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Crucial Loose Diamond Buying Tips!
Purchasing a loose diamond, can be a daunting and overwhelming task. Not all diamonds are created equal and determining the quality of a loose diamond will help you save thousands of dollars (literally) while assuring you that the diamond will sparkle and shine in any lighting environment.
Here are a few tips related to the basic guidelines for choosing the right diamond to suit your taste and budget.
Read on for tips that will make a difference in your dream diamond...(and pocketbook!! :))
What Diamond carat weight should I choose?
When making a decision on which carat size is best for you, certain things must be considered. It is always difficult to strike the right balance between your total budget for the loose diamond and your gal’s expectations. In most cases, certain sacrifices will have to be made to ensure that you get the closest diamond to her expectations without compromising on brilliancy and cut quality…and within your budget.
Ask yourself, which of the Four C's does she emphasize and value most? Has she already set her sights (and heart) on a specific diamond size, color, and clarity range? If so, what are your options within that range, so as to maximize the beauty, brilliancy, and cut precision of the loose diamond at an affordable price? If you're not 100% sure, a good idea would be to ask a close friend or family member for advice.
Determining the diamond carat weight for her engagement ring is therefore the first and most crucial step in building the diamond engagement ring of her dreams. When determining carat it's also important to consider her personal style, finger size, and the particular engagement ring style you are looking at for the ensemble. Some diamond engagement rings are solitaires with no accent diamonds and will therefore make a greater impact with a bigger center diamond. However, if you have decided on a designer diamond engagement ring with accent diamonds to complement the center stone, it is not always necessary to get a large diamond in the center, since there is so much else going on around it.
Which Diamond color should I choose?
Just to refresh; color grades for diamonds range from D-Z and is graded based on its “whiteness”, or the absence of coloration/tint/hues in the stone. This coloration usually takes on the form of a yellowish color that becomes increasingly brown as the loose diamond goes down in color grade.
For most people, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference from one color grade to the next in a loose diamond.
The differences in the price tag, however, can be pretty significant. Since G-d knows that purchasing a loose diamond is not always based on rational/practical considerations like budget (for example), and is actually full of emotion and psychology as well, many purists will insist on purchasing diamonds in the D-F range. They need to know that they got their gal the “very best” diamond that money can buy. Certainly, in one sense they are correct. “Collection colors” diamonds (as they are known in the range of D-F), are some of the rarest and most prized precious gemstones on this planet. After all, there is no way for a diamond cutter to influence the color of a loose diamond; only G-d can do this.
However, when focusing on the purely rational and practical approach to diamond buying, selecting diamonds in the G-I range, will afford you tremendous value while still achieving a look that is colorless.
As a matter of fact, if you are shopping on a tight budget or trying to maximize the size of your center diamond, you can even opt for a J color diamond (in a well cut stone) which will be extremely affordable and near colorless. An additional trick is to consider a diamond with medium or strong fluorescence. Fluorescence in a diamond will make the diamond appear even whiter to the eye, than its actual color grade.
Which Diamond clarity should I choose?
Just to refresh; almost every diamond will contain some blemishes and inclusions formed during the course of its crystallization. The diamonds clarity grade refers to the visual impact of these characteristics or lack thereof, as viewed under 10X loupe magnification. Sometimes when working within a certain budget, you will not have the luxury of choosing a diamond with a clarity grade that is guaranteed to be free of internal inclusions even at very high magnification levels. However, this certainly does not mean that you have to settle on a clarity grade with inclusions that will be visible to the naked eye. If you play your cards right, it is certainly possible to choose a diamond with a clarity grade whose inclusions will not be visible to the naked eye and whose inclusions pose no deleterious effect to the structural integrity of the diamond.
If you want to be 100% certain that your diamond will be completely free of any visible inclusions to the naked eye, select a diamond with a VS2 clarity grade or higher. If you end up choosing a VVS1-2 graded diamond or higher, then you were most certainly motivated by emotion and psychology (the rarity factor) as much as practicality. To you I say; let the purist in you shine!
Truth be told, shopping for SI clarity graded diamonds can be done while achieving the objective that the stone be free of visible inclusions. This is almost always the case in better cut quality diamonds, such as Ideal Cut diamonds, or our Signature SuperbCert Super Ideal Cut Diamond collection. These diamonds will face up “eye-clean” at least 90% of the time as a result of the diamonds superior light performance and refracted brilliance.
However, to be sure, it is advisable to have those diamonds reviewed by our knowledgeable staff before completing your order. This is your guarantee that you will receive a diamond that does not have any visible inclusions to the unaided eye.
Many customers will also look for that perfect balance between a color grade that faces up white and a clarity grade that is eye-clean so as to achieve maximum vale for their dollars.
Which Diamond cut grade should I choose?
The most crucial consideration when choosing a loose diamond is the diamond’s “Cut”. A well cut and well proportioned diamond will display incredible beauty and brilliance regardless of its size, color, and clarity designations. This simple truth, is what separates the visually stunning diamonds from the mass produced frozen spit (a.k.a. “diamonds”) being sold in the market place.
To this end, it is obviously a safe bet to insist on only the finest Ideal Cut quality diamonds for your purchase. Hearts & Arrows diamonds, Ideal Cut Diamonds, Super-Ideal Cut Diamonds, SuperbCert Signature Ideal Cut Diamonds, are all synonymous with the best and most brilliant diamonds money can buy from a cut and light performance based perspective.
However, there are many well cut loose diamonds being offered for sale that do not necessarily qualify as a hearts and arrows or ideal cut diamond. These diamonds may still be very beautiful diamonds and are certainly worthy of your consideration. Some companies tend to classify these diamonds as “premium cut diamonds” or good cut diamonds, instead of the term ideal cut diamonds.
They will usually do this based on calculating and designating a loose diamonds (combination of) table and depth percentages to a certain category for cut quality.
While this is certainly a good place to start, it is often too broad a framework from which to consistently select well cut diamonds, instead of just using it to weed out most of the underachieving loose diamonds being sold on the market.
Here too, it is advisable to consult with your trusted diamond jeweler on the various aspects of the diamonds cut qualities in order to ascertain whether the stone is worthy of your consideration. Certainly, it is crucial to get as much actual and scientific data on the diamond as possible. Reports like the BrillianceScope, MegaScope, and Ideal Scope data, together with actual diamond photographs is invaluable in empowering you to purchase a diamond that will be of excellent cut quality and light performance.
This is especially important when shopping for a loose diamond over the Internet, where you cannot “see” and actually touch the stone.
We wish you the best of luck in your search for your dream diamond!!
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