Is your fiance-to-be expecting a 1 or 2 carat diamond? Are you looking for a stone that’s noticeable but not over the top? There’s no “perfect” carat weight for a diamond, meaning this part of the process is completely down to your personal preferences.
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Carat weight impacts how large a diamond will appear (as does its shape and cut quality). You can learn more typical carat weights and diamond sizing in our guide to average diamond size to help you make an informed buying decision.
The aspect that most greatly impacts a diamond’s beauty is its cut quality. Cut grades aren’t standardized across all retailers, but in general, we recommend only Excellent (if a diamond comes with a GIA certificate) and Ideal cut (if graded by the AGS) diamonds.
Our advice for diamond cut is this: If you are looking for a round brilliant diamond, only search for “Ideal/Excellent” grade diamonds. If you are searching for a fancy shape, however, then it might pay to either include “Premium” or to disregard the cut grade altogether.
This is not to say that cut grade is not important – on the contrary, it’s of utmost importance. It’s simply saying that many jewelers don’t correctly report fancy shape cut grades, so why filter out many results from your search that might be great choices?
The goal with diamond color is to choose a diamond that appears white. But contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to pay for a D color or E color to get a colorless stone. In general, diamonds in the G to I color range appear colorless to the naked eye, but cost far less.
For clarity, you should look for a diamond that’s eye-clean, meaning you can’t see any blemishes or inclusions with the naked eye. Depending on the shape, you can usually find an eye-clean diamond in the VS1-VS2 range. There’s no need to pay for a FL/IF clarity diamond when you can get a lower graded diamond for much less.
With most jewelers, you can see the diamond up close to review its clarity. For example, with James Allen’s “Virtual Loupe” you can evaluate a loose diamond before you buy it. Blue Nile has also begun to offer high quality photography. Look at the diamond closely to see if you notice any blemishes.
In our opinion, a consumer’s goal should be to find the cheapest (in regards to clarity; other factors matter as well) “eye-clean” diamond you can find. We use “eye-clean” to describe diamonds that may have inclusions if you look at them with a magnifying glass (or microscope or loupe), but the typical person can’t see the inclusion with their naked eye.
We have recently developed Ringo, a patented artificial intelligence model, that can examine videos of diamonds and determine if they are eye-clean. Ringo will also filter for other parameters like making sure the diamond is well-cut, doesn’t have fluorescence issues and will match the style setting you choose.
Once you’ve narrowed down your preferred specs for a diamond, compare similar stones to determine which one to buy. You’ll want to consider aspects like how brilliant the diamond is, if it’s eye-clean, and what the price is in comparison to similar diamonds.
Other characteristics like fluorescence, polish, and symmetry affect a diamond’s value and appearance to some degree, although much less than the 4 C’s. For an in-depth discussion of these three factors, check out these individual articles: diamond fluorescence, polish, and symmetry.
Stay away from IGI, EGL, and HRD grading reports because we’ve found in our professional experience that their results are not reliable due to their inconsistent diamond grading. Also, do not confuse GIA reports with an appraisal by a GIA gemologist. Those are not the same thing.
For example, simple settings such as a solitaire ring are very affordable and great for creating a visual focus on the center diamond itself, while settings that contain halo diamonds can produce the appearance of a larger diamond.
There’s no “best” engagement ring setting, nor is there any “four Cs” for settings — instead, this part of the process is totally subjective. Choose a setting that matches your tastes, preferences and budget and complements the diamond you’ve selected.
I’m really happy with the guidance I’ve got from Veronika from The Diamond Pro. Without her I haven’t bought a diamond this big, bright and shiny just because I didn’t had the knowledge. Because of her advise I bought the best value for money diamond. Really happy with her advise!
Received great in-depth assistance from Veronika on my quest to buy an engagement ring for my partner. It can be quite a minefield for someone without industry know-how to get a great, well-cut diamond on the online marketplace, so the second opinion was not only welcome but desperately sought. In the end, I received wonderful advice and am confident the diamond purchased was the best my budget could afford! Thank you
With most online jewelers, they offer hassle-free returns within 30 days. If you or your partner aren’t 100% satisfied with the ring, you can get your money back. Almost every reader that goes through our process for picking a diamond is extremely satisfied with their purchase.
