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How Much is My Diamond Worth 

 May 31, 2022

By  Clark Pawners & Jewelers

Photo from Canva

More than the sparkle and shine, a diamond is worth much more than what meets the eye.  If you have no idea how much your diamond is worth just by looking at it, using a diamond weight calculator is a better 

Idea.

Knowing the value of the diamond you are planning to buy, or how much your diamond will cost if you sell it, will give you the total power to choose the best option, and of course, the diamond pricing that will benefit you.

Diamond Pricing involves many factors plus the 4 Cs.  These nuances can be eliminated when you try to have your diamond be assessed by experts.

How to Calculate a Diamond Using a Diamond Price Calculator

This diamond price calculator makes identifying the weight of your best friend (as Marilyn Monroe said) easy to do.  You just have to make available three  factors: 

    • Shape

    • Dimension

    • Ring girdle

Our Diamond Weight Calculator

Use the calculator according to the parameters we will discuss here.

 

Diamond Price Calculator: Step by Step Guide

1. Diamond shape.  There are 12 different shapes for you to choose from.  Just choose the shape that nearly describes your diamond.

2. Diamond dimensions.    Key in the length, depth, and width, or diameter and depth depending on the shape of your diamond.

3. Girdle Thickness. If the ring girdle is thin, don’t change anything, but if it is, you add a little to the percentage.  An example of a medium girdle is 2%.

4. Is the shape in the standard?  In the AGS Diamond Grading System, the highest possible grade is zero, and the lowest is 10.

5.  The Diamond Weight is Displayed in Carats Once you have entered the necessary details, it will automatically generate the weight in carats.

Calculate your diamond’s price here.

What is the price of a diamond?

A common onlooker will not even know the difference between different kinds of diamonds.  The sparkle and shine will strain your eyes, and you may be more confused about how to set them apart as pricey or not. How can you tell what the price of a diamond is?

If you are not going to use an automatic Diamond Price Calculator, you might be better off asking an expert about it.  Nonetheless, you will be basing your opinions on the 4 Cs of a quality diamond.

Diamond Search Engine has released its Diamond Price Index on May 1, 2022.  Diamond Price Chart helps buyers and sellers to 

 

How do I find out the value of my diamond?

Suppose you want to buy an engagement ring for your lady.  How would you know what to look for in an engagement ring besides the cut and color?   The GIA has set these 4 Cs of Diamond Quality to set the standards for what is a good diamond from what is best.  Gia Certified Diamonds have passed quality assurance.

The prices of loose diamonds are different from a diamond that has a setting.

What is Diamond Shape Quality? 

The shape of a diamond can be easy to assess- that is if it is round.   A round diamond just needs to be round.  Quality diamonds, the brilliant ones, are so round that you can detect a discrepancy to its roundness just by looking at it.

It’s harder to assess fancy cut diamonds.  The reason is, they don’t receive cut grades from GIA.  The fact that they have a wide variety of shapes and cutting styles with different proportions.  Thus, a different ratio of their length-to-width and set of standards per part.  

So, here are four things to look out for in fancy shapes:

    1.  L-to-W Ratio:  The relationship between the length and width of a fancy shape.  The width is expressed as the number one.  Many find ratios better than others.  

MOST POPULAR  TO USE L-TO-W RATIOS= 1:50:1 and 1:75:1

Emerald cuts, rectangular cushion cuts, and pears

BENEFIT OF L-TO-W RATIOS= it can identify if gems are too long or narrow and prone to breaking

    1.  Line Symmetry:

Symmetry makes a diamond look crisp and neat.  These things contribute to a diamond’s brilliance.

Note:  A fancy cut diamond does not have a GIA Report on its cut grade but can assess the stone’s polish and symmetry grades.

SHAPE OUTLINE
Hearts and pears Same on both sides when drawing a line down the middle
Ovals and squares, rectangular and maquises Should be the same on each side vertically and horizontally

    1.  Smooth Curves:  Hearts, pears , and ovals should have full, rounded lobes.  Meaning, curves should flow smoothly without awkward flat spots.

    1.  Defined Shape:  The shape should be obvious.  Hearts should have defined cleft, with all its points defining its shape and not confusing the one looking at it.  Sometimes, the ratio has a direct effect on the shape of a diamond.  An example is an oval with too low of a length-to-width- ratio might be mistaken for an uneven round.

