Carat Weight
Cutting
Color
Clarity

Think about this: It takes one million diamond crystals mined to find one large enough to cut a one carat diamond. They must mine 100 tons of earth to find it and the man who cuts it will have apprenticed 10 years before he is allowed to do the work. Your fiancé will wear it 24 hours a day for the rest of her life and it will never wear out. It will be her most cherished possession, and someday it will be your son or daughter's most cherished possession to remember you by. When you think of it, what else can two months' salary buy that is worth so much?


When diamond customers come to our retail store in Champaign we offer the following information:


CARAT WEIGHT

Carat is a unit of weight equaling 1/5 of a gram. There are 100 points in a carat, thus 1/2 carat equals .50 ct. Diamonds are priced per carat depending on the quality and as the size goes over natural breaking points the price per carat increases. Thus a .49 carat that is say $2000 per carat (or costs $980) might cost $1100 ($2200/ct.) if it were .50 ct. and the same quality.

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CUTTING

Cutting is probably the most complex aspect of diamond pricing. In a brilliant cut diamond (round) the closer the diamond adheres to "ideal" standards, the more expensive it will be. The reasons for this are two-fold. To get an ideal cut, more of the original diamond crystal must be cut away, therefore, a diamond cutter must decide whether to go for maximum beauty or to retain as much size as possible. A diamond cutter will probably cut the diamond from the crystal he can sell the quickest. This is a matter of marketing as there is a demand for both size and maximum beauty.

The other reason an ideal cut is more expensive is that greater time and care must be taken to be sure symmetry and polish are very good to excellent. A diamond with a superior polish will be much brighter than one that is poor, fair or good. Probably 90% of all people who sell diamonds are not aware of this but when you see the comparison it makes all the difference in the world.

Cutting should not be confused with shape of diamond although they are related. The most popular shape is brilliant (round). Other shapes include marquise, oval, pear, heart and emerald cut. Two other popular styles that are square or rectangular in shape are princess and radiant, which have elements of the brilliant cut making up their facet patterns.(Facets are the 58 planes that make up a diamond). The shape of a diamond has a big effect on price with the most expensive being marquise shape, then brilliant, pear, oval, emerald, heart, radiant, and princess.
 

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COLOR

Color refers to the absence of color. When the Geological Institute of America (G.I.A.) developed their scale they began with D so that their scale would not be confused with others that were currently in use. Diamonds often have tints of yellow but may also display tints of gray, green, or brown. The more color present the less expensive the diamond. The exception would be diamonds with color so intense they are consider to be fancy in color.

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CLARITY

Refers to the amount and type of inclusions in a diamond. Some inclusions are minute diamond crystals inside the larger crystal. Other types of inclusions include carbon, and cracks or cleavages in the diamond. Cleavages that are small and internal are not as serious as those that break the surface which could cause damage to the diamond should it be struck there. From Flawless to VS1 it is very difficult if not impossible for the average person to see the inclusions even with the aid of a 10x loupe. SI1 is a very good clarity that will almost always require a loupe. Some diamonds with a clarity rating of I1 may even be eye clean and acceptable for an engagement ring. The clarity scale goes to I3 where at the bottom of that grade a diamond could be virtually opaque, perhaps better suited for industrial use.



MORE TIPS

Most people buy a diamond for an engagement ring that is eye clean and good color. You really don't want a diamond that is dingy in color or one with a large black spot or crack in it. Colors that we sell the most of are D-J. The clarities that we sell the most of are SI with some in the VS range and some in the I1 range.

You may want to keep shopping if the salesperson cannot give you an accurate color, clarity or weight of the diamond you are buying. If the quality range is I-K color and VS2-SI2 clarity there can be a tremendous difference in the price.

Find a jewelry expert who will sit down with you and explain what is going on with diamonds. Be sure to compare colors and look under magnification so that you can understand clarity.

It is probably a good idea to buy an important diamond loose and then have it mounted. Even experts cannot positively give a grade to a mounted diamond as difference can be subtle and add up to big price differences.
Diamond grading is not an exact science. Even specific color and clarity grades consist of a range, this means that two stones can have the same grading and one may be more beautiful then the other.
The best way to find your diamond is to compare stones visually side by side and choose the one that looks best to you.