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).
2.75 Carat Diamonds
This average width of 9.18 mm for a 2.75 carat diamond only tells some of the story, because this width is variable depending on how deep or shallow the diamond shape is.
Sponsored Links
If you like playing with numbers, one analysis method you can use for examining diamonds is to divide the cost of the diamond by the number of carats to get the cost per carat metric.
Odd carat weights are carat weights which don't form round numbers, for example 1.97. Often diamonds with odd carat weights are quite a bit cheaper than diamonds with round number carat weights.
Many people buying a diamond engagement ring for the first time often go overboard with the size of the diamond, not realising how big the diamond will appear when you put it on a small woman's hand.
Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life. Ralph Emerson .
If you're considering a number of gemstones, not just diamonds, bear in mind that different types of stone have different densities, so a one carat diamond may appear quite different in size to a one carat emerald.
Depending on personal preference, people may choose to get a smaller diamond in order to get a higher colour grade, such as d, e or f. It's heartening to know (if you're a billionaire) that there are actually very large diamonds which are colourless, such as the centenary diamond, which is a grade d colour diamond that comes in at the whopping weight of 273 carats.
Five small diamonds that add up to one carat are generally not as valuable as a single diamond that weighs one carat, so be short not to compare a single diamond of carat weight 2.75 with a ring which has a total diamond weight of 2.75. 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.