4 Cs of Quality

Image from GIA website

You have decided to purchase a diamond for the first time, or perhaps have decided to sell your own pieces of diamond.  But how are you going to know what your diamond is worth?

These are the four basic characteristics of a quality diamond.  The GIA or the Gemological Institute of America, is the leading, and most respected source of gemological knowledge int he world the 4 Cs of a diamond cradle a diamond’s quality.  And quality caters a diamond’s value or carats.

QUALITY CLARITY DIAMONDS

    1. The inclusions are not visibly to the unaided eye.  Seeing inclusions even without magnification  means that clarity is high, suited for jewelries.

    1.  Location, size, and relief of visible inclusions.  Inclusions that are away from the center of the diamonds are less visible.  Moreso, when they are hidden near the corners and edges. are also more difficult to see and have less impact on the appearance of the diamond.

TAKE NOTE: The right number of facets at the tips and corners of the brilliant-cut diamonds is less visible.   Smaller and lighter-colored inclusions are also harder to see and have a lesser impact on the   And smaller and lighter inclusions are 

    1.  Cut, style, and inclusions are typically harder to see in brilliant-cut diamonds because they have many facets.  When there are more facets there is also more light bouncing around.

    1. Durability is a vital consideration when talking about diamonds with lower clarity grades.

DIAMOND COLOR

Image from GIA Website

According to GIA, a chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond has no color.  It is like a drop of pure water which gives it a higher value.  Thus, a diamond that lacks color is more valuable than the one that sparks with a hue. 

A diamond that has been certified by the GIA, HRD, or IGI will have a higher value than the same kind of diamond that’s uncertified.

D-Z Diamond Color-grading System

This system of Color Grading from D-Z measures the intensity of the absence of color.  This is done by comparing a stone under controlled lighting and precise viewing conditions to master stones with already established color values.

It is hard to tell how different one diamond is from another, especially because some color distinctions are undetected by the untrained eye.  Of course, we don’t want to make a mistake in this field because these things make a big difference in determining the price and quality of a diamond.

BUT WHY THE SCALE STARTS WITH A “D”?

With the prevalence of almost the same system to measure like A, B, C to 0, 1, 2,3. GIA has thought of starting a new style with D, to  Z instead.

DOES IT MEAN THAT A Z- DIAMOND IS OF LOW QUALITY?

A diamond graded Z in color means it is at the lowest level of the D-Z scale, but it is better than a fancy diamond.  This is because fancy diamonds are either yellow or brown diamonds that have more color than a Z master stone or these diamonds have color other than yellow or brown.

THE COLORLESS GROUP

The colorless group has three colors – D, E, and F..  They may seem the same in color but look intently.

Colorless diamonds are rarer.  That is why it has higher prices.  There can be many differences in diamond price between color grades,  with few optical benefits. It is important to observe color on a stone to a stone basis. Ultimately, color comes down to what you find

CLARITY

Some of nature’s nurturing of the beauty that diamonds have is when their inclusions are visible under 10x magnification.  Examples of these are trapped crystals, structural irregularities, etc.  These inclusions tell everything about the origin of the diamond.  

Most buyers of polished diamonds want their gems to be as clear as possible. This is the reason why GIA came up with the Diamond Clarity Grading Scale.  The scale ranges from Flawless and internally flawless, all the way down to included.

REMEMBER: Flawless doesn’t really mean it doesn’t have its flaws.  Clarity is just about the capacity to be flawless even at 10X magnification.

CUT

A diamond’s cut quality is about the proportions, the exquisite craftsmanship (DESIGN), and the overall look (FINISH) it has.

Cut quality is important because it affects how a diamond interacts with light.  This interaction with light 

Will has an effect on the diamond’s brightness. fire, and scintillation.

PROPORTION Angles and relative size of the diamond’s  facets
DESIGN The ratio of the diamond’s weight in relation to its diameter
FINISH : (a) Polish (b) symmetry Reflect the quality of workmanship in the process of cutting a diamond

Brightness, Fire, Scintillation- The Three Head Turners

These three factors help the diamond show much of its beauty and light to its viewers.

Brightness This is the light that is visible to the viewer’s eyes from the reflection of the light of the facets in a diamond.
Fire When a diamond breaks up white light into spectral colors, then fire is the colorful flashes of this white light.
Scintillation Pattern and sparkle of the light and dark areas when the viewer or diamond moves

REMEMBER: Round brilliant diamonds can have cut grades from GIA.  On the other hand, fancy cut diamonds don’t.

