inclusions, difficult to see under 10x. |
| VS1 – VS2 | Very slight inclusions. Eye-clean and strong value. |
| SI1 – SI2 | Slight inclusions, often still eye-clean depending on the stone. |
Carat
Carat is weight, not size: one carat equals 200 milligrams. Price rises sharply at the half and whole-carat marks, so a 0.90 ct stone can cost noticeably less than a 1.00 ct while looking almost identical. Because cut affects how large a stone appears, two diamonds of the same carat can look like different sizes.
Putting it together
For the best balance of beauty and value: prioritise cut, choose an eye-clean clarity such as VS or SI, a near-colorless grade in the G to J range, and a carat weight just below a round number. The Kiran loose-diamond search lets you filter on all four at your account pricing.
Common questions
Which of the 4Cs matters most?
Cut. It governs how much light a diamond returns, so a well-cut stone looks brighter and larger for its weight. Prioritize cut, then balance color, clarity and carat to taste and budget.
What is the best value clarity grade?
VS1, VS2 and often SI1 are eye-clean in most stones, meaning inclusions are not visible without magnification, at a meaningful saving over flawless grades.
Does a higher carat always mean a bigger diamond?
No. Carat is weight, not size. Two stones of equal carat can look different sizes depending on how they are cut and proportioned.
