If there is one man in the world that knows diamonds, it is Vartkess Knadjian, the Chief Executive of the world's oldest diamond company (est. 1789), Backes & Strauss. Under his leadership over the past 35 years, Backes & Strauss has been transformed from a diamond cutting and trading company into one of the world's finest jeweled timepiece creators, where the highest specification diamonds meet with time in its most precise form.

4 Cs of a diamond

Over the last few decades the 4Cs have become the universal language to grade a diamond based on its uniqueness and rarity. The 4Cs include the Cut, the Colour, the Clarity and the Carat.

Cut

The Cut is very important when it comes to the ‘brilliance’ of a diamond. A perfectly cut diamond, also known as the Ideal Cut, is one with facets of perfect symmetry and balance. This will ensure that any light that enters the diamond gets reflected back through its many facets which will give it that beautiful sparkle which we all love! However, if a diamond is cut too shallow or too deep then it might risk losing some of this sparkle through the light leaking from the bottom facets.

Colour

White diamonds (also known as colourless diamonds) have a wide variety of shades it can fall under. These are demonstrated on a scale ranging alphabetically from D to Z. D being completely colourless (white) and the most rare, and Z having a light yellowish shade which is more common. Any colour beyond Z would be considered a coloured diamond. These colours can range from green, blue, yellow, brown, red and even pink!

Clarity

Due to the extreme conditions that a diamond is formed under the Earth’s crust it is inevitable that each diamond contains some internal inclusions and or blemishes on the surface. The fewer of these a diamond has the higher the clarity. There are 5 different ranges these can fall under: ‘F-IF’ being Flawless or Internally Flawless, ‘VVS1-VVS2’ being Very Very Slightly included, ‘VS1-VS2’ being Very Slightly Included, ’SI1-SI2’ being Slightly Included and finally ‘I1-I2-I3’ being Included.

Carat

Lastly, ‘Carat’ is the universal term used to describe the weight of a diamond. 1 Carat is equivalent to 0.20 Grams.

Hearts & Arrows

Backes & Strauss' expertise lies in the Round Brilliant Cut also known as the Ideal Cut, which shows the Hearts & Arrows pattern when viewed through a special diamond loupe. This formation of Hearts & Arrows are only visible because the diamond has been polished to a perfect symmetry and all the angles are perfectly aligned and in proportion. It is because of this Idea Cut that the light entering the diamond is refracted at its maximum.