Proposal Ideas: Engraved "Diamond" Paperweight

Congratulations, you’re Just Engaged! Or, maybe you suspect that your fiance will pop the question soon. Shop rhinestone Just Engaged tank tops or bride-to-be tank tops for creative ways to announce your engagement! In the meantime, the diamond ring is probably on your mind.

These tips are for guys and gals – how to buy a diamond. Some men buy the ring before the proposal, while others wait to shop together. Maybe you’ve done some window shopping first or dropped hints as to what type of diamond engagement ring you prefer, from pear shaped engagment rings to cushion cut diamond engagement rings.

If your just engaged, wedding planning can be an emotional process and brides, especially, can get wrapped up in the emotions when they set out to buy a diamond ring (and bridal gown, too).

Before you step foot into a jewelry store that sells diamond engagement rings, do some research first. Repeat: Don’t step foot into a jewelry store until you’ve researched the 4cs of diamonds or you’ll be at the mercy of the salesperson, who is looking forward to his/her commission. This will save you money and time, but money for sure!

Once you start trying on rings and oohing and awing over the dazzling eye candy, next thing you know you’ll walk out of the store with the first ring you “must have” . . . right now! And your fiance won’t be able to say “no” because he wants you to be happy.

Thankfully, the Gemological Institute of America provides simple tips on how to buy a diamond to take the guess work out of these precious, cherished stones. It’s an investment – you want to get your money’s worth and more, so knowing how to buy a diamond ring is important and shouldn’t just be based on what you LOVE.

First, the GIA’s free iPad app goes into detail about the 4cs of diamonds: carat, color, cut and clarity.

Diamond Carat: Just as a dollar is divided into 100 pennies, a carat is divided into 100 points. For example, a 50-point diamond weighs 0.50 carats. But two diamonds of equal weight can have very different values depending on the other members of the Four C’s: clarity, color and cut. The majority of diamonds used in fine jewelry weigh one carat or less.

Because even a fraction of a carat can make a considerable difference in cost, precision is crucial. In the diamond industry, weight is often measured to the hundred thousandths of a carat, and rounded to a  hundredth of a carat. Diamond weights greater than one carat are expressed in carats and decimals. (For instance, a 1.08 ct. stone would be described as “one point oh eight carats,” or “one oh eight.”)

Diamond Color: Most diamonds found in jewelry stores run from colorless to near-colorless, with slight hints of yellow or brown.

GIA’s color-grading scale for diamonds is the industry standard. The scale begins with the letter D, representing colorless, and continues with increasing presence of color to the letter Z, or near-colorless. Each letter grade has a clearly defined range of color appearance. Diamonds are color-graded by comparing them to stones of known color under controlled lighting and precise viewing conditions.

Many of these color distinctions are so subtle as to be invisible to the untrained eye. But these slight differences make a very big difference in diamond quality and price.

Diamond Clarity: Diamond clarity refers to the absence of these inclusions and blemishes. Diamonds without these birthmarks are rare, and rarity affects a diamond’s value. Using the GIA International Diamond Grading System™, diamonds are assigned a clarity grade that ranges from flawless (FL) to diamonds with obvious  inclusions (I3).

Every diamond is unique. None is absolutely perfect under 10× magnification, though some come close. Known as Flawless diamonds, these are exceptionally rare. Most jewelers have never even seen one.

Diamond Cut: The traditional 58 facets in a round brilliant diamond, each precisely cut and defined, are as small as two millimeters in diameter. But without this precision, a diamond wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful. The allure of a particular diamond depends more on cut than anything else.

Though extremely difficult to analyze or quantify, the cut of any diamond has three attributes: brilliance (the total light reflected from a diamond), fire (the dispersion of light into the colors of the spectrum), and scintillation (the flashes of light, or sparkle, when a diamond is moved).

An understanding of diamond cut begins with the shape of a diamond. The standard round brilliant is the shape used in most diamond jewelry. All others are known as fancy shapes. Traditional fancy shapes include the marquise, pear, oval and emerald cuts. Hearts, cushions, triangles and a variety of others are also gaining popularity in diamond jewelry.

As a value factor, though, cut refers to a diamond’s proportions, symmetry and polish. For example, look at a side view of the standard round brilliant. The major components, from top to bottom, are the crown, girdle and pavilion. A round brilliant cut diamond has 57 or 58 facets, the 58th being a tiny flat facet at the bottom of the pavilion that’s known as the culet. The large, flat facet on the top is the table. The proportions of a diamond refer to the relationships between table size, crown angle and pavilion depth. A wide range of proportion combinations are possible, and these ultimately affect the stone’s interaction with light.

In early 2005, GIA unveiled a diamond cut grading system for standard round brilliants in the D-to-Z color range. This system, the product of more than 15 years of intensive research and testing, assigns an overall diamond cut grade ranging from Excellent to Poor.

(The above information is provided by the GIA.)