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).
2.47 Carat Diamonds
Although there is a strong correlation between the carat weight of a diamond and its width, this does not guarantee that every 2.47 carat diamond is 8.86 mm wide.
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A way of using numbers to help you compare diamonds is to calculate the cost per carat of diamond.
The girdle thickness of the diamond plays an important role in determining the apparent size of the diamond - a diamond with an unnecessarily thick girdle will appear smaller than a diamond with a thinner girdle. 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.
Something that can catch out men searching for a diamond for an engagement ring is forgetting to take into account where the diamond will eventually be displayed - on a woman's hand, which is usually quite a bit smaller than a man's hand.
There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa. William Makepeace Thackeray .
There are no firm statistics that are universally applicable, but it is generally agreed that the average size of a diamond is around a third of the carat, perhaps a little more.
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. Don't forget to think about other diamond characteristics such as diamond cut, which plays a critical role in determining the amount of light that gets into the diamond and the degree to which the diamond sparkles in light.