Diamond Guide - Part 5 - Diamond Buying Tips

A diamond is purely made of carbon, which is one of the Earth's most common elements. The diamond is the hardest known substance in the world and is uniquely resistant to damage by heat or scratching, and can be cut or polished only by another diamond.

Whether you buy diamonds or diamond jewelry for yourself or for your loved ones often your decision to buy a diamond is based on some emotion. Buying a diamond or diamond jewelry is an expensive purchase and it is advisable that you acquire some knowledge about diamonds and their characteristics. You can get detailed information on each and every aspect of diamond knowledge in our diamond guide.

Here Are Some Tips before Buying a Diamond

The diamond buying tips mentioned below will help you find the diamond you are looking for.

When you buy a sparkling diamond, you must consider the 4Cs of diamonds – Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat weight, as a basis for your decision. The 4Cs will help you to choose the best diamonds on the same criteria that jewelers use to select them.

Diamond Cut

A diamond’s cut is the most important attribute for enhancing a diamond’s beauty because a well-cut diamond reflects light to maximize the stone's brilliance.

A well-cut diamond reflects most or all of the light that enters the diamond, back to the eyes. Diamond cut by shape describes the outline of the stone and pattern of the facet arrangement. You can find a diamond in various shapes like Round, Princess, Heart, Oval, Pear, etc. Polish and symmetry are also important for a well-cut diamond. The diamond polish displays the smoothness of the diamond's facets, whereas the symmetry refers to the alignment of the facets.

The diamond shape is a matter of personal choice. A brilliant round shaped diamond is one of the most desirable shapes and offers maximum brilliance.

Diamond Color

The diamond color scale goes from D to Z, with D being the most white and Z being the most yellow.

Diamonds are also found in various intense colors like pink, greens, brown, red, orange, blue etc. These intensely colored diamonds, known as fancy colored, are very rare, attractive and desirable. A deeply colored diamond can cost more than its colorless counterpart.

Buying Tips for Diamond Color

The best way to see the true color of a diamond is by looking at it against a white surface.

Even though stones in the D-F color grades are the most valuable, you can still find great value and save substantial money with diamonds in grades G-J, since no color is visible to the untrained eye. Usually, yellow metal (gold) hides traces yellow in a diamond, while white metal (white gold, platinum, silver) enhances white colors.

Faint or medium fluorescence will rarely affect a diamond's appearance.

Diamond Clarity

Clarity is a term used to describe the absence or presence of flaws inside or on the surface of a diamond.

When flaws occur internally, they are called inclusions. The most common types of inclusions include crystals, needles, knots, chips, cavities, cleavage, feathers etc. When these flaws occur on the surface, they are known as blemishes. The most common types of blemishes include polish lines, naturals, scratches, nicks, pits, extra facets, etc.

A diamond's clarity is based on the number, size, nature, and location of imperfections on the finished stone. Clarity of a diamond affects the beauty and value of the diamond.

Buying Tips for Diamond Clarity

When buying a diamond, you can compromise a bit on the clarity aspect as most diamonds contain imperfections which are not visible to the naked eye. You can use a jeweler’s 10X magnifying glass or microscope to examine diamond’s imperfections.

F (flawless) and IF (internally flawless) are rare and beautiful diamonds with an exceptionally high price. Diamonds, with a clarity grade of VVS1-VVS2, are excellent quality diamonds. Diamonds with a clarity grade of VS1-VS2 and SI1-SI2, are also great choices, as imperfections in these grades are not visible to the naked eye and these will be less expensive.

Diamond Carat Weight

The term "Carat" refers to the weight of a diamond. 1 carat equals 0.2 grams or 1/142 of an ounce.

A carat may also be measured in points, and 1 carat is 100 points. Therefore, ¼ carat diamond is 25 points and ½ carat diamond is 50 points and so on.

The price of a diamond rises exponentially with its size. So, a 2 carat diamond of a given quality is always worth much more than two 1 carat diamonds of equal quality.

Buying Tips for Diamond Carat Weight

Your budget will generally dictate the size/carat weight of the diamond you can buy.

You should consider buying an average sized diamond with a good cut, color, and clarity rather than buying a larger diamond with a lesser quality cut, color, and clarity.

The term ‘Carat’ is different from the term ‘Karat’ which is used to describe gold's fineness or purity.

Diamond Certificate

A Diamond Certificate or Diamond Grading Report is a statement issued by an independent Gemological Laboratory, at the time of evaluation, the diamond in question has been examined, measured, and scrutinized by experienced diamond graders, using various gemological instruments, and determined to contain the characteristics as stated in the Certificate or Report.

Jewelry Appraisals are NOT Diamond Certificates.

There are many reputed laboratories available for diamond certification, which are known for their consistency and unbiased diamond grading system, for example, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the American Gem Society Laboratories (AGSL).

Buying Tips for Diamond Certificate

When you buy a diamond, you should always ask for a diamond certificate. It will provide you much-needed peace of mind knowing that you are getting your money's worth.

A diamond certificate gives you the exact details/physical properties of the stone. Based on this information you will be able to do some comparison-shopping before doing the actual purchase.

A diamond certificate allows you to buy based on a stone’s measurable characteristics.

If you re-sell your diamond along with its certificate, you will get a better price for the diamond.

To get insurance for your diamond, you also need to produce a diamond certificate.