How much is a one carat diamond worth?
Unlike buying gold or silver or even other gems this is a complex question as there is more than just the weight of the diamond to consider.
A carat is basically a diamond with a weight of one fifth of a gram or 0.2 grams. This is divided into 100 ‘points’ so that 50 points would be .1 grams or half a carat. 200 points would be 2 carats and so on.
Now the price of a diamond depends not only on the weight but also on three other factors, The cut, the Clarity of the diamond and the color.
All four are known as the four Cs and together are assessed for each diamond to give its value.
So you can get a 1 carat diamond with a price range, depending on the quality of the other three Cs, of anywhere between 2000 and 10,000 US dollars.
Hence the difficulty of stating a one carat diamond price.
The question would really be. How much is this one carat diamond? The you can set out to find out depending on the cut of that diamond, the color and the clarity.
The 4 Cs are listed on this web site in the menu on the right so you can find out specifically what is meant by each and how a diamond is judged.
Basically though you would not simply accept the value placed by a jeweler. When purchasing a diamond ensure you get an independent laboratory report on the diamond as that will give you the quality of the diamond and hence it’s value.
Be careful with discount diamonds, You might see a1 or 2 carat diamond ‘offered’ at a discount. In fact you would need to check the clarity and the color of the diamond as if it is a low quality diamond it would not have been worth the ‘original’ price in the first place and is likely not even worth anywhere near the discounted price.
There is no substitute for doing due diligence when it comes to diamonds and if you do that then you will be able to buy a good quality one carat diamond price for a reasonable price and will know you are getting the genuine article.
