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).
2.96 Carat Princess Shape Diamond Actual Size
This page includes a handy photo that gives you the apparent size of a 2.96 carat size princess shape stone, when it's actually on a typical woman's hand. Carat weight isn't the be all and end all - the type of cut will also affect the apparent size of the diamond - for a 2.96 carat princess like this one, the size would be around 24.9 mm typically.
In order to provide you more of an idea of what's in this image, the ring pictured is a US size 6, which is equivalent to an L 1/2 ring size in Britain or Australia.
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The dimensions of a female hand can vary hugely - just look around you when you're next in public - so this picture can only show the apparent diamond size for one particular ring size. The visual size of this 2.96 carat weight princess diamond will depend not just on the carat weight but as well on the length to width ratio of the finger the diamond ends up on.
Months after you've purchased the diamond, you may be pleasantly surprised by how much larger the diamond appears on the female hand, than when viewed by itself .
