Purchasing diamonds is an incredibly rewarding experience, particularly, when it's to commemorate something special such as a milestone birthday, an anniversary, or an exciting work promotion. But it can also be very costly depending on what piece of diamond jewellery you choose. So, how much does a diamond cost? Well, it’s not as clear-cut as you may think (pun intended). While most of them may look the same, no two diamonds are alike and not only do they come in many different shapes and sizes, but their colour may be different and their quality is not always the same nor is the way that they sparkle. These are all things that can drastically impact the price of your diamond jewellery.
In this diamond price guide, we go into depth about how each stone is individually priced and how much it varies depending on the 4Cs as well as the type so that you can pick the perfect diamond for you and your wallet.
Diamond Price FAQs:
- How Much Does A Diamond Cost?
- How Much Is A Diamond Under 1 Carat?
- How Much Is A 1-Carat Diamond?
- How Much Is A 2-Carat Diamond?
- How Much Is A 3-Carat Diamond?
- How Much Is A Lab-Grown Diamond?
How Much Does A Diamond Cost?
Whether you’re purchasing a pair of diamond earrings for every day, a delicate diamond tennis bracelet or even an engagement ring to finally seal the deal with your partner, nothing is going to dictate the item's price more than the 4Cs of a diamond. The cut, colour, carat and clarity of a diamond are the be-all and end-all when it comes to buying jewellery. Not only do they act as a guide for those looking to make a diamond purchase, but they are also used by jewellers as a way to price each individual stone. The 4Cs of a diamond are essentially textbook knowledge for anyone who is super serious about making diamond purchases in the context of getting more bang for your buck.
So, what are the cut, colour, carat and clarity exactly and how do they affect how much a diamond is going to cost?
Cut
Something that will come as a surprise to a lot of those not familiar with the art of gemology is that the diamond in the display case sitting there, twinkling in the light, is not at all like the diamond retrieved by miners deep within the earth’s crust. Whether they are lab-grown diamonds or naturally mined diamonds, each stone begins its life as a rough piece of carbon. While it still may have some shine and a crystal-like texture, some intervention is needed to pretty it up and bring out its sparkle. This is done by cutting the stone into a particular shape. All diamonds have been polished into a certain shape with different facets that help unleash the stone’s fire and brilliance. Referred to as a diamond cut, there are various shapes that a diamond can be cut into with brilliant round cut diamonds being the most popular thanks to their tremendous sparkle and versatility.
Often used for cluster style pieces, halo settings, diamond solitaire engagement rings, round cut diamonds have over 58 facets and perfect symmetry, a combination that allows for sparkles from all angles in the light. Other popular diamond cuts include the princess cut which is a square shape with round edges, there’s also the oval cut which is basically an elongated brilliant round cut stone, the emerald cut which has a slight art deco appearance and unique rectangular shaped step-like facets as well as cushion cut diamonds which resemble a rectangle with curved edges and have completely flat facets. The better a diamond is cut and how pronounced its shape is can often dictate a stone’s price as it often impacts a diamond’s biggest selling point, its sparkle. However, some shapes are more in demand than others which can also change their value. For example, emerald-cut diamonds are often a lot cheaper than some other cuts because despite being very physically imposing, their sparkle is more muted. This is contrary to brilliant round-cut diamonds which feel smaller but have a great deal of sparkle, often leading to a steeper price tag. Jewellers often regard cut as the most important aspect of the 4Cs as when a diamond is not well well cut, no colour grading, clarity grading or carat weight will make up for that.
Colour
When people purchase diamonds, you may hear them mention colour a lot, however, this may not necessarily be because they are considering purchasing coloured diamond jewellery. Although, not always visible to the naked eye, most diamonds have a small tinge of colour on their exterior which is often only visible if you were to put your diamond under of magnifying glass or a jewellery eyelet. Usually, a subtle yellow or brown colour, a diamond’s natural hue is the result of trace elements such as nitrogen, sulphur and boron interacting with the carbon during the stone’s formation. This is such a common occurrence that you will be hard-pressed to find a clear or completely colourless diamond. However, the amount of colour present in a diamond can vary a lot. When each diamond is sold, it is assigned a grade based on its colour. Ranging from the letter ‘D’ which is a grade given to the clearest diamonds, all the way to ‘Y’ which is reserved for diamonds that have so much colour you will most likely be able to see it without any visual intervention. This colour grade is then used as a guide to price diamonds with near to completely colourless diamonds being significantly more expensive than the stones with some or lots of colour.
