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).
Actual 1.78 Carat Princess Shape Diamond Size on Hand
This page has a handy picture that gives you the apparent size of a 1.78 carat size princess shape diamond, when viewed in place on the hand of a woman. A princess shape stone with a carat size of 1.78 is typically about 7.4 mm long on a side; this can of course vary depending on cut. The picture in this page shows an L 1/2 ring size; this is around the average size for a female.
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Pictures can sometimes be notoriously deceptive - I've tried to make this one as clear as possible, but don't forget seeing the diamond in the flesh will give you a very different judgement of size to examining it on the web. The visual size of this 1.78 carat princess diamond will depend not just on the carat weight but as well on the width to length ratio of the ring finger the diamond ends up on.
