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).
1.70 Carat Diamonds
When you see a 1.70 carat diamond, expect to see about 7.81 mm worth of diamond. What many people don't realise is that a 7.81 mm wide diamond can be a range of weights, not just exactly 5 carats, because the diamond can vary in depth.
Sponsored Links
Walk into a diamond shop and wait around, and sooner or later you'll hear someone getting confused or frustrated about the fact that the carat weight of a diamond and the width of the diamond are very different things - most likely they will be confused or frustrated because a diamond with double the carat weight is only a little bit wider. 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.
Remember while the diamond may disappear into insignificance compared to a man's hand, women generally have significantly smaller hands with thinner fingers - the diamond will appear a lot larger when placed on their hand. A major rookie mistake in buying a diamond ring is to get the total diamond weight (tdw) and the weight of the centre diamond mixed up - make sure you don't make this mistake.
Proverbs are mental gems gathered in the diamond districts of the mind. William R. Alger .
A large diamond which has a huge crack down the middle, or alternatively a big yucky looking inclusion, is not a good look - it looks like someone has gone for size and sacrificed all the other desirable properties of the diamond. Clarity, for example, can be just as important in picking a diamond.