Diamond FAQs - Is the Most Expensive Diamond the Best?

Shopping for diamond jewelry can be tedious and expensive, and you don't always get exactly what you wanted. When you buy from most jewelry stores, you are limited to their preset jewelry. You may find the exact diamond you want, but it is already set in a rind and you wanted a necklace. Or you may like a set of earrings, but you can only get the .5 carat stones, which you can't afford. There are stores which allow you to pick a stone and then set it, but they usually charge a premium. The solution is loose diamonds.

By buying a loose diamond, you are not bound by the preset jewelry in a store. You can pick the exact diamond you want, and then set it anyway you like. You can meet your budget and your standards with a loose solitaire diamond, and often get a much better price than with a preset stone. By getting a loose diamond first, you can create the perfect piece of jewelry for yourself or a very lucky someone. Many stores have exact standards of stones they may carry, limiting you to a certain size, color, or clarity. These are often at the high end of the spectrum, and while a 1 carat, VVSI, D color stone sounds great, it will cost more than your car. Often, these high quality diamonds are not necessarily the best. While a flawless diamond with perfect clear color is a great investment tool, it is not necessary for most pieces of jewelry.

Here is one of my experiences to prove this point. When I purchased my wife's engagement ring, I thought I needed to get the best diamond I could find. I had pre-determined that I wanted no less than VSI clarity, and F color. While shopping, I had the fortune of working with a very honest diamond broker who shed some light on this for me. She picked a SI clarity diamond and inspected it with a magnifying glass, then drew a "map" of the imperfections she found (there were 5 total, which is why it was an SI). I used the magnifier and the map, and I still could only find one. She explained that if I cannot find the imperfections under magnification with a map, my wife, or anyone else, certainly wouldn't see them with the naked eye. That alone saved me more than $1000 by preventing me from buying a more flawless diamond. We then looked at color. While I wanted no less than F (almost no color), she showed me an H (slightly yellow). I honestly couldn't see the difference, and she explained that a little color is actually good for jewelry. The "sparkle" that most people expect in a diamond is actually due to the color. A perfectly clear diamond doesn't have the "fire". It is the slightly yellow color that gives diamonds their sparkle. Again, she saved me money while giving me a diamond I expected.