Diamonds are Forever, so Does the Size Really Matter?

When searching for the perfect diamond engagement ring to propose, the typical aspect that runs through your mind to decide the price, the beauty, the admiration, and most importantly the response from your future bride, is said to be the size of the diamond.

Is this true? Not at all, unless the family you're marrying into is extremely materialistic. Diamond rings are found in many shapes and forms and all are just as beautiful as the next, it's just a matter of finding the perfect one to suit your bride to be.

Diamond rings impress due to the way in which they sparkle and shine but although commonly associated with the size of the stone, the twinkling is in fact determined by the colour, cut and clarity. A perfectly cut diamond will reflect and sparkle even in dull lighting and the shape also determines how well it reflects light, as the more circular the cut the higher the amount of reflective surfaces.

A majority of people typically expect a 2-carat diamond to look twice as big as a 1-carat diamond, but this is not the case. Carats are a measurement of weight, not diameter, so a 2-carat diamond will be wider, but also longer, than a 1-carat diamond, so it will lack the doubled diameter. The length or depth strongly affects the brightness in these diamonds, so therefore jewellers have to cut the stones to certain proportions in order to maximize brilliance. A 2-carat diamond may look bigger than a 1 carat jewel but won't look twice as big when compared side to side.

Where price is concerned, the amount attached to each carat does not increase commonly with size. The reason you find two diamonds looking almost exactly the same in jewellers with one a great deal more expensive than the other is due to demand. A 1 carat diamond is in much more demand than other sizes so a .95 carat you may find is thousands less than a 1.01 carat.

With all price, size and trend aside, a good piece of advice to find the perfect ring is to base the design on your partner and their lifestyle.  A busy, 'on the go' woman, who has little interest in wearing lots of jewellery and is not considerably good at taking care of things, is not going to benefit from a huge, expensive piece of diamond jewellery for the proposal and will probably prefer a smaller, delicate piece to represent your love rather than your wallet.