Know Your Diamonds – the Ultimate Buying Guide!

Shopping for a diamond can be quite overwhelming! However, if you know your diamonds and their characteristics, even you can start thinking like a professional jeweler in no time.

Check out the following guide and make your selection from a broad catalog of solitaire rings a walk in the park. From the 4 C’s of diamonds to certification, this guide covers all. Let’s take a look:

Carat

Not to be confused with Karat, Carat is a metric unit used to measure the weight of a diamond. One carat weighs about 0.2 grams (200 milligrams) and can be further subdivided into 100 points. Each point equals one-hundredth of a carat. The calculation is done to allow for precise measurements up to the hundredth decimal place. Since carat has a significant influence on the price of a diamond, most shops have their gemstones listed in the said unit. If all factors of a diamond remained the same, but the weight increased, the value will also go up. A great thing to note here is that when buying a diamond if you reduce the size by 0.90 points, the cost of the diamond would significantly decrease. While the difference in size won’t be visible to the naked eye, you would get a less expensive diamond!

Clarity

Another factor to consider when buying a diamond is its clarity. If the diamond has fewer inclusions (aka spots), it will be more beautiful. An increase in inclusions reduces the sparkle, thereby affecting the overall price. There is also a grade by which these spots are identified, and begins with Loupe Clean (LC) and ends at Piqué 3 (P3). The former means flawless, the latter is attached to diamonds with inclusions visible to the naked eye. Do note that P1 grade will always be more perfect than P3. When buying a solitaire, do ask the jeweler to share the exact clarity number of the diamond with you. Buying from reputable specialists such as Aura Diamonds guarantees the highest quality.

Color

Very few diamonds are absolutely colorless. The rest come in different shades of brown, gray, or yellow. Once minded, they are sent to a lab where their color is graded. The grade ranges from the colorless mark or ‘D’ to light yellow mark or ‘Z’. In other words, the scale goes from D to Z. Since colorless diamonds are considered the most valuable, they cost a lot! A good rule of thumb is to choose a stone that falls in the range of D and I. The closer the diamond is to D, the more it will sparkle. So, you might want to consider this when exploring a broad catalog of solitaire rings that look absolutely stunning! Diamonds that come in other variety of colors like green, orange, blue, and red are scarce and valuable, they’re also very costly. Therefore, you may want to fix a budget before going to diamond shopping.

Cut

The cut of a diamond refers to the angels that are cut into the gemstone to enhance light reflection. While an imperfect cut diamond will look lifeless and pretty dull, a diamond with superior facets will reflect bright light. Similar to other grades, the spark of a diamond also differs from the cut grade – excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor cut. Most fancy-shaped gems come with 58 facets, or angled flat surfaces. The placement of these surfaces represent the grade, and the higher the grade, the better the diamond will be at reflecting light and sparkling. For example, the round cut diamond is the most expensive diamond when kept on the cut grade. For instance, if you choose two diamonds with the same carat and clarity, the one that is not round will cost less. In terms of price, the most expensive diamond is round, followed by marquise, heart, pear, oval, princess, cushion, Asscher, radiant, and emerald.

Certificate

Now that you know the 4 essential C’s of diamonds, there’s another that you should add to the list, aka certification. When purchasing a rock, you must always check the certificate that comes with it. The inclusions should include the quality of the diamond, serial number, organic validity, color, clarity, and carat. The certification should also come from an authorized agency. Certificates provide a guarantee of quality and allow the diamond to hold its value over time – after all, diamonds are long term investments as well!

Take a look at a broad catalog of solitaire rings, and the one gem that will be present in abundance is a diamond. They’re treasured, expensive, and forever. So when shopping for a diamond, ensure you read and follow this handy guide, it’ll help you make the right choice!