Buying Diamonds: The four biggest myths about buying diamonds

Before you start thinking about buying diamonds, you should take the time to learn about diamonds and how to buy diamonds of the best quality, value and beauty. What people who are not well informed about diamonds may tell you is common misinformation that falls into four “mythical” categories. Here's what NOT to believe:

• Bigger is better
• The more diamond facets the better
• A diamond's grading is the best criteria to buy the most beautiful diamond
• Ideal cut is always ideal

Buying Diamonds Myth #1 – Bigger is better

There is definitely a wow factor to a large diamond if, and only if, the quality of the diamond is good. The quality, value and beauty of a diamond have little to do with its size, however. There are large stones with no life to them, because they originated from a lesser quality piece of rough. They may have visible inclusions, poor color and clarity. Even more important, they may be poorly cut – cut being the most important of the 4Cs – and therefore be lacking in brilliance and fire. So, carat weight is only significant if the diamond is a beautiful stone, cut with great skill and artistry.

If size is important to you, and budget is also an issue, try to find the largest diamond you can that also meets an acceptable grading standard. You can read about diamond grading – which is the 4 Cs – before you begin to look at diamonds in jewelry stores. Learn how to read the diamond certification paper that is provided by an independent gemological laboratory with all fine diamonds. The diamond certification is your proof of the 4Cs grading for each of the diamonds you are considering buying.

If size is still a major factor in your purchase, a bigger table can make a diamond appear larger, so you may want to consider emerald diamonds, marquise diamonds, pear shaped diamonds and oval diamonds. But make sure no matter which of the diamond shapes you choose, it is well cut to proper proportions.

Buying Diamonds Myth #2 – The more diamond facets the better

Some diamond brands boast that they are more beautiful because they are cut with more diamond facets. There is no doubt that the job of diamond facets is to capture the maximum light and bounce it from facet to facet, then reflect it back to your eye as brilliantly as possible. However, the idea that more diamond facets will create more sparkle is not necessarily true . The most important factor in diamond faceting is the skill and precision with which the diamond artisan cuts and places the facets. If the faceting pattern in not cut with perfect symmetry, then light is lost through the bottom or sides of the stone.

Once again, it is the diamond cut that is most critical to the beauty of the stone. Not the number of facets. Another way to think of it is this: Many diamond shapes have fewer facets than a classic round brilliant, but are exceptionally beautiful and in great demand—such an emerald cut diamond, princess cut diamond, or oval diamond. Your eye can serve as very good judge. Ask your jeweler to show you a variety of diamond shapes with different faceting patterns, and then see which you prefer. It may well be that the number of facets makes little difference. Again, the quality of the diamond itself – its color, clarity and cut – will have much more bearing on the beauty of the stone than the number of facets it boasts.

Buying Diamonds Myth #3 – A diamond's grading is the best criteria to buy the most beautiful diamond

Considering a diamond's grading, as listed on the diamond certification , is a very important step when buying diamonds and a clear indictor of the stone's fair market value. Don not skip this process, because you want to make sure you are buying a quality diamond and paying the right price for it. It is a critical part of the diamond buying information you gather when choosing a diamond. However, grading is best used as a guideline rather than a reason for making the final decision. It often happens that you find a diamond that is actually more beautiful to your eye than another diamond that is graded somewhat higher. So, let your eye be the final judge. In the end, you (or the one you love) won't be wearing a grading report, you'll be wearing the diamond – and you want it to be the one that you (and the envious eyes around you) perceive as the mot beautiful and brilliant.

Buying Diamonds Myth #4 – Ideal Cut is always ideal

An Ideal Cut diamond, as it is called, is a round brilliant diamond that has been cut to a specific set of proportions determined in the early part of the 20 th century. These proportions were calculated to create the best possible balance of brilliance and light dispersion.

There is not an industry agreement on what constitutes an Ideal Cut round brilliant cut diamond. Every grading laboratory has a different definition for its top cut grades. There is on going research by various organizations, including the GIA, to determine which specifications produce the best brilliance, dispersion, and scintillation.

The Ideal Cut lost favor over the years, because the resulting diamond appears smaller than a standard cut diamond of the same carat weight, yet costs more. Then, new technology – development of the Firescope – allowed people to look at the diamond through a “scope” device and see how the perfect symmetry of the cut created a circular pattern of hearts. Interest in the Ideal Cut revived.

There is no question that Ideal Cuts are beautiful diamonds, but the proportions are tall and skinny, so less weight goes into the diameter, making the diamond look smaller. That's why many people prefer well-cut stones that are wider, like the proportion known as 60/60. In any diamond, it is the relation of angles and proportions that matters, not any one number in itself.

With new technology many other innovative diamond cuts have been developed, resulting in diamonds of exceptional quality and beauty. And those cuts are not limited to the round brilliant, but have been applied to the cutting of diamonds of many different and beautiful shapes sometimes called fancy shaped diamonds . Even with round brilliant diamonds, new faceting patterns have resulted in superior brilliance.

How to select a beautifully cut diamond.

Diamond certification: Know how to read a diamond certificate.

How diamonds are cut and why it matters.

What are the different diamond shapes? And which one will she prefer? Round brilliant , princess cut diamonds , pear shaped diamonds, emerald cut diamonds , and heart brilliant diamonds . Some of the most popular cuts include radiant cut and princess cut diamonds.

Glossary of diamond terms.