Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat...?

Question

In your opinion what would be the best of each for a diamond engagement ring? Thanks for your answers! If you want to leave pictures or links that would be great.

Anthony C: Congratulations and great details!

Holly: Congratulations, it sounds like you got a good guy that can pick out great jewelry... hopefully my guy will do the same!

Answer 1

princess cut

f-h color

vs2 clarity

at least a .85 carat

white gold looks the best too

Answer 2

The 4 C's of knowing diamond basics, very important to know when making an important decision and spending a lot of money.

Cut-Shape of the diamond is really a matter of preference and what moves you. Round is the traditional cut while princess and other cuts such as the radiant and cushion has propelled to the top of the list of must haves. I would recommened an asscher cut or cushion, cut keep in mind that these will cost more because they are hard to come by if you are looking 1.50ct or more. These cuts are so different that you will stand out and be in a class of your own.But keep in mind that you want a diamond that has a nice cut, meaning angles, facets, table need to be symmetric and complement each other.Overall proporations need to good, this matters whether a stone has life or is dull.

Color-D-G: Rememeber that G is near colorless and I have seened in the past plenty of customers satisfied with an G and you save a lot of money too. There is no need to spend a fortune F-G will suffice.

Clarity-This is where you want to spend the extra dollar because this is what really counts.This is where the sparkle, fire, brillance really shows.I would suggest SI1 or better because little inclusions can be seened and it is a nice stone, but sill affordable. Once you go VS or VVS you are jumping price brackets.

Carat- A matter of preference, budget and hand size. Alot of woman want big and when they get "the ring " its too big for their hand and doesn't look nice. Get a ring that goes along with your hand size.Anything .50ct and up would be noticeable. Remember that you can always upgrade later down the road and you can always get a smaller center stone but a nice mouting with diamonds that will be act as a finishing touch.

Most of all shop around, do your research and get a certificate with your diamond so that it can insured. I would recommended shopping on Ebay or on the online market place. You will be to find great deals and be able to get a diamond at wholesales prices. Why shop retail and spend 3x the cost of wholesale? I recommended http://stores.ebay.com/Diamond-Genius-Jewelry.They have offer a lifetime guarantee with free appraisal. I believe that they do resizing too.They have affordable clarity enhanced diamonds. that are natural, real diamonds that you can buy while paying half the price.

Good luck on your search,
Ron S.

Answer 3

the cut of the diamond refers to the proportions of the diamond and should be very good to ideal, basically it should sparkle even in a room with very little light. if you buy a diamond that is not properly proporioned i.e. too tall and skinny or too shallow then the light entering the stone from teh top will end up passing through a stone instead of being reflected upwards. An ideal cut diamond is one that all the light entering in the top of the stone reflects inside and comes back out the top, no light is lost through the side or top.

as for the shape of the diamond it is totally personal preference. Keep in mind that unless the clarity is really high an emerald cut will show every flaw, a princess cut is the smallest looking cut because it carries most of its weight (carat) under the stone. An oval or pear will look nearly twice as big as a princess cut of the same size (more bang for your buck)

Color- anything above an I color or D-I will appear white. anything beyond that will look yellow.

Clarity- this is a big one. basically any stone that has a clarity of SI1 or better will look the same to the naked eye, meaning you will not see the flaws without the aid of a jewelers loupe or microscope. This is the biggest determination of cost. The better the quality the more expensive the stone. Many people are happy with an SI stone because of the reduced cost and the stone is still eye clean.

Carat - this is the weight of the which correlates to size. Many years ago a 1/2 carat was the average size. Nowdays 1ct is probably more average, but it comes with a big price tag. If you buy just under the standard sizes i.e. .90ct or .67ct the stone will be less expensive.

I use to manage a jewelry store and when people started to come in with a list of specific requirements about the 4 c's I would first tell them this, love your ring, have an emotional connection to the jewelry itself, don't get caught up in the specifics you are not buying a car, you should want a beautiful ring that sparkles and that you love. period. If you want to know the particulars after you fall in love with the ring that's fine but don't let someone tell you that you have to have specific stats on a ring. If they tell you you are buying an investment ignore them. Something is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it and who is going to buy your used diamond when they can buy any one of thousands just like it. Diamonds are not rare.

