The biggest day of your life is around the corner and your fiancé has invited you for the shopping of the best diamond for a stunning diamond ring for the event. But the problem is that you don’t know much about diamonds; you love all diamonds – they all look beautiful, shiny, classy, expensive etc. etc.! But how will you decide which one is the right for you? Don’t worry! We are here to help you out. Just follow these steps and you’ll be overjoyed to get the best diamond for your precious wedding ring!
But before we proceed, take a look at clarity enhanced diamonds! This is a place where you will find interesting information on how the clarity of diamonds can be enhanced and a lot of interesting and useful information a bride should know.
So, here are your tips.
1. Which Shape will You Choose?
While buying a diamond, you should first consider the shape of the diamond. There are many other factors too, but you can start from shape. There are so many shapes in diamonds that you may get confused. Apart from the regular shapes like round, square, oval etc. there are many fancy shapes too. If you are not sure about the shape or have not thought of a particular shape, prefer a round shape because round diamonds tend to show more brilliance and sparkle than that of other shapes. They also fit almost any type of ring setting and will never become out of fashion.
While considering fancy shapes, length to width ratio is an important consideration. If the diamond has been labeled with the correct length to width ratio, it’s easy for you to notice the difference between diamonds of the same shape, e.g. a fat marquise vs. a narrow diamond, a rectangular princess cut vs. square, and so on.
If the diamonds have no such labels and/or you’re not sure about the ratio, find a shape that will appeal you. Next, look at diamonds with various length to width ratios in that shape till you find a jewel you like. Try to focus on diamonds that are around 10% of your desired length to width ratio. For example, if you want a cushion cut jewel with L/W ratio of 1.50, search between 1.35 and 1.65 cushion cut diamonds.
2. What Carat Weight will You Buy?
A tip while looking for a perfect carat weight of your diamond is that look for diamonds that come just below the popular carat weights, e.g. ½ carat, ¾ carat, 1 carat etc. Since these diamonds are just short of the popular weight range, they are usually sold at discounted prices. For example, a 0.90 carat diamond will often be available for less on a price-per-carat than a full 1.00 carat diamond. And the best thing here is that no one will know that your diamond is slightly smaller because its diameter will be equal to that of a heavier diamond.
Shape and carat weight are two of the strongest preferences when you wear a diamond. You should look for if the site is showing how the diamond will look in the ring and its actual size. This will enable you to gauge the size of the diamond more accurately.
One and two carats are the most popular carat weights. If a diamond less than 0.75 carat is a necessity from the budget point of view, consider a marquise cut diamond because it looks larger than other shapes of equal carat weight because of its elongated cut.
The clarity enhanced diamonds will help you find diamonds within the budget and focus on cost savings. Watch their awesome video.
3. Which Cut will You Choose?
Unlike the rest 3 Cs (Color, Clarity and Carat weight), the different Cut grades available today were not invented by GIA. Although retailers make use of common words to describe Cut (e.g. Outstanding, Very Good, Fair or Poor), the words are not applied or defined uniformly. Actually, a retailer may decide any cut grade they select, depending on any set of criteria they want. E.g. one diamond seller will use words such as “Excellent”, “Ideal” and “Signature Ideal”, while another will use “Signature” to describe all three and still another will use “Remarkable”. Therefore, be careful while comparing cut grades at various sellers since they are inconsistent.
Also, be aware that some retailers assign their own cut grades instead of what GIA has specified to a particular diamond. Several websites and retail shops show their own, broader Cut rating instead of the GIA grade.
Actually, Cut grade is the most vital factor in deciding the appearance of a diamond since a poorly cut diamond will look dull even if it has excellent color and clarity. On the other hand, a well-cut diamond can be with a slightly lower clarity (SI1-SI2) or color (G-H) and will still appear quite stunning because of its excellent ability to sparkle.
For outstanding brilliance, select a diamond with a Cut grade:
- Excellent or Very Good for round diamonds
- Good or Better in fancy shapes
Make sure the polish and symmetry of the diamond are Excellent or Very Good, so as to avoid the impact of the above average Cut getting obscured.
Since Cut grade offers a single rating incorporating various factors (like symmetry, polish, culet size, depth %, table %, girdle width etc.), it’s a simple but important tool to evaluate a diamond. Commonly shoppers make a mistake to evaluate these factors individually rather than relying basically on the Cut grade, which considers them already. Only while comparing two diamonds of the same Cut grade, individual factors should be considered for further refining your search. Some general guidelines in this case are:
Culet
Any culet size of smaller or medium will not be visible to the naked eye and have no adverse impact on the diamond’s looks.
Girdle
If the girdle is Extremely Thin, it’s more prone to chipping and so, should be avoided for diamonds that are to be set in a ring. Pendants or earrings get less exposed to rough usage and so, are less prone to chipping around the girdle. Also, avoid Very Thin girdles in Princess Cut diamonds, since this shape has sharp corners more susceptible to chipping.
Are you feeling more at ease with these tips? You sure are. So, be confident and start your shopping for the best diamond! Don’t forget to take help of clarity enhanced diamonds and you’ll get your hands just on the diamond you want.
