EstateBuyers.com - Jewelry Buyers, Diamond Buyers & Antique Buyers

“Biggest” actually means the one that weighs the most carats, or the heaviest.  In ancient times, a gemstone that would exactly balance a single carob bean on a balance scale was said to way one carob (later called a carat) and a two carat diamond would balance two beans.  The larger two carat diamond is rarer and costs considerably more than two one carat diamonds of equal quality.

“Whitest” actually means the most colorless.  The whitest diamond ( D color} is not the color of a cotton ball but rather clear and colorless like a piece of window glass.  Other colorless diamonds, with slightly more, and often imperceptive color differences are E and F. Near colorless diamonds are G,H,I and J and then as diamonds have more color, they run through the alphabet to Z (generally light yellow).  Note there is no A,B or C.  A colorless diamond is rare can cost twice as much as one that is near colorless even though they are both beautiful and often have only subtle differences. 

“Cleanest” means less stuff or inclusions inside.  The cleanest diamond is flawless.  A flawless diamond is very rare and expensive, possibly costing twice as much as a similar diamond that has only a tiny inclusion (visible only under a microscope).  When a diamond has more inclusions and the clarity drops, the price drops significantly.

When you are on a budget and cannot afford a huge D color, flawless diamond, you have to make choices based on your priorities.  For example, three equally priced but very different diamonds might be:

• a one half carat D-Flawless (whitest,cleanest)
• a one carat J-SI3 (near colorless,slightly included)
• or a two carat M-I2 (slight tint of yellow,imperfect) 

Basically you have choices between a fine smaller diamond and a larger lower quality stone. 

So how do you buy the biggest, whitest, cleanest, best valued diamond?  

Become an educated buyer and understand your tradeoffs and options.  Shop multiple stores and look for knowledgeable and trustworthy dealers.  Check price but be sure to compare apples to apples. Fine diamonds should have diamond grading reports from fine labs (the G.I.A. is the best in my opinion).  Remember that when properly cut, a diamond’s spectacular brilliance, fire and sparkle are unrivaled in nature and justify their unique allure.  Also, when thinking that the diamond you are considering is too big,  remember what my wife says “diamonds shrink with age.  When I first put them on they appear huge, but as time goes by, they appear smaller and smaller.”