Diamond Value Shopping Tips

Engagement ring shopping can be a very expensive process so try to find out tips to shop for a diamond that will help you get the most bang for your buck. Watch this loose diamond video and read along with excerpts from our most recent blog post on 'Value Power Plays'. Many instantly think they want a large stone with the best quality possible. However, seeing the costs with purchasing a 3 carat 'D' color 'VS' clarity diamond for instance, will throw many into a price shock. Read along here for some tips that will help you achieve the largest, best looking diamond to your eye, without breaking the bank.
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Round Brilliant 2.57 carats 'I' Color/VS1 Clarity: At first many people might scoff at an 'I' color and think it will be 'too yellow' for their liking. On the contrary, an 'I' color, or even 'J' in many instances, will appear colorless face-up, especially in a round brilliant cut diamond. This diamond also has an excellent cut and an enormous face up spread coming in at just under 8.9mm.
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Radiant Cut 2.51 ct 'H' color/VVS2 Clarity: While this stone clearly has an amazing clarity grade of nearly flawless, less noticeable to the casual observer is its impeccable cut. This radiant has ideal depth and table %'s in the mid 60 range, and perfect proportions of 9.2mm x 7.1mm which give it the look of a 3 carat diamond and a length/width ratio of 1.30:1. Also notice there is no bow tie effect
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Cushion Cut 4.20 ct H color/VVS1 Clarity: This a cushion brilliant style diamond, where the faceting is much more distinct and for that reason the 'H' here looks more like a 'G' to the naked eye. Finally, consider this diamond's measurements which come in at a massive 10.45mm long which will make it look larger than many 5 carat diamonds.
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Pear Shape 2.73 ct H color/SI1 Clarity: This diamond weight is what we like to call a 'special size' as it fall slightly below a major round number which in this case is 3 carats. There is a large premium to pay for those shiny 3, 4 and 5 carat numbers so finding a diamond that is slightly smaller in weight but has good measurements and more than respectable color/clarity ratings, is the goal for many shoppers.
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Oval Cut 2.51 ct D color/SI2 Clarity: Here is an example of making a great trade-off of color for clarity. For oval diamonds in particular, diamond color is a very crucial while inclusions can be hidden within its brilliant style faceting. For this reason, if you can find an eye clean SI clarity diamond in the D-E-F color range, you should pounce on it!