How to Choose a Diamond: From the 4 C?s to Happily Ever After

You?ve found the love of your life, and you?re ready to get married. Congratulations! Now what? Diamond shopping can be overwhelming, whether you?re someone about to get down on one knee or an engaged couple looking for find the perfect symbol of your love together. That?s where Lewis Jewelers comes in. Whether you want to shop online or in person, our trusted expert advisors are happy to help teach you how to choose a diamond.

How to Evaluate a Diamond: The Four C?s

If you?ve never bought an engagement ring before (and let?s be honest, how many of us have?), it can be hard to know how to choose a diamond. The four C?s are a vital guide. Created by the Gemological Institute of America, it?s the universal method for assessing the quality of a diamond.

• Color: GIA?s D-to-Z color scale begins with D, which means a diamond is colorless, and increases in presence of color all the way to Z. As a general rule, the less color a diamond has, the more valuable (and pricey) it becomes.
• Clarity: How is clarity different from color? Clarity is more about internal characteristics called ?inclusions? and external ?blemishes.? The GIA Clarity Scale has 6 categories with 11 grades. Many inclusions and blemishes are too tiny to be seen with the naked eye, but they affect the integrity and price of the diamond nonetheless.
• Cut: The GIA Cut Grading System has seven components, but the most important to you will be the visible ones: brightness (reflection), fire (scattering of light), and scintillation (sparkle). For a diamond that shines beautifully and doesn?t leak light, look for a diamond with a high rating for this characteristic.
• Carat: Probably the characteristic everyone is most familiar with, the carat is, of course, the weight of a diamond. All things being equal, bigger diamonds are more expensive, but two diamonds of equal weight can have very different prices depending on the other three C?s.

How to Choose a Diamond: What Matters to You?

But what does all of this mean to you? It means you have to weigh what characteristics of a diamond are most important to you and match those with your budget.

Start with what shape diamond you want. Princess? Emerald? A classic round cut? Then decide what size diamond you want. Those are really the most important choices, as they are what can be seen with the naked eye when a proud fianc?e is showing off her ring.

Then, if you find yourself over budget, you can reduce the price by sacrificing on one or more of the qualities that isn?t as important to you as the others.

Find Loose Diamonds and More at Lewis Jewelers

All the numbers and ratings can be confusing, but the trusted experts at Lewis Jewelers can break it all down for you. They?ll tell you how low you can go in each category without compromising the quality that you want. They don?t work on commission, so they?ll never try to pressure or upsell you.

Our trusted experts are available in store and online. On our website, diamonds can be filtered by the four C?s so you can shop and compare. Buying a hand selected certified, conflict-free diamond from Lewis Jewelers ensures that you?ll get exactly what you want, and gives you the creativity to set the gem into whatever setting your heart desires. We also carry hundreds of gorgeous engagement ring settings from dozens of the industry?s best designers. Or you can custom craft something unique as your love for each other.

Browse our collections online now or visit us in person at our showroom in Ann Arbor, Michigan!