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).
2.56 Carat Diamonds
Some online retailers provide, amongst other diamond properties, a property called the cost per carat, which gives consumers another way of thinking about the value of a 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.
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I prefer liberty to chains of diamonds. Mary Montagu .
If you found this page, you probably were searching for something like a 2.56 diamond. The problem is there are thousands of pages with information on 2.56 diamonds, so to narrow down your search try adding other terms such as whether you want a premium, ideal or good cut of diamond. Note when looking at total diamond weight, some of the online stores such as blue nile will give a total diamond weight for a pair of stud earrings, but the actual total diamond weight will only approximately be what is specified - check the fine print to avoid being caught out.
A large diamond which has a huge crack down the middle, or alternatively a big yucky looking inclusion, is not a good look - it looks like someone has gone for size and sacrificed all the other desirable properties of the diamond. Clarity, for example, can be just as important in picking a diamond.