How to Buy Loose Diamonds

If you are planning on buying a diamond ring or another piece of jewelry for your

girlfriend/boyfriend or spouse, then you may want to look at buying loose diamonds

instead of buying something with the diamond already included. Why? Sometimes it

can save you some serious cash by finding a good deal on a diamond and the setting

separately, or it can allow you to find the best quality diamond possible first without

having to settle for a diamond of lesser quality. To get the best deal, however, you

need to know your four C’s of diamond quality - color, cut, clarity, and carat.



Color



Diamonds actually come in a variety of colors, including red, yellow, brown, blue,

etc. However, most people are looking for the most common colorless variety. Color,

or the lack thereof, in diamonds is based on a lettering system. Diamonds rated D,

E, and F are the most colorless, and the most expensive. G, H, and I are not colorless,

but most people cannot see any color in these diamonds, and since they are less

expensive, they are among the most popular. Once you get to J and above, the color

is easily seen by the naked eye, and while they may be significantly cheaper, they are

not as visually appealing.



Cut



For loose diamonds to get the shine and brilliance that you want to see in a

diamond, a jeweler has to make the right "cut." Diamonds do not typically

come from the ground in the shapes you see them on jewelry. These shapes are

manufactured in order to get just the right reflection to make the diamond shine

despite what type of light it is in. With an ideal cut, a diamond will allow light to,

in essence, bounce around inside of it, giving it that shine, similar to what might

happen if you turned on a flashlight in a house of mirrors. The light will bounce all

around and amplify. For the brightest diamond, go for the most ideal cut.



Clarity



Loose diamonds can also be rated on a clarity scale. "Clarity" is a measure of the

purity of a diamond. Most diamonds have some type of imperfection in them that

might look something like a dark spot inside of them. While finding a diamond

with no imperfections, known as a flawless diamond, is rare, many diamond

imperfections cannot be seen with the naked eye. In general, the more clarity, the

more expensive a diamond can be. However, if there is no visible imperfection and

the price is cheaper than a flawless diamond, this can be a good deal.



Carat



Carat is the measure you hear most often on diamond advertisements, and it

measures the overall weight of the diamond. The bigger the diamond, the higher the

carat and the more rare and expensive it is. The prices are not directly proportional

to size, either, since bigger diamonds are more rare. In other words, and 1 carat

diamond is not simply half the price of a 2 carat diamond. A 2 carat diamond, all

other things being equal, will be much more than twice the price.



Now that you are educated on the four C’s, you can go out and shop those loose

diamonds with confidence!



For over 27 years Frank Poors and Gem Dynasty have been the premier provider of wholesale diamonds in the Downtown Los Angeles Jewelry District, specializing in GIA and EGL Certified loose diamonds and engagement rings.