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Choose the Perfect Diamond Ring As it is often said, “Diamonds are a girl's best friend”. If you are searching bridal diamond rings to find the perfect one for your girl, there are some essential things you might want to know about diamonds in particular. Here’s a quick overview on the basics of buying a good bridal diamond ring: 1) Carat Weight: Carat Weight refers to the weight and not the size of a diamond. Diamond rings can be classified in two ways; solitaires are a single stone on a band, or you can have a ring that has multiple stones. When referring to carat weight, a solitaire will mean the one stone that is on the band. When you get to multi-stone rings, there are two weights. One is the "total carat weight" and refers to the combined carat weight of all the stones. It is important to know the center stone weight as well, to help you have a good idea of what you are looking at. The larger a diamond gets, the more expensive it is. 2) Cut: Not all diamonds are the traditional round ones. Diamond rings come in offerings of marquis, emerald, pear, princess and oval cuts, and also have smaller stones frequently inset known as baguettes. The traditional round stone is cut into many angles and reflects the light very well. This gives the diamond its sparkle, and explains the long lasting popularity of the round diamond. The cut of a diamond affects its ability to reflect light if not done well. 3) Clarity: During the process of diamond forming, occlusions may occur. This can be invisible to the naked eye, to visible characteristics such as carbon spots in the diamond. Carbon spots can appear as a black dot hanging in the center of the diamond. Diamond rings are valued for there beauty, and the clarity of a diamond should be stated by the jeweler. As the level of clarity decreases, the price of the diamond should decrease as well. 4) Color: Since part of the pleasure of owning diamond rings is the sparkle, color is again an important factor of consideration. The color range starts at D and moves down to N-Z. The D range is nearly colorless, which will allow the most light to reflect through. Many of the color differences may not be visible to a beginner. |
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Comments
Correction on the 4 Cs.
Smart Alexa did a great job of naming and describing the "4Cs" that are important to know about when purchasing a diamond. But, let me expand a little more on what she said.
Carat Weight: SmartAlex is pretty accurate, but let me expand a little more. Carat weight does refer to how much the diamond weighs, however it IS connected to how large a stone will be. The larger the carat weight is, the larger the stone will be.
The reason the terms Carat Total weight (CTW) is used is in case there is more than one stone on the ring. For example, if you have a 3 stone ring, (past, present, future) and the center stone weighs 1 carat and each of the side stones weighs .5 carats. The Carat Total weight (CTW) will be 2CTs.
Cut: A common misconception about cut is that it refers to the SHAPE of the stone: round (or brilliant), princess, marquis, ascher, radiant, etc...(which oddly enough, is all they are the SHAPE). Cut is really a grade about how well the diamond was well....cut. Things that affect the cut of a diamond are:
What you really want to look for in terms of cut are table and depth percentages. The higher these percentages are, the better the cut of your diamond. Cut is rated on a scale of Ideal, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor.