How to buy a diamond within my budget?



How do i start to look for when i need to buy a diamond for my future wife within my certain budget? Diamond is so complex and can be easily misled. Most of us may not have a clue about diamonds at all.

Most people may start by asking how much per carat? I used to be that guy. Once i hear this question i can pretty much tell you that this guy knows nothing about diamonds. Let me try to explain you a bit here, you can spend starting from M color I3 clarity 1,100/ct to D color IF (Internally Flawless) or FL(Flawless)20,700/ct. This based on Rapaport Price list that issued or updated every fridays. Rapaport Price List may change depending on market conditions and the demanding.

On an average, people spend between 4,000 to 6,000 per carat on a round brilliant cut diamond. And with these budgets you would be able to get a nice 100% eye clean, near colorless( G, H, I) to colorless (D,E,F) with SI1(Slightly Included) to VS1(Very Slightly included) clarity. With these budgets you can play around with Carat/weight, Clarity, and Color but keep the Cut alone. The cut is the most important of all 4Cs, why is that? because the cut is the one that brings out the brilliance of the diamond. It does not matter how white or how clean the diamond is, if a diamond has a poor cut that diamond pretty much is worthless or dead. what i mean dead is has no brilliant. Have you ever wondered and ask yourself sometime why my diamond is not sparkle and other people’s diamond is so sparkle? yap, thats what i am talking about, no brilliant.

 This’s a 1 carat H SI1 certified by GIA

Excellent Cut with Faint Fluorescence!

Approximately 6.4mm somewhere around $5,000

This’s a 1 carat F SI1 certified by GIA

Good Cut without Fluorescence!

Approximately 6.25 mm somewhere around $4,000

You may ask me why a F SI1 is cheaper than a H SI1 ? are they supposed to be other way around? Yes you’re right! F color is more expensive than a H color for sure, but not in this case the H has better(excellent/ideal) cut so it gives less percent discount than a F color that is only good cut. As you can see in these two pictures!

Some jewelers don’t tell you this, they just want to sell the stone to you period. when you ask for certain color and clarity, they will fulfill your request and get you what you ask for or maybe not instead they push you to buy what they have in their stocks. Good jewelers will tell you everything , i mean everything behind close doors. they would compare stone by stone and educate you about the table and depth percentage, crown and pavilion angle, last but not least the the girdle thickness. Girdle thickness is really really important, when a 1 carat diamond girdle’s thickness slightly thick  to extremely thick, it makes a 1 carat looks more like a well proportioned 0.80 carats diamond, which is about 5.9mm. look at the sample pics below.

 this’s a 1ct 5.90mm poor make diagrams

this’s a 1ct 6.00mm fair make diagrams

this’s a 1ct 6.13mm good make diagrams

this’s a 1ct 6.30mm very good make diagrams

this’s a 1ct 6.50mm ideal make diagrams

The weight is 1 carat and you pay for the price of 1 carat price but the look is more like a 0.80 carats. And i am not talking only for the 1 caraters, it could be  1.50 carats off make or 2 carats not properly proportioned and so on and on… Some buyers don’t know about this nor some jewelers. There are so many ways to look for before buying a diamond. Most diamonds in the industry are not well proportioned and some are milky or haze or might have secondary color. All of these have to take to consideration when buying a diamond. You can’t just compare diamond to diamond like comparing apple to apple. Each diamond is different even though they are the same color and clarity.

Buying a diamond is not as simple as you think unless you don’t care about getting ripped off or whatsoever then it’s fine. Buying a diamond just like buying a house, you are investing in long term (i mean ten years or more)eventually,you will make your money back. (I know some of you guys would not agree with my opinion that buying a good diamond is as an investment, i respect that). But the difference is when you buy a house is all about location, location, location, Diamond is all about the 4Cs and when you buy and who you buy it from. And have to be in colorless(D,E,F) ranges and VVS2 up, see sample here  with Triple Excellent known as (XXX) without Fluorescence, without secondary color(brown), No internal graining. Just make sure when you are ready to buy, do your diligent ask the expert opinions who have been in the industry for at least five to ten years or more and know what they are doing. If you need help with diamond questions, please email me at info@diamondkarma.com i’ll do my best to help!