Name: Gabriel Edward Jewelers
Price range: $$

Carat Weight is the last of the 4 Cs. Once we take care of Cut, Color, and Clarity, we pick from the biggest Center Diamonds available to complete your Perfect Ring. Here’s a summary of what we’ve learned so far…

Cut: GIA “Excellent” with the best proportions possible, or AGS “Ideal”
Color: The lowest grade that looks white to you
Clarity: The lowest grade that looks eye clean to you
Carat Weight: The largest size with excellent light return, “white” color, and eye clean clarity for your budget

But how noticeable are the differences in carat weight between diamonds? Are the jumps in price worth the jump in size? Read on to start getting familiar with carat weight.

How noticeable are the differences in carat weight?

Round, Princess-Cut, Oval and Emerald-Cut Diamonds shown in multiples of 0.50 carats from 1 to 3 carats.

Here we have the four categories of diamond shapes all represented. Noticeable differences in size happen roughly every 0.50 carats, as do jumps in price.

Keep an eye out for diamonds just under multiples of 0.50 carats!

A 0.90 carat, 1.34 carat, 1.87 carat, etc. will look very close in size to the next multiple of 0.50 carats, oftentimes at a nice discount. Don’t sacrifice quality for one of these stones, but keep an eye open and if the price makes sense, see it in person ????

What diamond shapes look the largest at each carat size?

According to math (and also your eyes):

Elongated Brilliants (Marquise, Oval, Pear, Radiant) and Emerald-Cuts are the largest shapes at each carat size.
Rounds take the silver medal.
And lastly Square Brilliants (Princess-Cut, Cushion) and Asschers.

I swear I didn’t mean to arrange them like that in the picture. Completely coincidental.

This begs the question, what diamond shapes are the most expensive?

Rounds. All that sparkle, coloration / imperfection hiding, and classic beauty come with a price tag. If you want a large Round and it’s a bit out of budget, learn about lab diamonds and compare them to naturals in person.

The rest of the list gets a little murky. Fancy (non-Round) diamonds can fluctuate in price due to supply and demand. Here’s a general guide for fancy-shape price.

Ovals and Princess-Cuts. These fancies offer the next best light return after Rounds.
Marquise, Pears, Radiants and Cushions.
Emerald-Cuts and Asschers. This is due to lesser light return.
Heart-Shapes. Even though we ❤️ diamonds most people don’t ❤️ the ❤️ shape.

Javi Perez,
President

I’m here to help you create the PERFECT Engagement Ring for thousands off retail price. Keep saving for a lifetime with your soulmate while creating a Ring she’ll adore forever.

Let’s Create Your Dream Ring Together