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Knowledge is the key to shopping for diamonds. The more you know, the better the result will be. Most people focus on color, carat weight, clarity and cut, better known as the 4 Cs, when shopping for diamond jewelry.

Relying on the four Cs is important, but there is a downside to it. Sales people know them through and through, if you know what I mean. A different approach that can separate the good from the bad is to look for diamond flaws instead.

Generally, there are two types of diamond flaws. One, syngenetic, refers to imperfections that occurred when the diamond was deep underground. Epigentic blemishes refer to imperfections after the diamond was found.

Pinpoint inclusions are a very common problem with diamonds. They appear as little points of light in the internal area of the diamond, but are actually small crystals. You can see them when you turn the diamond and the light point does not change.

Should you buy diamonds with pinpoint inclusion flaws? Personally, I do not think so, but other people feel they are acceptable so long as the flaw is in an unobtrusive location. You will simply have to evaluate the diamond you are looking at and make up your own mind.

Our next problem comes from the jeweler. Blemishes are flaws in the surface of the diamond that happen during cutting and polishing. They usually can be buffed out by another jeweler. Finding blemishes tends to be a bad sign, so check another store.

If you see a diamond with extra facets, you might wonder why? It is there because a problem had to be cut off. There is no way to know if they problem was natural or jeweler error, so you just have to evaluate whether you are comfortable buying it.

A fracture in a diamond is a major flaw. As the name suggests, it is an irregular break in the body of the diamond and usually occurred during the formation of the diamond. Fractures are often filled artificially, but such diamonds are of questionable quality.

A scratch is a more mundane diamond flaw. Light scratches are common and can simply be polished out. Deeper scratches, however, can ruin a diamond. They are difficult to polish out without impacting the cut. An extra facet may be need.

And then we get to controversy. Diamonds can suffer from needles. These needles often make slight tweaks to the cut and clarity of the diamond. This can lead to interesting results including extra brilliance and sparkling.

So, what is a needle? It is a microscopic opening in roughly the shape of a needle that runs through the diamond. It is not visible to the naked eye, but will do unique things to the sparkle and color of the diamond. This can be good or bad, of course.

Diamonds are organic matter condensed under pressure and heated to amazing temperatures. This means they are inherently going to have one flaw or another. Still, understanding the above will keep you from buying something with little quality.