The 4 Cs can help you save money

Thank you to Abazias for sending us this article! We thought we'd like to help those of you looking at diamonds for engagements, anniversaries, or "just because" and provide you with some good advice for selecting diamonds.

If you’ve never shopped for diamonds before and you are looking for an engagement ring or fine jewelry, you will want to start educating yourself on the 4 Cs of diamonds. The 4 Cs stand for cut, clarity, color, and carat. It’s these four characteristics of diamonds that determine how much your stones are worth. Finding out about the various gradings that the diamond industry uses to help define the quality of diamonds is as easy as getting online. Some online merchants have software applications that allow you to pick your own diamond for an engagement ring by modifying the 4 Cs. You can instantly get an idea of how one choice affects the price of your engagement ring versus a different choice.

For instance, maybe you want a very large carat diamond. You typically pay more for a large carat diamond than a smaller one. However, not all large diamonds are alike. Some large diamonds have a poorer clarity or a different color that can affect the final price you pay. By understanding what choices help you to pick exactly the type of diamond you want, you save money. It may be you don’t care how big the diamond is, and would prefer a smaller stone that has a pear-shaped cut. Again, you can lose the carat weight in favor of cut and clarity. And, don’t think that just because you are picking a colored diamond that it costs more. There are fancy-colored diamonds like pink and blue that are much more expensive than white diamonds, but there are also fluorescent, yellow, and brown, diamonds that cost less. Figure what characteristic appeals to you more and then use the 4 Cs of diamonds to help you shave money off the bottom line.