What is the right price for a 1 carat diamond
When someone says ‘1 carat diamond,’ the focus doesn’t shift from the number. One carat has a nice round feel to it. Indeed, this kind of a diamond is great when you want to dress to impress. But you don’t pay for the size alone. You pay for the other Cs too- cut, clarity and color. Those, combined with carat determine what the price of the stone will be.
You could get a one carat stone for as little as $ 1,000 on the market. But that’s only if you compromise on quality of the stone in some parameter or across all of them. In this case, lower price means lower quality. If you don’t want to compromise on any factor then you could pay as much as $15000 or more. Some estimates put a one carat diamond anywhere between $3000 to $27000. Why is there such massive difference in prices? It’s the 4 Cs.
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Each factor changes the price of the stone.
Color- a pure white stone costs the highest. But these days, rich colors cost a lot too. You need to consider the metal you want your stone to be set in. For instance, if you’re going with the traditional yellow gold, then it works as camouflage; it hides to reduce the sometimes yellow shade that lower quality stones have. You need to ensure that you don’t go below J, I, and H.
Cut- the cut of a stone is directly responsible for the shine and brilliance of it. This is the process that takes a rough diamond in the wild and makes it a stone you’re proud to flaunt. The better the quality of the cut, the shinier the stone. Which means it’s more expensive too. You don’t want to compromise here because you could end up with an unattractive stone.
Clarity- because it is a natural formation, almost every single diamond has flaws. The ones that don’t come at the highest level- FL or Flawless. They are incredibly rare to find, unless they are lab created. Fewer flaws mean a better looking diamond. There is a more practical reason why you need a stone with good clarity. Cracks in the stone can weaken it, making it brittle and breakable. You need to stay within VS2 and not lower. The idea is for the stone to be ‘eye-clean,’ with flaws and inclusions that are not visible to the naked eye. Anything cloudy and discolored should be discarded.
A loose stone is less expensive but has value only when it carries certification. You could also approach a wholesale merchant for a lower price. Retail diamonds have hidden and added costs that you can avoid in the wholesale route. You have to keep all these factors in mind to decide how much you’re willing to spend on your one carat diamond. You have to determine what the lowest point you want to go is- for color, clarity and cut. Don’t compromise beyond that.
If you do find that a one carat diamond is a bit much, go down a shade lower than 1. A .9 is equally good and doesn’t look different in appearance to its round number counterpart.
BEAUTIFUL!