The exception to this diamond grading system is vibrantly coloured diamonds known collectively as ‘Fancy Diamonds’. While we know most diamonds to be basically colourless, they also come in many different shades of the rainbow-often in incredibly bright colours. Albeit rare in large quantities, Fancy Diamonds or ‘Fancies’ are found in so many different shades from canary yellow and citrus orange to ruby red, lime green, ocean blue and various pinks. Not only are coloured diamonds extremely rare and in very short supply, but they are also very high in demand. Australia is known for producing a good portion of coloured diamonds, particularly, pink diamonds which were sourced from the Argyle Mine in Western Australia until its closure, causing the stones’ value to skyrocket. While it depends on many other factors at play including cut, carat and clarity (which we will get to in a minute), coloured diamonds are significantly more expensive. In fact, for some of the rarer colours, you can expect to pay anywhere from $5,000 all the way up to a whopping $700,000 for a single-carat, whereas a colourless 1-carat diamond, although still very pricey, would only cost you between $2,000 and $20,000 depending on the quality of the stone.
Carat
We’ve all heard the term, ‘size matters’ and that is a narrative that can definitely be applied to diamond talk. When choosing a diamond the first thing you are likely going to consider is its size. Whether it's a pair of diamond stud earrings, a pendant or a diamond ring you are on the hunt for a diamond’s size is essentially going to dictate the style and design you opt for. Because while smaller diamonds are generally idyllic for diamond bracelets and cluster-style pieces, for items built to feature a centre stone, however, such as often the case with diamond rings, there is usually a desire for a larger diamond. It is your centrepiece after all, so the bigger the better. Size is however one of the biggest factors in a diamond’s price much like most products. Diamonds are measured based on their physical size and weight, however, not in kilograms, pounds or even stone, but rather in a unique measuring system known as 'carats' (occasionally abbreviated to ct). This ancient measuring system dates back to mid-15th century England where it was used to measure the number of seeds in a carob tree.
Today, the carat measuring unit is mostly associated with diamonds and pearl jewellery. To measure a diamond’s carat, the stone is divided into 100 points with anything under a carat referred to as a ‘pointer’. This means a stone that weighs around ½ a carat could also be referred to as a 50-point diamond (stylised as 0.50-carats). A diamond’s carat size can be weighed using a popular unit such as grams and kilograms by dividing the mass value (carat) by five. A 1-carat stone, for example, is equivalent to 0.2 grams. Diamonds are priced on a per-carat basis, and while it is very much dependent on the stone’s individual quality when a diamond is over the 1-carat threshold the stone’s value balloons by a lot. For context, the average carat count for brides and their engagement rings is 1.5 carats with just 25% of the 5,000 surveyed owning a ring that was over 2 carats. It is important to know that a piece of jewellery can have a stone made up of 1 carat or more, a lot of jewellers will give a piece its carat weight based on what it is with all the diamonds present-including any pointer diamonds that may be present in the band or setting.
Clarity
While most would agree that all diamonds have tremendous beauty, much like us humans they can occasionally have some flaws. And although, most people embrace these flaws and accept them like anything else that is a part of nature, when you are dropping some serious moolah on your dream diamond piece it is quite understandable why you’d want it to be perfect. Many who prioritise quality over quantity will carefully inspect each stone for any visual defects or imperfections and while they are not usually visible to the naked eye, if you place a stone under a microscope or jewellery eyelet you may notice some small chips or specks of black. Known as ‘inclusions’, these minor imperfections are present on most diamonds in some way or another. This is because inclusions are a natural part of a diamond’s formation process and occur as the result of carbon and other elements failing to crystalise. Coming in various forms, inclusions do not impact the structure of a diamond and many will even refer to them as a diamond’s birthmark.
All diamonds have varying levels of inclusions, this allows jewellers to give them a quality grade accordingly. This quality grade is often referred to as a diamond’s clarity which is graded on a scale that ranges from F and IF which stands for ‘Flawless’ and ‘Internally Flawless’ all the way to P1,2 and 3 which is referred to as imperfect or ‘pique’ which is basically another word for included. The average diamond clarity grade is VS 1, followed closely by VVS2 which stands for ‘very small inclusions’ and ‘very very slightly included’ accordingly. You would be so hard-pressed to find a diamond without at least some inclusions as internally flawless diamonds only make up around 0.5% of diamonds on the market. Not surprisingly, internally flawless diamonds come with quite a hefty price tag and are at least 20-30% more expensive than diamonds with some inclusions.
How Much Is A Diamond Under 1 Carat?
Diamonds that are under 1 carat, often called pointers, are any stone between 0.01 points and 0.99 points. These diamonds will be priced according to their mass along with many of the factors mentioned above (cut, colour and clarity). Hypothetically, you could purchase a pointer diamond for as little as $150 or as much as $1,000, but this is a very narrow ballpark figure and does not take the other factors mentioned above into consideration. If it were a really good quality 0.25-point diamond or the equivalent of a ¼ carat, it could cost you between $500-$1,000. If you were to go up to ½ carat (50 points) you would likely be looking to spend around $700-$3000. A 0.75-carat diamond (¾) has a retail value of between $1,500-$8,000. It should also be noted that the jewellery and the metal that the stone is set into can also have a big impact on a piece's price, particularly items with additional stones or anything set in gold and platinum.
How Much Is A 1-Carat Diamond?
