Carat Size vs Dimensions

[Freakazoid]

Hey all, newbie to the whole diamond buying experience. Shopping for an engagement ring. Been lurking for about a month now, and been absorbing general diamond info for months on end now.
Anyways my question for the experts out there, more pertains to radiant cuts, but could also be relevant, I believe, to other cuts.

Anyways when looking at the ''size'' of a diamond, and if you''re looking for, what I consider to be, ACTUAL size (i.e. perceptual), why not look at dimensions and do quick math rather than looking at carat size and going from there? I know why there is the difference and what all goes into that difference, and I also know some of the drawbacks (a large dimension diamond, with a low carat size, could have way too shallow of a depth or way too small of a girdle). Are there any other drawbacks?

Also are there are any recommended ways to do searches through multiple inventories to sort by the actual spread of the diamond, rather than by the carat size


Hopefully you understand the gist of what I''m getting at and don''t sound too confusing. And thanks for any input!

 

[jimmym]

Check this out:
http://images.amazon.com/media/i3d/01/actual-diamond-size.pdf

It''ll give you a diameter measure of different cuts. I just got my fiance a 2 carat princess cut. I researched the princess cuts only for months. Never saw the chart until recently which kind of stinks because she gets lots of positive comments from her friends with round rings that her stone must "be about 1.5 carats". A 1.5 carat round looks about like a 2 carat princess. Ugh.

 

[Freakazoid]

Thanks for the link! I think I saw that somewhere before. And honestly,while it gives a good idea, it doesn't give THAT good of one imho, which is why I forgot about it Ithink.

Just going for radiants alone, a 35 mm spread on a 1.00 carat radiant is HUGE and is surprisingly rare, and/or going to cost you a real nice premium.

And as for your comparison of the 1.5 ct round vs 2 carat princess. Maybe you got one with a really large depth? Not sure what the standarad is for princess. At least, using the chart as a comparison, there IS a huge spread gap between the 2? over 15mm^2 difference. Perceptionally, maybe not, but it's all a matter of what you're used to looking at. In general an oval/circle willl, at a glance, look bigger than a square/rectangle.

 

[stebbo]

Date: 9/10/2007 1:42:43 PM
Author: Freakazoid
And honestly,while it gives a good idea, it doesn''t give THAT good of one imho, which is why I forgot about it Ithink.

You''re right there - there''s another thread currently talking about the same thing you might like to check out if not done already.