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What Size Diamond is Right for You?


When choosing an engagement ring, the most important thing in your mind is the diamond. The diamond is the centrepiece, the focus, and the part of the ring that will always cost the most money. When it comes to deciding on this important detail, many factors come into play. Unless money is no object, you're more than likely going to be buying your engagement ring with a cost in mind.

There are four main characteristics of a diamond that give it a value. These are known as the 4 C's: Cut, Colour, Clarity, and Carat. While they are all important in determining the look and feel of your ring, the carat size is usually what determines the price more than any of the others.

Diamond carat weights range from 0.1 all the way up to 5, 10, 50, 100, and the largest stone ever recorded weighed an enormous 530.2 carats. Most engagement rings fall in the range of 0.5 to 5 carats. Even more than one carat can seem like a lot to couples. The view of carat weight and cost has also been somewhat eschewed in recent years due to celebrities buying ridiculously large and expensive engagement rings. Mariah Carey's engagement ring for example, is a 17-carat emerald cut stunner, with a 10-carat pink centre stone and 58 pink diamonds and two half moon-cut diamonds surrounding it. Her ring is worth $2.5 million.

If that seems like a lot to you, then you're in good company. Most people could not afford something like that, or may not even want to. Wearing an enormous diamond ring on your finger is like asking to be robbed. But again, so many men feel pressured to buy their special lady something extravagant to prove how much they love her. Always remember, however big the diamond, the size is most certainly not a reflection on how much you love the person.

The carat weight of a diamond should reflect the style and taste of whoever is wearing it. Instead of thinking of your engagement ring in terms of "bigger is always better," think rather "less is more." Beautiful engagement rings are not just about size, but about personality. Many petite women prefer to have a smaller centre stone so it doesn't look disproportional on her hand.

On the other end of the spectrum, some women prefer to have much larger stones to symbolize that they have a lot of money, or perhaps they just like the look of the ring. When it comes to diamond size, there are no rights or wrongs. It all comes down to what you like and how much you can afford. There are a number of ways to enhance and make diamonds look bigger, so even if your stone is smaller than you'd imagined, you can always make it look bigger than it is.