How to Check your Diamond for Cut Quality?

GIA has these guidelines in checking cut quality.

Steps to Do Reflect
Check your diamond’s brightness and scintillation in diffused white light. Does your diamond reflect back a lot of white light? (brightness)
Does it flash a lot when you turn it from side to side?(scintillation)
Are the bright and dark areas evenly distributed? (pattern)
IF THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE ALL “YES”, THEN, YOUR DIAMOND IS WELL-CUT.
Check the diamond’s fire under the lighting of incandescent bulb Does your diamond flash with lots of fire?
THIS MEANS A GOOD THING, YOU WANT AS MUCH FIRE AS POSSIBLE IN ALL THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW.
Look at the diamond under different lighting. Does it look good in a restaurant, in your office, or outdoors?
IF YOUR DIAMOND LOOKS FABULOUS UNDER DIFFERENT SITUATIONS, CHANCES ARE YOU’VE A QUALITY ONE.

 Diamond Carat Weight

Yes, this is about how much the diamond weighs.  When diamond shopping, 

A metric “carat” is 200 milligrams. Each carat is subdivided into 100 ‘points.’ These points  allow very precise measurements to the hundredth decimal place. 

A jeweler may describe the weight of a diamond below one carat by its ‘points’ alone. 

For instance, the jeweler may refer to a diamond that weighs 0.25 carats as a ‘twenty-five pointer.’ Diamond weights greater than one carat are expressed in carats and decimals. A 1.08 

carat stone is as ‘one point oh eight carats.’

All these 4 Cs and the other factors help determine the quality of a diamond.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a 0.5-carat diamond worth?

A high-quality 0.50-carat diamond (H color and VS2 or higher clarity) costs about $2,500 per carat, meaning that the price of the diamond itself is approximately $1,250.  With the other factors that help define the worth of diamonds, expect that this is not a very accurate price estimate.

Does Carat Weight Mean Size of a Diamond?

Carat refers to a diamond’s weight, whereas size is about its dimensions. Hence, two stones of the same carat can have different dimensions and therefore be of different sizes.

What is the Diamond Size Chart?

Diamond prices are based on carats.  A carat is a unit of weight although many mistake it for size.  It is equivalent to 2 grams the weight of a paper clip.  

REMEMBER:  CARAT WEIGHT IS UNRELATED TO KARAT WHICH IS CONNECTED TO THE PURITY OF GOLD.

If a carat is higher, will it have a higher price too?

As the carat size of a diamond increases, the diamond’s price increases at an increasing rate. Why? Because the larger the diamond, the more increasingly rare it is. Fewer than one in one million mined rough stones are large enough to produce a finished 1 carat diamond. So, as carat weight increases, you will typically pay more not only in total, but on a price-per-carat basis as well. The table below illustrates the typical relationship between diamonds of equal quality and increasing carat weights:

How to make a diamond carat size comparison?

Knowing the exact carat size of a diamond entails a special device And if you try to compare several stones, this task becomes even harder. You can get the idea about this parameter by checking each stone in the diamond carat size chart, though.

However, it’s still tricky. The diamond size doesn’t change at the same level as the carat size. Take a look at the diamond carat size chart on the previous pages, a jewel of 6-carat weight is not three times bigger than a 2-carat diamond. Truth is, these stones are 11.7mm and 8.2mm, respectively.

This rule works if only you compare two round-cut diamonds. To compare diamonds of different shapes, you should refer to the cut diamond size chart.

REMEMBER: The weight of a diamond determines the diamond price. You should find out the exact diamond carat size, not superficial measuring of its diamond size, to check the diamond price.  Or simply use the Diamond Price Calculator

Is it cheaper to buy loose diamonds?

Diamond jewelry is one of the most beautiful body ornaments one can have. However, loose diamonds, though not necessarily cheaper, are attracting buyers as well.  The factor that contributes to this is the fact that loose diamonds give the buyer a complete view of its beauty without the setting.

Diamond prices and personal budgets are going to be the greatest influences over your search for the ultimate diamond.  They are great investments as they increase in calue over time.

Buying or Selling Your Diamond? Visit Clark Pawners Today

Whether buying or selling, you will find an honest and fair value at Clark PawnersClark Pawners, Contact us today!

Clark Pawners & Jewelers is your trusted pawn shop in Chicago. We buy and sell jewelry, diamonds, gold and more, aside from offering cash loans.

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