Buying online has several advantages. The biggest is that you’ll get significantly better value for money due to the economics of e-commerce vs. brick-and-mortar retail. In our experience, most brick-and-mortar jewelry stores charge anywhere from 30 to 100% more for their diamonds than trusted online vendors.
Diamond BraceletBlue Nile. Blue Nile offers the largest selection of diamonds of any online vendor, with highly competitive pricing and fantastic customer service. Along with James Allen, they are a great choice for diamond engagement rings in all price ranges.
If you have homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, you might be able to add your engagement ring to your existing policy. It’s best to contact your insurance carrier to check if your diamond ring is covered, and if not, if it can be added to your existing policy at an additional cost.
Some diamond vendors also offer insurance coverage. For example, James Allen and Blue Nile provide the option of insuring your engagement ring through partnerships with Jewelers Mutual, a personal jewelry insurance company that’s been around for over a century.
Online diamond vendors like James Allen and Blue Nile make this part of the process easier by providing free ring sizers that you can use to work out your partner’s exact ring size before you place an order for your ring.
This is the safest way, but it’s not always the most romantic, especially if you want to keep your plan to pop the question secret. We’ve shared a few other techniques that you can use to work out your partner’s ring size without raising suspicions in our guide to finding your ideal ring size.
We understand that buying a diamond ring can be a confusing and stressful process, even with the information above. Diamonds are costly, and trying to find the perfect balance of cut quality, color, clarity and carat weight without exceeding your budget isn’t easy.
If you have any questions throughout the engagement ring process, feel free to reach out to us for diamond advice. We help hundreds of our readers find and buy beautiful engagement rings every month, and our diamond experts are happy to answer any and all of your questions.
James Allen James Allen is the leader in online diamond sales. Their imaging technology is the same as inspecting a diamond with a jeweler's loupe. They have the largest exclusive loose diamond inventory online and fantastic prices. They also have the nicest collection of lab-created diamonds online. They currently run a 10% discount on selected lab-grown diamonds!
Blue Nile Blue Nile is the largest and most well-known internet jewelry seller. They have a very large exclusive online inventory. Their high-quality images are catching up to James Allens' and their prices are amazing. Right now, Blue Nile offers up to 50% savings on selected jewelry during a limited-time season sale.
Mike Fried Mike Fried Mike Fried has over 25 years experience in the diamond industry working with Leo Schachter Diamonds, Moshe Namdar Diamonds, and joining The Diamond Pro in 2007. He is recognized as an industry expert and has been quoted in publications such as Us, People, Page Six, The Next Web and more.
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Formed deep within the earth when pure carbon (nature's simplest element) is overcome by intense heat and pressure, diamonds take millions to billions of years to htmlForm. Gradually, the carbon will crystallize and grow into a clear gemstone that will later be pushed to the earth's surface during volcanic eruptions -- when that happens, nature's hardest substance, a diamond, is born!
While it takes many lifetimes htmlFor nature to birth a diamond, most shoppers don't have that long to make decisions about buying diamonds. For these savvy individuals, our diamond purchasing guide will give you the tools you need to begin your hunt htmlFor the best deals!
The carat is the weight of a stone. Diamonds are weighed in metric carats, and one carat equals 0.2 grams (about the weight of a paperclip). Each carat has 100 points (so a 75-point diamond would weight 0.75 carats). Most diamonds used in fine jewelry are one carat or less. A diamond's development is slow and can take millions or billions of years. With this unhurried growth, the biggest diamonds are the rarest -- and therefore the priciest. For this reason, even a fraction of a difference in the carat size can dramatically change the price tag.
Many diamond-purchasing newbies think the "cut" refers to the stone's shape, such as whether it's square or round. But the cut actually has to do with the diamond's proportions, polish, symmetry and how the facets are arranged on the stone.
Believed by many to be the most important of the four "Cs," the brilliance, scintillation and sparkle of a diamond depends mostly on how well it was cut. Basically, the better the diamond's cut, the better it will glisten in the light.
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