Why Does diamond Carat Weight matter?

What You Really Need to Know about Diamond Carat Weight

I have bought more diamond jewelry gifts over the years than I care to remember and my wife loves to display as many of them as she can whenever we go out. In all humility, friends and neighbors recognize me as the old man to talk to if you want to learn what you really need to know about diamonds. I started buying before there was an Internet and I have kept up with the times by learning all I can about buying diamonds over the net as well.

So I was eager to give advice to the young newlywed who just moved in and asked for advice about an elegant diamond as a gift for their first wedding anniversary. I was somewhat bemused as he shyly stuttered out that he really couldn’t afford the 2.5 Carat diamond he thought his bride wanted. He was certain that carat weight was what he needed to impress his lady and her friends and family.

When I asked him why the Carat weight was so important for him, he replied “Well the bigger the better.” It’s certainly true that when it comes to diamonds, size does matter. How many times have you heard the phrase “Look at the size of that rock” in response to some young lady displaying her engagement ring to friends and family? That line is all over the movies and Television and you may have heard it in real life as well.

The truth is, I told him, the Carat weight of a diamond doesn’t really matter that much, especially when it comes to size. Carat measures the weight of the stone, not its size. I first learned this years ago when a wizened old jeweler showed me two different diamonds and asked which was bigger. Much to my amazement, the lower carat weight stone was cut differently which made it appear to my eye to be actually larger than the higher carat weight stone.

How could this possibly be? The size of a diamond is proportional to its carat weight and increases in weight do not produce precisely matching increases in the diameter of the stone. I learned right then and there that carat weight wasn’t as important as most people crack it up to be.

I told the young man he would be better off saving some money and concentrating on the surface diameter of the stone – which gives the perception of size – and how well it is cut – which gives the stone its dazzling brilliance. I then explained the remaining determinants of the quality of a diamond beyond carat and cut, which, as you know if you’ve been doing homework on the ins and outs of diamond shopping, are clarity and color.

What’s really important when buying diamonds is what your eye sees. It can see brilliance and it can see size. With very inexpensive diamonds, it can also see flaws. In some diamonds it can detect slight yellowish color, which is not desirable. What it can’t see is weight.

However, although grateful for the advice, my young friend just couldn’t let go of the allure or a large carat diamond. Apparently he had grown up hearing squeals of delight from the women in his family announcing the carat weight of the stone in the gift they had just received. So for him, the desired status appeal and emotional response to the gift was dictated by its carat weight and little else.

I then fired my final bullet. I shared with him a secret I learned years and years ago about dealing with the status issue when it comes to diamond gifts. The secret is simple. Say nothing about the carat weight or the price of the diamond or where you bought it.

In most cases, a simple devilish smile will suffice. Silence with a smile gives the impression you paid more for the stone than you are willing to admit. Or that it weighs far more than you might expect. Or that you bought it from the most expensive jewelry shop in the area, not over the Internet! The only way your friends will know the carat weight of the stone or its price or where you bought is if you tell them. So don’t!