The Ultimate Guide to Buying Affordable Diamond Jewelry

Whenever diamonds are mentioned, the thought of cost seems to fly out of the window. A giver accepts that they will have to shell out an indefinite sum of money for a diamond engagement ring, a pair of studs, a pendant, or a bracelet. It’s time to change that mind-set with affordable diamond jewelry.

By affordable, it doesn’t mean a run of the mill or a diamond in the rough, figuratively. This exercise highlights education to set priorities and expectations when you have this much or little—the ultimate goal is to achieve an informed decision for an emotional purchase. With a slightly trained eye and a curious mind to ask the jeweler questions, you can find the perfect diamond jewelry for the most reasonable price.

What you need to know about buying affordable diamond jewelry is here. This guide takes you back to the time when diamonds first caught people’s attention as an ornament and later a top choice for engagement rings. You will also learn about the parts that make the stone, the settings, and most importantly, tips for shopping the ultimate sparkling diamond jewelry for your beloved. You know the 4 C’s, right? But did you know of a fifth C? Read on.

For the people in India, where the first known diamonds were unearthed around fourth century BC, the stones were believed to ward off evil, so they were worn as talismans. The tradition of diamonds holding medicinal value carried on to the Middle Ages. On the sidelines, some were beginning to discover the gemstone as an object of value.

Fast-forward to the 11th century AD, and a European royalty added a diamond to her crown. Diamonds then became in vogue as crown jewels. Nonetheless, it was not until the discovery and perfection of methods to cut and polish the stones that they become a status symbol among Europe’s nobility.

Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave a diamond engagement ring to Mary of Burgundy in the 15th century, and that sparked the long-held tradition known today. Interestingly, the practice of wearing the ring on the fourth finger of the left hand was traced to ancient Romans and Egyptians.

Centuries passed when supplies from India were depleted, and diamonds in South America and South Africa were discovered subsequently. Moreover, the demand for diamond engagement rings fell in the US during the Great Depression.

A smart marketing campaign “A diamond is forever” revived the public’s interest in diamond engagement rings. De Beers pushed for diamonds being of hard material to become a lasting symbol of commitment and marriage. The campaign achieved such enormous success that its impact remains felt to this day.

While diamond engagement rings appear foremost when this kind of jewelry comes to mind, the gemstone also figures prominently in bracelets, earrings, pendants, and ornaments that commemorate a life milestone.

The Hope Diamond is one such example; the necklace is known the world over for its deep-blue-color center stone and 16 diamonds in pear and cushion shapes encircling the pendant. The necklace has white diamonds totaling 45 for a chain, according to the Smithsonian Institute.

Cut

The diamond cut provides the sparkle and life of the stone. It can spell the difference between a dull gem and a brilliant gem of varying grades.

Whether a diamond cut qualifies as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor in the Gemological Institute of America’s scale depends on the following factors:

1. Face-up appearance refers to how the diamond looks from above based on its brightness, fire, and scintillation.
2. Design weighs in weight ratio and the durability of the stone relative to its look. Is the thickness of the girdle appropriate to the overall weight?
3. Craftsmanship takes symmetry and polish into account.
   • Symmetry, the preciseness of the shape and structure of the facets, delivers brightness and scintillation. The proportions of the diamond determine how the light passes through the stone and reflect back to the viewer.
   • Polish refers to the smoothness of the diamond’s surface.

What’s with the Shape?

As of this writing, round diamonds continue to dominate with a 60 percent share of the total market for engagement rings, according to a Today.com report. The traditional cut brings together 58 tiny mirrors in the form of facets strategically arranged to offer the sought-after brilliance.

The process put into the round brilliant cut makes it pricier and often smaller than other diamond cuts with the same carat weight. These are factors to consider when you look beyond the sparkle.

Oval, pear, and marquise-shaped rings remain crowd favorites, but they tend to be statement pieces like the princess cut. Best to research about your partner’s preference or style when musing over a particular shape.

Carat

The carat weight is arguably the most critical of the Cs as far as cost is concerned. Each carat equates to 200 milligrams, or 100 points.

The price of the diamond increases exponentially with its weight because larger diamonds are rarer to find. Using the chart above and considering all other things equal, a two-carat diamond is more expensive than a one-carat diamond.

The relationship between the weight and the size of the center stone underlines the importance of the cut. A poorly cut diamond with a large carat can look smaller than a lower-carat one but with a higher-grade cut.

For example, a 0.30 carat with the perfect cut and setting may command attention in the same way a 0.50 carat would, but without the hefty price tag.

Magic in Sizes

Popular diamond engagement rings are in the one- to two-carat range. Diamonds go by numbers or sizes, which mark a critical break in their pricing. The magic numbers are the following:

Falling above or below a magic size can spell a difference in hundreds or thousands of dollars despite an unnoticeable disparity in the carat weight. The pricing still follows that the larger the diamond, the more expensive it becomes.

A real-world example notes that $500 can get you 0.30 carats. Double your budget to a $1,000, and you can choose a 0.60-carat diamond.

Color

Not all diamonds are colorless and white. They can have slight tinges of brown or yellow. Some of them come with fancy colors that merit another category.

As a diamond reaches colorlessness, it gains higher value.

• The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has a color grading scale that starts with D, which represents colorlessness, and ends with Z, which means tinted, like light yellow or brown.
• The letters in between D and Z signify the increasing presence of color.
• Specifically, D to F are colorless, G to J are near colorless, K to M are faint, N to R are very light, and S to Z are light.

