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).
1.50 Carat Diamonds
If you're interested in the normal metric weight of a 1.50 carat diamond, it is 300 mg.
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What many people don't realise is that a 7.48 mm wide diamond can be a range of weights, not just exactly 5 carats, because the diamond can vary in depth.
Can you tell the difference between a 0.49 and a half carat diamond? Didn't think so. But there can often be quite a significant price difference - so use this fact to your advantage. One thing that surprised me when i bought an engagement ring, is how much bigger the diamond appeared on a female finger compared with when viewed alone.
Profits on the exchange are the treasures of goblins. At one time they may be carbuncle stones, then coals, then diamonds, then flint stones, then morning dew, then tears. Lope de Vega .
There's a lot of hearsay on the internet about the average size of a diamond used in a typical diamond engagement ring - it's around half carat - but that of course doesn't give you any information about the typical clarity or colour of the diamond, and that in itself should tell you how useless that statistic is in isolation.
If you're in a diamond store and you see a diamond with its carat weight marked and it looks wrong, don't hesitate to ask, and walk away if they won't give you a straight answer. 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.
