Once upon a time, there was no agreed standard for grading diamonds. Dealers and jewelers used terms such as river and water to describe the most colorless diamonds, and cape to describe the pale yellow diamonds that come from the Cape of Good Hope region of South Africa. Diamond cut has been described as "well done" or "poorly done".

Then, in the 1940s, GIA founder Robert M. Shipley introduced the 4Cs to help students remember the four elements that characterize a faceted diamond:
color, clarity, cut, and carat weight. coined the term. The concept was simple but innovative.

His successor, President Richard T. Liddicoat, expanded his work by developing the now widely used GIA D to Z Color Scale and the GIA Clarity Scale for Diamonds. He also established scientific methods and procedures for objectively grading diamond quality.

Diamond The creation of the 4Cs and the GIA International Diamond Grading System™ meant two very important things.
Diamond quality can now be communicated in a universal language so diamond customers know exactly what they are buying.

Today, the 4Cs of diamond quality are a universal method for evaluating diamond quality around the world.