Diamond Design Ideas

When you buy a diamond ring, the first thing to consider is the budget. Once you decide on your budget there are two approaches to buying diamond ring. In the first approach, you pick a loose diamond that fits your budget and then you find a ring design and setting that enhances the beauty of the stone. In the second approach, you decide on the design first and then you find the appropriate stone and setting for it. Here are few tips that will help you in buying diamond rings:

1. Diamond Design:Diamond Rings come in many designs: solitaire ring, a ring with a number of stones, or an open-work lattice ring in which the diamonds flow along the lines of the setting. You can also add gemstones sapphires or emeralds to the ring. Depending your personal style modern, vintage, floral, romantic or more contemporary, you may pick different design.

2. If you have a design in your mind. It will be easier for you to decide what shape of diamond you want. Diamonds come in various shapes: round, princess, emerald, radiant, oval, pear, marquise, heart, Escher, and cushion. If you decide to pick the stone first by focusing on the 4Cs of diamond quality, you can pick the shape which provides you better quality diamond for the same price.

3. When you select the diamond stone, you need to focus on the 4Cs of diamond quality and make sure that the merchant provides a certificate for it.

4.Once you have decided on the design, shape, and 4Cs of diamonds, the final thing to consider is the setting for the diamond. You want the setting to show off the beauty of your diamond and goes well with the design that you have in mind for your diamond ring.

The price of diamonds depends on their beauty and rarity. In technical terms, four factors Clarity, Color, Cut, and Carat Weight are used to characterize diamonds.

Clarity: it tells you how clear or clean the diamond is. Usually most diamonds will contain some sort of blemishes (imperfections outside of a diamond), and inclusions (imperfections inside a diamond). The clarity grades established by Gemological Institute of America (GIA) are FL, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2,I1, I2, and I3, where the best is Flawless (FL) and the worst is I3. In general, it is recommended people buy diamonds with at least SI1 clarity. If you shop around, you can buy SI1 for the same price that most I2 stones are sold for. .

Color: Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow, from violet to shades of blue, brown, gray, and orange. The colored diamonds are rare and very expensive. The chances are that the diamonds you will see in your shopping will be white or yellow, the whiter the diamond the better it is. The yellow color comes from nitrogen, and as a rule the more yellow the stone, the less value it has. The color grading scale changes from D to X for white and yellow diamonds and Z is the grading for color diamonds. D is the whitest and the most valuable, X is dark yellow and least expensive. Z grade and beyond is for the colored diamonds, which are rare and most expensive. It is recommended to go for color grades H or I. Once mounted they will look as good to the average person as the higher grades, without costing a bundle. The average diamond purchased in the US is color grade M or N, but the customer is usually told it is higher.

Cut: This refers to not only the shape of the stone, but proportions, factors which determine the sparkle of the diamond. The GIA grading system for cut is Ideal, Very Good, Good, and Fair. It is recommended going for Very Good cut, which is pretty good and does not have the hefty price tag on it as an Ideal cut will have.

Carat Weight: This is actually the weight of the stone, not its dimensions.

Diamond Certificates: There are many agencies that certify the diamond qualities. The best one being GIA followed closely by AGS. EGL comes third, and then there are many more. It is recommend to buy jewelry with GIA or AGS certificates. EGL is acceptable.