What Is the Value of My Diamond?

Video Transcript

"First of all is the color grade. That's how white versus how yellow the stone is. It starts at D color, which is top color, no inherent body color. Then as it goes from D to E to F to G, the stone becomes a little bit more yellow, but it doesn't really become noticeably yellow, or even a noticeable hint of yellow to the naked eye till about an H to an I color. The average stone sold at most jewelry stores at the mall is going to be an I or a J color, which is, on a scale of 1 to 10 it's a five. I always like to sell stones that are, at the very minimum, H color. And if they're going in platinum, a very minimum of G color. That way a white stone is in a white mounting, and it really looks nice. The clarity grade, that's how free from inclusions and/or flaws a diamond is. A perfect diamond crystal will have no microscopic inclusions at all. And then it could have little pinpoints, or little small internal fissures or fractures, or cloudy areas. These...and then, one in relation to the other, it's not the number of inclusions but the severity of inclusions that determines the clarity grade. So it starts off at flawless, and it goes to imperfect. At slightly imperfect 2, or SI2, the inclusions can possibly be seen to the naked eye. The larger the stone, the better the clarity grade so that these inclusions cannot be seen to the naked eye, particularly when the stone becomes dirty. The all get a coating on the rear, and that tends to magnify the inclusions. So very, very import to have a good stone internally."