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).
0.20 Carat Diamonds
Diamond carats, points and normal units of milligrams can all be converted between - this 0.20 carat diamond for example weighs 40 mg.
Sponsored Links
Carat size does not equate exactly to a certain width of diamond, because the diamond may be short and fat, or tall and lanky, meaning 0.20 carats of diamond will not always be synonymous with 3.79 mm of diamond. A way of using numbers to help you compare diamonds is to calculate the cost per carat of diamond.
Discerning purchasers of diamonds consider other characteristics of the diamond apart from carat size such as girdle thickness - how big the girdle is can impact on the diameter of a diamond of a certain carat weight. One trick for saving money when buying a diamond is to choose a diamond which has a carat weight just below a popular number, such as buying a 0.98 carat diamond instead of a one carat diamond.
0.20 carats specifies a certain size of diamond, but what about all the other properties of the diamond? Seasoned diamond buyers make sure to pay attention to all the properties of the diamond when the searching for that perfect stone, in order to make a balanced purchase which isn't just dominated by size considerations.
Many men when shopping for a diamond engagement ring will look at how big the diamond looks in comparison to their own hand, when they really should be looking at how big the diamond looks in comparison to a female shop assistant's hand who has a hand similar in size to their prospective fiance.
In the quest for finding the largest diamond possible within a budget, it can be fun to consider famous large diamonds like ashberg diamond, which had a huge weight of 102 carats - about 200 times the mass of a diamond used in a typical engagement ring.
I prefer liberty to chains of diamonds. Mary Montagu .
People say the four cs for a reason - diamond carat size is just one of the four cs and the others are arguably just as important in determining how 'attractive' and 'good' a diamond is.