The color of a diamond may affect its sparkle in the sense that specific colored diamonds like brown and black are not as reflective as the white ones. Despite that, the cut will always play a significant role in the diamond’s brilliance.

Relatedly, fluorescence is the ability of diamonds to exhibit a soft glow under a black light. It can affect the price of the stone, depending on its color. For example, D to F diamonds with a fluorescent glow often have discounted prices because the stones can appear hazy or milky. But for diamonds classified in the I to M range, the presence of the fluorescence can make the stone whiter and thus adds a premium to the price.

Colors of Diamonds

Do you know that colored diamonds are produced because of defects in their crystalline structure? These inclusions, as noted below, can affect how light is transmitted and absorbed by the stone and seen by the viewer. Aside from black and brown, colored diamonds can also be violet, green, yellow, blue, orange, red, or pink, according to Geology.com.

Clarity

The GIA notes that diamonds have inclusions and exclusions that affect their overall clarity or flawlessness.

Inclusions refer to characteristics found in the stone and sometimes extend to the surface as a result of how the stone was formed and fashioned. Common internal imperfections are the ones listed below:

• Crystals: colorless or colored minerals nesting inside the diamond. White crystals that extend to the surface after polishing are called knots. Embedded small crystals in black or white are called pinpoints, while needles are those crystalline rodlike formations.
• Chips: small openings, characterized as round, found on the edges as a result of polishing or cutting.
• Cavities: occur when a crystal falls off and leaves a deep opening on the surface.
• Cloud: a cluster of pinpoints that together create a hazy, whitish, or gray patch.
• Twinning wisps: distortions in the crystal structure in the form of pinpoints, crystals, feathers, and clouds.
• Internal graining: another distortion of crystal growth in which lines appear like creases or reflective plastic, causing the stone to look hazy.
• Feather: an industry term for breaks in diamonds. They can appear as white, shiny, or feathery, thus the term.
• Bruise: occurs due to a hard blow and looks like a network of rootlike feathers.
• Bearded girdle: minute hairs or feathers that are found in the girdle and extend into the stone’s surface, making it look like a beard.
• Indented natural: a recessed part of the diamond that has been left untouched by polishing.

Exclusions or blemishes are characteristics of the stone found on the surface as a result of manufacturing processes. Polish marks, as they are called, include these:

• Surface graining: distortions in the crystal structure of the stone surface.
• Scratch: dull white lines on the surface of the diamond.
• Nick: a notch found on a facet junction. A cluster of nicks is an abrasion. This quality lends a white or fuzzy appearance to the edges.
• Extra facet: occurs when a cut is made without taking into account the symmetry of the stone.
• Lizard skin: a bumpy area on a polished diamond’s surface.
• Natural: an area of the rough diamond that has been left on the polished stone.
• Pit: an opening that looks like a tiny white dot, resulting from an inclusion falling off during polishing.
• Polish lines: white or transparent ridges left by polishing.
• Burn marks: occur from excessive heat and result in a hazy surface area.
• Rough girdle: happens when the girdle is unpolished.

Like internal characteristics, surface defects can be minute and microscopic. Gemologists check these flaws under 10× magnification, a standard for loupes.

Grading Clarity

A diamond’s clarity is graded according to defects, their number, size, position, color, and nature, using the standard magnification.

• FL (Flawless) shows no inclusions or blemishes.
• IF (Internally Flawless) shows no inclusions and slight blemishes.
• VVS (Very, Very Slightly Included) has minor inclusions and is divided into VVS1 and VVS2. The needles and pinpoints set the two grades apart.
• VS (Very Slightly Included) has internal characteristics that are easy or difficult to spot.
• SI (Slightly Included) has inclusions that are noticeable and broken down into SI1, SI2, and SI3.
• I (Included) has noticeable inclusions with I1, I2, and I3 as subcategories. The visibility of these internal characteristics to the naked eye affects the brilliance of the diamond such that it becomes imperfect.

In the world of precious stones, setting refers to a metal band or base that mounts gemstones. For every piece of diamond jewelry—bracelet, necklace, ring, earring, or pendant—various settings are applicable.

With input from the International Gem Society, the basic types of stone setting are the following:

• 
  Bezel—the metal band wraps around the stone and secures the stone popping out of the frame. This setting is ideal for polished, unfaceted stones; the structure only shows the crown of the stone, which lessens the sparkle.
• 
  Prong—metal tines or wire baskets hold the gemstone(s) together. Despite its simplicity, the prong setting is always effective in showcasing the center diamond in engagement and wedding rings.
• 
  Tiffany—multiple prongs are used to secure a solitaire diamond to make it sparkle. The term came from the company that introduced it.
• 
  Pavé—stones are laid out like cobblestones. A row or two of accent diamonds on the metal band, plus the center, can create a ring of never-ending brilliance.
• 
  Cluster—prongs mount small diamonds to create a ring with a giant stone. This setting is also popular in earrings.
• 
  Halo—pavé or micropavé diamonds encircle the center diamond or cluster of smaller stones. This halo results in a dazzling big engagement ring.

Metals Used

Gold, silver, and platinum have remained top choices to embed and nestle diamonds into timeless and eternal pieces of valuable ornaments.

These metals share the following characteristics:

• Malleability: they can be fashioned into different shapes without breaking.
• Value: they are precious metals that store value. Gold itself is an investment and trading on the stock market.
• Luster: their natural shine qualifies for jewelry.
• Lack of chemical reaction: they don’t react to sweat and visibly corrode, so you can wear them for a very long time.

Palladium, cobalt, titanium, and stainless steel are alternatives that can be a durable and less expensive option.