--Carat--

The long awaited first knowledge post... I'm going to start talking about the first C...

Carat
This is probably the 'C' that most people know about or they don't think they know, but really talk about. Carat, or carat weight is the quantitative measurement of how much the diamond weighs. Carat is actually the unit in which this spec is measured. If there was one most important thing to know about this 'C', it is that the Carat weight IS NOT EQUAL to how big the diamond is or looks! It is merely, the weight of the diamond and is measured in carats (1 carat is equal to 200mg in case any of you wanna know =P)

Obviously, the bigger the carat weight, the bigger the diamond is generally going to be. However, many factors come into play when determining how big a diamond looks. For example, you can have 2 round diamonds with the exact same carat weight, say 0.75 carat (or in diamond industry terminology, "75 points"), but 1 diamond could look bigger than the other. For the sake of argument, let's assume they have the same specs in terms of the 4C's (which will be discussed in subsequent posts). Now how is that possible you ask. Remember, 0.75 carat is the weight of the rock, not the size. When a diamond is "set" (placed on a ring/band/setting), what is visible to the eye is usually only the "table" (see diagram below). Therefore, a diamond can look bigger because it has a bigger table, which is the visible attribute. The rest of the actual carat weight could be elsewhere in the diamond. Of course, given different grades in the other C's, it can affect how big a diamond looks relative to another.



The Carat is actually the only 'C' which does not affect "brilliance" or "fire" (how sparkly the diamond looks).

One might ask, then how big of a diamond should I buy my beloved? That is a very, very subjective question and only you can answer that... and only after you've done your own research and shopping around. The best advice I can give you, is to go to different stores, and ask to look at rings of different carat weights, first, on the same setting and shape, then secondly, compared with different settings and shapes. Lastly, you want to look at different stores as the worksmanship and quality of diamond jeweller is different and may affect your perception of 'how big' 0.50 carats is.

Some random pointers:

• Don't be afraid to pick a carat size that you're comfortable with after looking at many.
• Be realistic financially and try not to overspend beyond your budget or what you can afford to get a bigger diamond
• Hopefully, your significant other will appreciate the effort and time (and money!) you spent on the diamond ring regardless of the carat size or any of the other specs (and that is the bottom line...)
• ....however... the truth is, different societies, cultures, social groups, sometimes do impose a certain "standard". By no means does that mean you have to obey it, but it's worth noting here.
• I would say, from my experiences so far, the most common "standard" is a 1 carat diamond... (My ideal size is just above 1 carat =) )
• The higher the carat weight, the more expensive the diamond! (Duh!) But, no I mean it doesn't grow linearly, but the price difference between a 60 points and a 70 points diamond is much less than the difference between a 70 points and a 80 points diamond and so on.

Let me actually go ahead and invent my law

Perfect Ring Law #1:

"The higher the carat weight, the more expensive it is to move incrementally higher"

This can be proven because it is more rare to find a clean and good spec diamond (high grades in the 4C's). Also, the bigger the diamond, more diamond is lost when cutting from the raw diamond into the retail diamond shapes to be sold.