Shopping Guide for a Diamond Ring

Oh yeah, the thought of shopping for and buying a diamond is enough to make even the most hardened person weep. There are many questions that need to be asked. What do you look for when shopping for that special gem? What do all those terms mean? What is it that makes one diamond worth more than another?

With a little understanding of the terminology, you will be able to discuss with the diamond dealer the most important features you want. This will help you get the perfect diamond or at least the best diamond you can afford.

When an appraiser looks at a diamond to give it a value, they look for four qualities. Those in the trade refer to them as the four Cs: Color, Carat, Cut, and Clarity.

Color: The rating scale for color of a diamond is an alphabetical one that starts from D and ends at Z. Those diamonds with a D, the rarest and most desirable, to J range should be your first priority. These will be the "whitest" and more desirable than any diamond from K to Z, which will have a yellow cast to them which therefore lessens the value. The flashes of color that appear when reflecting light is a result of the diamond being clear or "white".

Carat: This is the weight measure of a diamond. A carat can also be referred to as '100 points'. That would mean a 50 point diamond would weigh ½ carat. Because larger diamonds are rarer than small ones, the cost starts to rise significantly with each increase in size. While a one carat diamond will be more than double the cost of a half carat, a multiple diamond ring having a combined weight of more than one carat will be cheaper than a single stone of that weight.

Cut: This has two aspects. The first is the quality of the cut. Higher quality cuts result in a more brilliant diamond. The other aspect is the shape of the diamond after it has been cut. You will notice that diamonds are available in many shapes. The more frequent shapes are round, oval, princess shape (square shaped), pear or teardrop, marquise (football shape), and heart.

Of all these shapes, the round shape is the one most capable of being cut to give the greatest brilliance. This brilliance is a direct result of its ability to reflect light. A quality cut diamond will reflect the greatest amount of light because of how the facets are angled during cutting. Be cautious of diamonds that are cut to maintain a higher carat weight while sacrificing the cutting of a good angle as this will dramatically reduce the brilliance.

Clarity: Since diamonds are naturally occurring objects, almost all of them have trace minerals and scratches or flaws. The rarest diamond of all would be one without any of these natural occurring flaws. Many of these flaws cannot be seen with the naked eye. They do, however, affect the light reflecting quality of the diamond and its overall brilliance.

Diamond clarity is classified as follows: Flawless, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, SI3, I1, I2 and I3 is the most flawed.

When that time comes to buy a diamond, remember that each of the four Cs is of equal importance to an appraiser. Since all of us are on some kind of budget, large or small, you need to decide which feature is of greatest importance to you and concentrate on getting the best of that feature you can afford.