Quick and Easy Buying Guide
Carat weight: 1 carat = 200 milligrams = 6.5 mm diameter. Doubling weight doesn't double diameter.
Diamond clarity: FL/IF/VVS/VS = super expensive, near perfect. SI = best value if you can check a photo for obvious inclusions (defects).
Color: D-G = colorless, expensive, only if you have money to burn. H-J = best value. Can go lower in gold metal settings than white metal.
Cut: Better cut ratings let more light into a diamond, making it sparkle more. Very important property, don't skimp here.
Set a budget and minimum cut (Premium). Go J color for gold and I/H for white metals. Go searching for SI1/SI2 clarity diamonds at James Allen. Pick a diamond with small/no inclusions. Choose a ring setting and buy it risk-free (60-day returns).
0.13 Carat Diamonds
A diamond with a size of 0.13 carats weighs in normal everyday weight units exactly 26 mg.
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The width of a diamond with a weight of 0.13 carats is about 3.28 mm. Many people buying a diamond engagement ring for the first time often go overboard with the size of the diamond, not realising how big the diamond will appear when you put it on a small woman's hand.
A shop assistant may show you a one carat diamond and a one carat emerald stone next to each other, and point out how much larger the emerald stone is. This is because emerald is a much lighter material, so for a given weight of it, it will appear much bigger than for an equivalent sized diamond. Some unethical store assistants will talk about average diamond size in trying to pressure couples into buying a diamond ring more expensive than they can afford - even though the average is around half carat, you should be buying a diamond based on what you can afford, and what you as a couple would feel comfortable buying.
No pressure, no diamonds. Thomas Carlyle .
Looking around the internet at online diamond stores, you may be tempted to think that a four or five carat diamond is large. You couldn't be more wrong - the golden jubilee diamond is an example of how big diamonds can really be - it is 545 carats, or a weight of more than 100 g, which is about a quarter of the weight of a can of coke.
First-time diamond buyers who are in a hurry often just focus on the diamond carat size, which is a big mistake - other properties such as the clarity of the diamond are important in getting a diamond which is attractive not just in terms of its size, but also its appearance.