People always want the best Diamond that their money can Buy. The Best
Cut, the Best
Color, the Best
Clarity and the Best
Carat Weight... But
what is the Best? Let's find out...
The top of the line Diamond is a Diamond that has the top grade in every single category of the 4 C's. So the Best Diamond that you could buy would be:
- Flawless (FL)
- D Color
- Super Ideal Cut
- 1.00 Carat Weight or Larger
Now, I will say that there is actually NO top of the line Carat Weight. It's what ever Carat Weight you decide to buy. But, I will say that ALL girls dream of owning a One Carat Diamond or Larger...
One Carat (1.00 CT or 100 points) is the size that most women want, so One Carat is what I am shooting for in this "Best Diamond Scenario".
Let's take a closer look at the most perfect Diamond there is:
Flawless - D Color - Super Ideal Cut!
I went to Blue Nile to look up Carats, Quality and Prices. They are a leader in the industry and the biggest online Diamond Retailer there is... So you couldn't get a more ideal place to start.
Flawless (FL)
Flawless is perfect when it comes to Diamond Clarity. Flawless is at the very top of the Grading Chart. There is nothing better.
In a Flawless Diamond you will find NO Flaws whatsoever. No Inclusions. No Imperfections like Carbon Spots, Lines, Clouds, Feathers, Naturals... Nothing!
Flawless is Flawless. Period! No Blemishes exist inside or outside of the stone. You can scrutinize the Diamond under 10x Magnification (What they use to grade Diamonds with) and you will see NOTHING! It's perfectly clean. Absolutely Breathtaking.
It's hard to imagine that such a perfect Clarity exists in nature. In fact, less than 1% of all the Diamonds mined in the World fall under this category. And most Flawless Diamonds never hit the market. They are collectors items that are never used for Jewelry. Why risk perfection?
If you want the best that money can buy (Extremely Expensive), Flawless is the Ideal Clarity to get.
D Color
D Color is at the very top end of the Color Chart. D is the best of the best.
D Color is a Pure White Diamond that exhibits zero Color. None at all. No traces of Off-White, or Yellow Hues... Nothing but Pure Whiteness. The Whitest White that you can buy.
Pure White is unbelievably White, Bright and very Stunning!
I love Pure White Diamonds and would recommend nothing less.
The Pure White Category is made up of D-E and F Colors. (There is no A, B or C).
Pure White D Color is the Best Color there is in the World.
The Cream of the Crop.
Super Ideal Cut
A Super Ideal Cut Diamond is a Diamond that is not only Ideal Cut (Cut to Ideal Standard Proportions), but, a Diamond that is also Cut with Ideal Symmetry and Polish. All of the Facets are Polished perfectly smooth and the Facets are equal in size and shape and lined up properly. This is NOT an easy feat to accomplish.
An example of a well known Super Ideal Cut Diamond would be the popular Hearts and Arrows. When viewed through a special Jeweler's Loupe, you can see Heart Shapes and Arrow Shapes in the Diamond. Hearts from the Bottom view, Arrows from the Top view. These shapes show you that the Diamond is Cut superbly!
This winning combination of Ideal Cut and Ideal Symmetry makes the Diamond sparkle like crazy.
You won't see a Diamond with more Sparkle or Brilliance than a Super Ideal Cut stone. It brings out a Diamond's Beauty and Life!
Super Cuts are like a spectacular light show with dazzling Fire and Scintillation bursting from every Facet.
Blue Nile takes this Super Ideal Cut Diamond one step further...
They have what they call a Signature Ideal Cut.
Signature Ideal Cut
The Signature Ideal is a Super Ideal Cut Diamond with less of a range than a normal Ideal Cut Diamond.
Which means... It's better than Ideal! It only has a 2% or less variance. That's impressive and almost impossible to think about.
A normal Ideal Cut (Devised by Tolkowsky) has percentage proportions like these:
Table: 53-57%
Depth: 57.5-63%
But the Signature Ideal Cut is more precise:
Table: 55-57%
Depth: 60.1-61.4%
See how close the percentages are? It's Insane!
There is almost no range or leeway to work with. 2%??? This leaves you with no room for error. That's what makes this Cut of Diamond so awesome. They are Cut about as perfect as humanly possible.
A Cut above the rest!
Now let's look at my favorite topic...
Diamond Prices
Quality this good (Flawless, D Color, Super Ideal) doesn't come without a hefty price. If you want the best, you must be prepared to have deep pockets.
At the time of this writing, I did a search on Blue Nile to find these Diamond specs (They allow you to select what Carat Weight you want, as well as Shape, Clarity, Color, Price and Cut).
The closest they had in stock with the tops in every category was a 1.25 Carat. (Sweet Carat Size!)
The breakdown for Round Diamonds that I looked at are as follows....
| CARAT WEIGHT |
CLARITY |
COLOR |
CUT |
CERTIFIED |
PRICE |
| 1.25 |
FL |
D |
SIGNATURE |
GIA |
$38,056 |
Did you catch the Price?
The Price was: $38,056
That's a luxury Car! It's like a Lexus on your finger.
But if you want the BEST, I'm sure money is no object.
As a comparison for you I looked at other Diamond Prices by dropping just a notch or two in Clarity and Color. What you see, may surprise you...
| CARAT WEIGHT |
CLARITY |
COLOR |
CUT |
CERTIFIED |
PRICE |
| 1.01 |
IF |
D |
SIGNATURE |
GIA |
$22,447 |
| 1.00 |
VVS1 |
D |
SIGNATURE |
GIA |
$18,592 |
| 1.03 |
VS1 |
D |
SIGNATURE |
GIA |
$11,289 |
| 1.00 |
VS2 |
E |
SIGNATURE |
GIA |
$8,167 |
To learn more about all the different Colors and Clarities, check out my articles on Diamond Training: The 4 C's. Or just do the easy thing... Purchase my Diamond Crash Course!
That last Diamond listed on the chart is my favorite Diamond Quality of all. 1.00 Carat, VS2 Clarity, E Color! By far, that's the Quality of Diamond I highly recommend... Plus, you'll save yourself $30,000!
VS2 is a very impressive Quality. It has just a few microscopic Inclusions in the Diamond and E Color is still a Pure White Diamond. You can't go wrong with this great combination.
If you can afford to put a small house on your Engagement Ring Finger... Go for it. Get the Flawless, D Color...
But, if you want to purchase a Diamond that's just as nice visually... Just as stunning, just as White, then Buy the VS2, E. It's GIA Certified (The best Certificate you can get). It's Ideal Cut with Ideal Symmetry and Polish. And lastly, the Price is right. At $8,167, it's the BEST Diamond that I would get.
And for me, that IS the Best Diamond that Money can Buy!
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