How to get the biggest and best diamond for your engagement ring investment - By: Paul Flood

If you are searching for an engagement ring, you've almost certainly heard about the 4 C's of diamonds - Color, cut, clarity and carat. What do they mean and do they really matter? They do matter, but some matter a lot more than others and it can save you a bundle by paying attention to those that make the largest difference.

For the average person buying a diamond, all four C's won't be a significant consideration. What most care about are the size and the beauty of the diamond, which means the cut and carat weight. These 2 C's are by far the most noticeable and have the greatest effect on price and beauty.

When you wow your potential bride with an engagement ring, her eyes will probably be drawn to the center stone. If it's a decent size with a beautiful sparkle, it will make her eyes light up and fill with tears.

Most gemologists agree that it is advisable to select the highest cut grade that fits your budget for a simple reason: Among the 4 C's, cut has the biggest influence on the stone's appearance and beauty. It also determines what we think of as the diamond's sparkle.

The grade of the cut objectively measures how effectively the diamond will return light back at the eye. Well cut diamonds appear to sparkle brilliantly while a poor cut can appear drab and lifeless, even if the color and clarity get high grades. It'll actually appear larger than other stones of the exact same carat weight.

The main reason a well cut diamond looks larger and more brilliant is that whenever a diamond is cut properly, light is reflected out of the the top of the diamond. If a diamond is cut too shallow, the light ends up escaping from the bottom and if the cut is simply too deep, the light will escape through the side of the stone. Since your diamond will be viewed from the top, that's obviously where you want the light to exit the diamond.

You will find that the majority jewelers have four or five cut grades of diamonds that grade the amount of light is reflected out of the stone. They usually compose their own names for these grades but it really is still on a scale of one to five. For this post, we'll use five as the best grade and one as the lowest.

Grade five: The most brilliant cut which is ranked in top 1% of diamond cut quality. This cut has near perfect symmetry and the best polish. and reflects light brilliantly. It has superior proportions with precisely aligned cuts. Grade four is in the top 3% of diamond cut quality, is still quite beautiful and will reflect close to 100% of the light that enters the diamond. Grade three is in the top 15% of cut quality and still reflects light almost as well as grade 4. The cuts fall just shy of the best ranges for depth, table, polish or symmetry. This is an ideal class for a great value in a diamond and is a wonderful choice even for shoppers in search of the finest cuts. Grade two diamond's account for about 35% of diamonds based on the quality of the cut. The measurements fall outside of the preferred measurements. In general, the cut is fair but it won't have the brilliance of the better cuts. Grade one cuts are often too deep, too shallow or to narrow to effectively reflect light so most of th light is lost out of the bottom and the sides of the stone. Better jewelers don't even carry these stones.

In the US, diamonds are usually cut for the maximum weight, not beauty or brilliance. How often have you heard someone say, "Did you see the size of that diamond?" It's pretty common but if you want true quality and want a diamond that truly sparkles, you'll want to take note of the cut.

The bulk of the diamonds sold in the US are 1/2 carat or less. If you are looking to getting the biggest carat weight for your 3 stone engagement ring, consider dropping the ratings of the other 2 C's - Color and Clarity.

As mentioned above, better jewelers both on and offline don't carry the poorest cuts. You will find them on many sites and in the big box retailers jewelry counters. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Be an educated consumer, ask questions and know what you are paying for.

About the Author

Finding the perfect engagement ring is one of the biggest events of your life. If you want free tips and advice on how to buy a 3 stone engagement ring or any other most popular engagement rings, just visit http://www.new3stoneengagementring.com

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