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Diamond Carat Weight Guide

Things you need to know about diamond carat weight:

1) Carat weight is the biggest factor affecting the price of the diamond!

2) Diamonds are measured in carat weight. One carat is 100 points. Ex: A 75 point diamond = 3/4 carat or 0.75ct. Carat is expressed as "carat" or "ct". Do not confuse carat with "Karat" or "kt", which refers to the purity of gold jewelry.

3) On the wholesale level diamond prices are quoted in price per carat. Ex: if a diamond costs $5000 per ct and weighs 1.25 carats, the actual cost of the diamond is $7500. If the diamond costs $5000 and weighs 0.75ct, it will actually cost you $3750. This is good to know if you are comparing two diamonds. One weighs 1.02ct and costs $10,350 (10,350 /1.02 = $10,147.06 per ct) and another that weighs 1.06ct and costs 10,500 (10,500/1.06 = $9,905.66). In this case The more expensive diamond is actually $241.40 cheaper per carat and is actually a better bargain assuming all other factors are the same (which is usually not the case since there are over a trillion different combinations that could affect the price of a diamond of the same size color and clarity).

4) Although a diamonds weight is usually stated to the closest hundredth (ex: 1.01ct), on the wholesale level, the price is usually calculated to the nearest thousandth (ex: 1.019ct). This means that if you are looking at two 1.00ct diamonds that both cost $10,000 but one actually weighs 1.009ct while the other one actually weighs 1.000ct, the price per carat is actually $90.00 cheaper on the 1.009ct.

Of all the possible combinations of seemingly identical diamonds, if you only factored in the last two weight related items described here, you could easily have a $500 or even $1000 difference in the price.

5) You should know that diamond prices are not linear. If you are price shopping a 1/2ct diamond for $2000 and then you change your mind and decide to go for a 1ct diamond, don't expect to pay $4000 for a 1.00ct diamond of the same quality. It will be much more. This is because the larger the diamond, the more rare and valuable it is.

Diamonds have different weight categories listed below. Each category represents a different price per carat for the same quality. Whenever preforming a search online, be sure to narrow your search criteria down to just one specific range. Search diamond prices.

1/4 ct: 0.20 to 0.29

1/3 ct: 0.30 to 0.39

40 pointer: 0.40 0to 0.49

1/2ct: 0.50 to 0.69

3/4ct: 0.70 to 0.79

80 pointer: 0.80 to 0.89

90 pointer: 0.90 to 0.99

1 ct: 1.00 to 1.19

1 1/4ct: 1.20 to 1.49

1 1/2ct: 1.50 to 1.69

1 3/4ct: 1.70 to 1.99

2 ct: 2.00 to 2.39

2 1/2ct: 2.40 to 2.99

3 ct: 3.00 to 3.39

3 1/2ct: 3.40 to 3.99

4 ct: 4.00 to 4.39

4 1/2ct: 4.40 to 4.99

5 ct: 5.00 to 5.39

5 ct: 5.40 to 5.99

6 ct: 6.00 to 6.39
6 1/2ct: 6.40 to 6.99
Etc.

Size Does Matter:

If your woman tells you that the size does not matter to her, she may not be talking about her diamond. The average person thinks that the bigger the diamond, the more it costs. While this is true, there are many other factors that affect the price of a diamond.

You may want to buy a smaller diamond in order to afford a higher quality diamond. If you opt to do this, you will still want to go with a respectable size. Size is the first thing others will see and if they are not knowledgeable in diamonds or do not have a loupe with them, Size is the key factor they will judge your diamond with.

It's hard to know what size to get if you are burdened with the whole money issue. If your future fiancee is shopping with you, she will get the same diamond education that you are receiving and may appreciate a higher quality diamond even at the expense of a little size, however, they usually still opt to go slightly lower in quality than you would if you were shopping alone, in order to get a bigger diamond.

We would suggest at least a 3/4 ct if you don't want to come off as a cheapskate to her friends. The norm these days is at least one carat with the trend rising up to 2ct or more. If you want to get a big diamond but just can't afford a 2.0ct, 1 1/4ct, or 1 3/4ct diamonds are a good compromise for the budget minded because they fall just short of the next price/size category.

You will want to come to some sort of compromise between all of the four C's. The current trend is to sacrifice a little on the clarity and go with a better color. The color and the Size are the two most noticeable features of a diamond other than size and quality of rough, so for this reason they both get sacrificed a little for a bigger diamond.

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