Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight.
The 4Cs are the defining characteristics of every diamond.
Without strict standards, the characteristics, quality and value of a diamond would be left open to interpretation.
Choosing a diamond may be a matter of preference, but evaluating a diamond is a matter of precision.
That’s where we come in.
The 4Cs are the global standard.
The 4Cs are for everyone. This framework is both a way to better understand your diamond, and to ensure accuracy in the evaluation of your diamond’s unique characteristics.
It is the best way to ensure clear information, uniform practices, scientific grading and transparent evaluation in the global diamond industry. The 4Cs are one of GIA’s many innovative contributions and one we are incredibly proud of because of how many consumers it continues to help.
With the strictest dedication to these standards, we deliver objective, consistent diamond grading results at all our laboratories around the world. While our language has been adopted worldwide, the only way to ensure you are receiving the strictest application of these standards is through the proprietary equipment and tried and tested procedures of an official GIA laboratory.
Before clarity there was chaos.
As long as humans have sought diamonds, merchants have invented ways of describing them.
Before GIA, colorless stones might have been described as water, clarity could be described as with or without flaws, and cut could be communicated as made well. Only carat weight has been consistently in use, dating back to the 1500s.
Needless to say, jewelers struggled to accurately communicate the characteristics of a diamond to potential customers. This only added to the distrust of jewelers and ultimately more risk for buyers.
Setting the standard one C at a time.
In the 1940s, GIA founder Robert M. Shipley first coined the phrase, “the 4Cs of diamond quality” in an effort to help his students remember the four factors that characterize a faceted diamond.
The concept was simple, but the results revolutionized the industry.
One of Robert M. Shipley’s greatest accomplishments, the 4Cs, became one of GIA’s most widely recognized contributions to the public, as well as to the international gem and jewelry industry.
The 4Cs quickly became part of the industry’s lexicon, popularized through GIA educational courses and recognized internationally.
Shipley’s successor, Richard T. Liddicoat, along with colleagues Lester Benson, Joseph Phillips, Robert Crowningshield and Bert Krashes, expanded the 4Cs into a universally-utilized system, the GIA International Diamond Grading System™, which includes both the GIA D-to-Z Color Scale and GIA Clarity Scale for diamonds.
Introduced in 1953, the GIA D-to-Z color scale defined the standards used to evaluate diamond color. The procedure of evaluation involves regulating light, background and masterstones for comparison.
Liddicoat and associates also standardized the ideal proportions of round brilliant cut diamonds. This led to the introduction of our Diamond Cut Grading System for round brilliant cut diamonds in 2006.
Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Grading diamonds is a science.
The 4Cs and GIA International Diamond Grading System™ established scientific methods for diamond grading, creating a universal language for communication, and most importantly, ensuring diamond customers know exactly what they are purchasing.
Today, the 4Cs are the universal method for assessing the quality of any diamond, anywhere in the world. As the creator of the 4Cs, GIA is trusted by governmental agencies, auction houses and the global gemological community as the leading authority for precision diamond grading.
Expertise at your fingertips.
You don’t need to be a gemologist to purchase a diamond with confidence. You just need to know where to find one.
GIA is the trusted benchmark for diamond grading. Download the GIA App now to learn more about the 4Cs and look up GIA reports.
Expertise at your fingertips.
You don’t need to be a gemologist to purchase a diamond with confidence. You just need to know where to find one.
GIA is the trusted benchmark for diamond grading. Download the GIA App now to learn more about the 4Cs and look up GIA reports.
GIA Report Check
Access your GIA Grading Report results using your GIA report number.
