Natural 3/4ct Black Diamond White Gold Stud Earrings

The quality and value of a diamond is measured by four characteristics known as the 4 C's. The 4C's are the diamond's Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat weight. The quality of a diamond is measured by its colour, cut, and clarity. The carat weight measures the size of the diamond.
A diamond's colour is one of the most important factors in determining its value.
For white diamonds - the closer a white diamond is to being absolutely colourless, the more valuable it is.
For fancy diamonds - the more intense the colour the more valuable the diamond is, they are graded to their intensity of colour, not lack of it.
The graduations in colour are so subtle that intricate international grading scales are used.
Diamonds are graded into categories defined by letters. The colour range from exceptional whites (categories D, E and F) to tinted colours (categories M to Z). The best way to pinpoint a diamond's true colour is to place it next to another diamond that has previously been graded.
During formation of diamonds, very small particles of non-crystallised carbon or non-diamond crystals can be caught within the diamond. These imperfections are called inclusions and provide each individual diamond with its unique characteristics.

Inclusions may not always be visible to the naked eye, however they do interfere with the passage of light through the diamond. Therefore the fewer inclusions a diamond has, the more valuable it is.

Just like colour, clarity is categorised using an international grading scale. The categories of clarity are based upon the number, size and position of the inclusions within the diamond to be graded. Gradings range from flawless, and internally flawless, through very small and small inclusions, to imperfect.