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).

1.66 Carat Diamonds

Each carat in a 1.66 carat diamond is equivalent to 166 points, so a 1.66 carat diamond is the same as a 166 point diamond. Although there is a strong correlation between the carat weight of a diamond and its width, this does not guarantee that every 1.66 carat diamond is 7.74 mm wide.

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Don't open your diamonds in a vegetable market. Tie them in bundle and keep them in your heart, and go your own way. Kabir .

How big a diamond appears does not scale linearly with the carat weight of the diamond, which catches many people out.

Savvy diamond buyers have learnt to search for diamonds that do not have round numbers in their carat weight - for example, these buyers will search for a diamond with the carat weight just below one or two carats. Many people buying a diamond engagement ring for the first time often go overboard with the size of the diamond, not realising how big the diamond will appear when you put it on a small woman's hand.

Ruby and sapphire are two gemstones which are significantly denser than diamond, which is why a one carat ruby or sapphire will generally looks smaller than a one carat diamond, if you've ever been confused in a store. Sometimes diamond searchers will switch to coloured diamonds in a quest to perhaps get a slightly larger stone, although coloured diamonds are not always cheaper than white diamonds. Huge coloured diamonds do exist, such as the red cross diamond, a 205 carat yellow diamond.

Image of 1.66 Carat Diamonds

Don't mix up carat weights of single diamonds with total diamond weights - the mean very different things and mixing them up can trick you when you're considering different prices. In terms of diamond properties, the carat weight of the diamond should be considered alongside the many other characteristics of the diamond, in order to find a diamond which is balanced and hence not let down by being of poor quality in one of these departments.

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