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).

1.06 Carat H Color SI1 Clarity Ideal Cut Round Cut Diamond

The differentiating factor between this diamond being a cheap piece of junk and it having great value is whether you judge it to be eye-clean from the photo.

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Shape: Round

Carat weight: 1.06

Cut: Ideal

Color: H

Clarity: SI1

Price: $5510

Certificate: AGS

Depth: 62.7%

Table: 53.4%

Polish: Ideal

Symmetry: Ideal

Girdle: Thin to medium

Culet: None

Fluorescence: Negligible

Measurements: 6.52*6.55*4.09

Item number: 1279540

Click here to see the diamond at James Allen.

Click here to search for other diamonds at James Allen.

This diamond has a girdle described as "Thin to medium", which can have a role in the shine and apparently width of the diamond, as written about in my diamond girdle article. An untrained eye won't see the color in this H color diamond, unless the stone is compared side by side with a higher color grade diamond (for multistone rings this is important).

Spending $5510 towards a diamond nets one a diamond well above the cut, such as this diamond. Just be sure that you and your partner are happy spending this amount of money on a diamond. While not quite as perfect a cut as Hearts & Arrows, the Ideal cut of this diamond means it is significantly cheaper, because you're not paying a premium for a "perfectly" cut diamond.

SI is short for for Slightly Included, which means this SI1 stone has inclusions that are definitely visible at a zoom level of ten times and possibly to the naked eye, but which offer the opportunity for significant price discounts if they're not. Put this 1.06 carat weight in the right reference frame as you consider your diamond options - there are for sure other stones of about the same size that might offer more in terms of their cost and properties.