How To Choose A Diamond With Low Budget
How to choose diamond with a low budget
Key Highlights:
- Focus on top view: Most jewelry displays diamonds face-up, so prioritize clarity from that angle. Choose a setting that hides the diamond’s weak sides.
- Consider a light brown shade: This can work well with yellow gold, but be cautious – too brown will affect brilliance.
- Clarity matters, but not too much: Opt for diamonds with inclusions you can hide during setting (white inclusions are good!).
- Yellow gold hides imperfections: If choosing a lower color grade diamond, consider yellow gold to mask slight tints.
- Go non-round: Princess, marquise, and other fancy cuts can be 20-30% cheaper and appear larger.
- Slight polish compromise: “Good” polish grades can offer a larger surface area for brilliance at the expense of a perfect finish.
- Choose 14k gold instead of higher karat.
- Skip or replace side stones with less expensive gems.
- Consider forgoing a gemological certificate (but buy from a reputable jeweler).
If your budget is very limited. Or if you have a nice budget, but you want the largest diamond possible within this budget, then this article will be just perfect for you.
Important to Remember!
- The advice in this article will help you only if you will go out and examine diamonds with your own two eyes.
- This article regards only natural diamonds and not treated diamonds of any kind.
- We believe that with a very limited budget you should consider other options than diamonds.
- Remember that an engagement ring is a bonus and not the main feature.
This article takes a different approach from most diamond guides. Instead of focusing on finding a quality diamond within a budget, it helps you choose the best option from lower-quality diamonds.
To get an affordable diamond that’s still a decent size, you’ll need to make some compromises. But it’s important to make smart choices. Remember, not every cheap diamond is good enough for jewelry. Sometimes, it’s better to wait or save money for a better one. And always have the diamond checked in a lab and compared to others before buying.
Choosing diamond Color from a Top View
Many diamonds look whiter from a top view than a side view. Since most rings and jewelry display the diamond mainly in the top view, this feature should be emphasized while choosing a diamond. More than that, choose the ring or jewelry according to your diamond and hide its weak sides.
Choosing a diamond with light brown shade
You should be very careful with this choice and it is more fitting for inlay in yellow gold. There are diamonds with brown background colors that decrease their price drastically. In case of light brown, it won’t affect the diamond after inlay in jewelry.
This method requires comparison evaluation and personal inspection due to the fact that a too brown shade will affect diamond`s appearance even after inlay. Obviously, you should buy these diamonds for a low price only.
Smart choice of diamond's clarity
Even for people with a big budget, we always say that clarity is not a crucial parameter as long as it doesn’t affect the appearance of the diamond and the light flows through it. In a low budget with maximal diamond size we can take it one step further and choose a diamond with visible inclusion and hide it during inlay.
Alternatively, a white inclusion that requires deep inspection in order to notice it. It is important to remember that most people don’t spend a long time inspecting diamonds so inclusions that are visible with the proper light and under guidance and out of inlay will be much less apparent in “real-life”. Again, it is always recommended to evaluate a variety of options in order to understand the cost-benefit ratio. Equal gemological clarity grade is the lowest clarity grade that we are willing to sell, and this grade has many pitfalls but also many bargains.
Gold color
According to most, when the budget is tight, and you must compromise on diamond color, it is better to choose yellow gold that better hides low grade colors (this is only if your partner doesn’t have a clear preference for white gold). It is also possible to tackle this subject the other way around and choose white gold ring with a very yellow stone (but not colorful) to form an interesting and beautiful contrast that is very popular these days.
Choosing a non-round diamond
These diamonds are 20% – 30% cheaper than round diamonds. Additionally, many of the different cuts are with larger surface area and appear larger to the naked eye. In many cases there are great bargains with non-round diamonds due to lower demand. Therefore, the lower demand makes them more intriguing and unique.
Compromise with diamond's polish
In most cases we recommend purchasing a diamond with polish of VERY GOOD or above but in some cases, it is possible to purchase diamonds with GOOD polish and some of them are beautiful and life-like. While choosing diamonds with this polish grade you must notice that it is derived from the preferred reasons – the diamond is flat and appears larger in comparison to it`s weight and not tall and small looking. In this manner you gain a large appearance at the expense of polish. A diamond doesn’t have a too wide gridle that gives it a gloomy and life-less appearance.
Where else can we spare?
Gold – choose gold with 14k alloy at the most.
Accreditation – purchase a diamond without external gemological accreditation (that costs money…) but be smart while choosing the store.
Side diamonds – replace the small side diamonds with gems or give them up altogether.
Conclusion
Finding the ideal diamond on a budget requires some compromise, but this guide empowers you to make a smart choice. While prioritizing a larger stone, you can still achieve sparkle by focusing on clarity from the top view and choosing a setting that flatters the diamond. Lower color grades can work well with yellow gold, and fancy cuts can offer more size for your money. Don’t be afraid to consider a “good” polish grade for a larger surface area. To maximize your budget, opt for 14k gold, skip side stones, and forego a gemological certificate if buying from a trusted jeweler. Remember, a wait for a higher quality diamond might be worthwhile, but with careful selection, you can still find a beautiful and meaningful stone within your budget.
