Six Things to Look For In a Men's Diamond Ring

Buying your men’s diamond ring is not a choice to be taken lightly. In order to find the best deal, there are 6 things an educated shopper should know. First, we will take a look at the 4 C’s of purchasing a diamond, and we will conclude with the gold in which your diamonds will be set.

Cut
Cut is not to be confused with the shape of the diamond. Rather, it refers to the technical skill and precision with which the stone was cut. At the most basic level, we like diamonds because they are excellent prisms. The ultimate goal of the cut, is to create a gem that gathers light entering its face and casts it back out through the face, creating the characteristic sparkle that makes them so highly sought after.

Men’s diamond rings that host superior cut diamonds will be more radiant, while stones of lower quality cuts will loose light and thus have less “fire”.

Color
When choosing a men’s diamond ring, it is important not to overlook the color of the stone. The color actually refers to the lack of color in the stone. Color is rated from “D” through “Z”, with “D” color stones lacking any color at all. In addition to acting like a prism, a diamond is a filter as well. The more color the stone has, the larger the proportion of natural light it absorbs.

Colored diamonds can be beautiful and quite valuable in their own right. While in most cases, a stone’s value decreases as its color rating progresses through the scale, stones with ratings beyond Z are exceedingly rare. As such these “fancy color” diamonds can be quite valuable, despite their pigmentation.

Clarity
The clarity of a diamond refers to the relative absence of inclusions. A stone with few inclusions has more luster than one with many inclusions. The value is further increased by the rarity of increasingly flawless diamonds.

In my own opinion, the original clarity of the stone is of decreasing importance due to the process known as Clarity Enhancing. Using this process, many of the imperfections in a diamond can be filled in with a chemically similar compound. Stones modified in this process are still considered natural diamonds, but are often a fraction of the cost of similar, untreated diamonds.

Carat Weight
The weight of the diamond is measured in “carats”. The term comes from the practice of using carob seeds as a standard for weighing precious stones against. Carats were standardized in 1907 when the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures defined “metric carat” as 200 mg.

Bigger is not always better when it comes to choosing men’s diamond rings, as the gemcutter often has to make a choice between preserving the mass of a stone, and making a better cut. It isn’t unknown for a stone to be cut at a lower quality to maintain as much of its carat weight as possible.

Gold is the most popular choice for men’s diamond rings and other jewelry. In addition to it being stunningly beautiful, gold does not rust or corrode. When choosing your ring, there are two things of which you aught to be aware.

Karat
First is the purity of the gold, this is its karat value. 100% pure gold is defined as being 24 karat, in homage to the Roman solidus, a gold coin weighing 24 carob seeds, which was originally minted by Diocletian.

24 karat gold is very soft, (and very expensive) so it is often alloyed with other metals like copper, silver or palladium. The karat value of the resulting alloy is the proportion of gold in the mixture. For example: 14 karat gold is 14 parts gold and 10 parts base metal.

Plated or Solid?
Second is whether or not the ring is gold plated. There are several techniques to plate a base metal with gold, both electrolytic and mechanical. However the plating is done, it will wear away over time. How long it lasts will depend upon how often you wear the ring and how thick the original plating was.

The chances are good that if you are paying for a real diamond, the ring will be gold clear through, but forewarned is forearmed as the saying goes.

Use these criteria as a guide when you buy a men’s diamond ring. Educating yourself before you make your decision will help you get the most for your money.

Choosing your men’s diamond ring should not be taken lightly. In order to find the best deal, there are 6 things an educated shopper should know. First, we will take a look at the 4 C’s of purchasing a diamond, and we will conclude with the gold in which your diamonds will be set.

Information about the Author:

N. B. Hinckley is the proprietor of GoldSteelAndStone.com, an online retailer of men's jewelry, including a wide selection of men's diamond rings. Come take a look at his website and let him know what you think.

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