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).
2.80 Carat Diamonds
A diamond with a weight of 2.80 carats is equivalent to a 280 point diamond. The shallowness of a diamond, which depends on how the diamond has been cut, will affect the relationship between carat weight and diameter of the diamond - because of this reason, 2.80 carat diamonds will only average a width of 9.24 mm, but will not always be precisely this width.
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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. Diamonds with a size of 2.80 carats are aplenty, but diamonds with a size of 2.80 carats and all the other desirable properties of the diamond are not so common - so don't forget to think about these other properties.
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.
I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. Emma Goldman .