Ask any fine jewellery lover what their ideal size for a diamond engagement ring would be and they would probably say at least 1-carat. Statistically speaking, it is also what the average bridal set is (between 1.0-1.5 carats). Unfortunately, most of us do not have unlimited funds for such glamorous pieces in our bank accounts. Without factoring in any other elements including the colour of the stone, its shape, quality or the jewellery that it is set in, a 1-carat diamond in today’s accessories market is likely to set you back between $1,800-$12,000. While you may be tempted to opt for the cheaper diamond simply because it is bigger, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is better. Much like the price of gold, a diamond’s value will fluctuate over time especially if it is of a particular quality. As a result, lower-quality stones are likely to drop faster in value, potentially giving them a poor resell value. This could mean getting a lot less of what you paid for if you ever sold the diamond or replaced it for insurance due to theft or damage. If you were looking at purchasing a diamond with a truly flawless exterior, colour and cut, the minimum you would be looking at spending is around $20,000.
The 18ct yellow gold 1-carat princess-cut solitaire ring pictured above has a retail value of around $11,999 as it is adorned with a GI-certified (Gemological Institute Certified) stone that has a SI1/2 (slightly included) clarity grade and is nearly colourless according to its GI grade colour rating.
How Much Is A 2-Carat Diamond?
While they may be commonplace among the rich and famous, 2-carat diamonds are extremely rare for us regular folk. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to come across many diamond rings that feature a standalone 2-carat stone, instead, you will see an array of smaller stones that add up to 2 carats. However, while they are rare that’s not to say that there isn’t the odd bride or groom looking at 2-carat diamond engagement rings or fine jewellery lovers looking at diamond pendants and other accessories in the same carat size. So, how much is a 2-carat diamond likely going to set you back? Well, much like any other carat size, the price of a 2-carat diamond is all dependent on its quality including its cut, colour and clarity. With that said, a 2-carat diamond on its own without any jewellery could set you back as little as $6,000 and as much as $75,000. A single flawless grade brilliant cut diamond that is practically colourless (D grade) is likely to cost you or your partner around $104,000, and that doesn't even include the stone's setting or the metal that it is made from.
The 18-carat white gold 2-carat brilliant cut diamond solitaire ring pictured above, for example, has a retail value of around $34,505 as it is a GI Certifed diamond (Gemological Institute) with a SI1/2 clarity grade and a GH colour grade.
How Much Is A 3-Carat Diamond?
If 2-carat diamonds are rare, naturally, 3-carat stones are even rarer-unless, of course, you’re someone with an affinity for diamonds and a budget for that sort of thing. Much like other multiple-carat pieces, diamond jewellery that does equate to 3-carats is due to the number of diamonds featured rather than the size of the stones. However, sported by the likes of Mila Kunis and Katherine Heigl, 3-carat diamonds are a bit of an enigma as they are not a carat weight you will come across often. But when you do, you will immediately be blown away by their sheer size, particularly, when sported on the finger. While the cut, colour and clarity of the stone can vary tremendously, a single 3-carat diamond without all the trimmings will cost you between $20,000 and $124,000 or more depending on where you live. If you wanted to purchase an earth-mined 3-carat diamond that is internally flawless and has a D-grade colour rating, you or your partner could be looking at spending around $220,000 to upwards of a quarter of a million dollars for the stone alone depending on where it is sourced from.
To put into perspective, the 3-carat champagne-coloured solitaire diamond ring from Shiels’ Australian Diamond collection has a retail value of $24,999, although, has a clarity rating of P1/3 which is not unusual given that it is a naturally occurring Australian diamond.
How Much Is A Lab-Grown Diamond?
More and more shoppers are opting to purchase lab-grown jewellery over traditionally mined diamonds, as not only are they eco-friendlier and conflict-free, but they often offer more bang for your buck. Despite what you may believe, lab-grown diamonds ARE real diamonds. They are not cubic zirconia nor are they moissanite as they share all the same physical properties and characteristics of a mined diamond. The only difference between the two is that one is mined from within the earth’s crust, while the other is produced in a laboratory setting that mimics the conditions an earth-mined diamond is produced in. This gives gemologists more control over the quality as well as the quantity of the diamond that is produced, resulting in a significantly more affordable stone. Much like earth-mined diamonds, lab-grown diamonds are graded by the 4Cs: cut, colour, carat and clarity and while that can dictate their price a lot, it is estimated that they are around 30% cheaper than naturally mined diamonds. Meaning that while a 1-carat internally flawless (IF) and D-grade mined diamond with an excellent cut may set you back a cool $30,000, a lab-grown stone with the same properties may only cost you between $5,000-$10,000 depending on its origins and whether it is GI Certified or not.
Learn More: How Are Man-Made Diamonds Created?
The 1-carat brilliant cut lab-grown diamond ring from our Luminesce Lab Grown Diamond range that is has a clarity grading of SI/P1 and a GI colour grade with a retail value of around $5,999.