My advice, look online, look in magazines, find a style you like then go to local shops and try rings on. Make sure to ask to see the ring in different light levels, this will atest to how well cut a stone is, and find teh ring you LOVE. If you are trying to buy a solitaire stay away from chain stores as they tend to overprice what they are selling.

Answer 4

Only if you're on a budget:

One thing I don't think any one has mentioned, re: the cut. No matter which shape you choose, there's one thing that can give you much more bang for your buck. If you look at a diamond from the side, some of them look taller and skinnier, while others are shorter and flatter. Since the bottom of the stone is hidden by the setting, you would want to get the shorter, flatter stone, so the top surface will appear bigger. Why pay for something no one will ever see?

When we picked out my diamond, we picked out a setting first, then looked at loose stones. When the jeweler saw me looking at the stones from the side he said "Ohhh! You're looking for a Jew cut!" I didn't say that to offend anyone. That's just what the jewelers call it. Anyway, I found a beautiful very shallow-cut 1/3 carat with a slight flaw that actually looked much BIGGER than a 1/2 carat, once it was set.

This would work with any size and any cut stone.

While my family was oooohhhhhing and ahhhhing over it, my brother, who ran a pawn shop, looked at it and winked at me with this big grin. He knew I had made out like a bandit.

So remember----"shallow-cut" or "flatter". I wouldn't ask for Jew cut.

Answer 5

You get the most sparkle from a "round brilliant".

Diamonds graded G through I show virtually no color that is visible to the untrained eye. That's assuming that you want a white diamond. Some of the other colors are actually prettier and more valuable.

For clarity grades F through SI, inclusions (internal flaws) are NOT visible to the naked eye.

Carat? I'd recommend a half carat OR SMALLER. If you're wearing a 2-carat ring, everybody's going to think it's cubic zirconia, but you can't find nice sub-carat CZ rings.

The setting, though, is as important as the stone, or perhaps more so, in creating a nice ring.

Answer 6

I am waiting on my man to propose. I know it is coming soon.
I am not too fussy. I cant wait to have a ring on my finger but as long as it is pretty and white gold, I am not too worried about the diamond. I think a half carat is a good size diamond tho. To be honest, I would prefer a ruby but my guy is traditional so I am guessing it will be a diamond.
Good luck. I am sure she will love whatever you give her as long as it is given with love.........
try www.primestyle.com they have some gorgeous rings at good prices. Not blood diamonds either and all certified.

Answer 7

Honestly I preferred the poor color, where it has the yellowish tone better when I saw examples. Cut, the more it makes it sparkly the better. Karat, I don't really care. Clarity, as long as it doesn't have flaws visible to the naked eye it's all cool by me.

I actually wants CZ, my fiance demanded we go with diamond. And they're only accents, I never really was a diamond girl.

Answer 8

Easy break-down:

CUT -- whatever the bride likes (mine went for pear cut)

COLOR -- as close to colorless (D-F) as possible

CLARITY -- VS or better

CARAT -- depends on how much you can afford and the size of your bride's fingers (a rock that looks huge on her finger is gaudy, so do not EVER go over 1.5 carat -- in fact, 0.75 carat to 1 carat should work just fine)

Check out this educational link:

http://howtobuyadiamond.gia.edu/menu.htm

Answer 9

Cut: brilliant (round)
Colour: G - pretty good
Clarity: not sure but fairly good
Carat: half carat.
It's a very nice, white, sparkly, good sized stone. Diamond solitaire setting in white gold, 6 claws. I love it.

Answer 10

Shape: Round Brilliant
Color: Nothing lower than a G
Clarity: Nothing lower than a VS2
Carat: 3/4 to a carat

I go for QUALITY over size.

I picked out my own ering. It is a .85 Round F VS1 in platinum. Perfect size for my little 4.25 finger.

Answer 11

depends on what you want to spend. you have just named the four C's of a diamond, which all adds up to the fifth C...cost.

Mine is a princess cut. with clear color. clarity is i think 1 or 2 and its one carat very slightly incurred. set in white gold.

it all depends on you. i would go to your local jeweler and ask them these questions.