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).
Actual Princess Shape Diamond Sizes on Hand of a 1.38 Carat Diamond
Size does not always mean a lot until you see it in context - this article uses a hand as "context" for the apparent size of a 1.38 carat size diamond of princess shape. A princess shape diamond with a carat weight of 1.38 is usually about 6.4 mm long on a side, although this can depend on the depth of the cut.
Some advice for how to use the information on this page is to initially narrow down your size range; then you can go into stores and actually try a few different sized princess shape diamond rings on, armed with this prior knowledge.
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Fingers that are long and slender will affect how a diamond looks just as much as the diamond's carat weight - so consider other factors as well as the 1.38 carat weight of this princess diamond.
Some of my readers are men - if this is you and you're trying to calculate the right size of diamond to buy for your other half, don't forget that the stonewill invariably look much bigger on the hands of a woman, which are typically smaller.
