Diamond Size Question

[Grlsbestfrnd]

SO... I thought it might be fun to find out what the average size carat weight for a diamond engagement ring is for everyone''s area.

Post the average carat weight (or what you guess is the average) for people in your area and let us know where you live!

Me: 3/4 carat (guessing)
I live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia

 

[Grlsbestfrnd]

Haha oops! Thought the first didn''t post, ignore this! I''m dumb lol

 

[HappyNewLife]

I think it''s probably 1 carat here (Austin, TX). In LA where I used to live it was more like 1.5 or 2 carats.

 

[HopeDream]

I live in western Canada in a small town in BC.

Moms and Grandmothers (women 45+): mostly 0.25- 0.35 cts with some .5 cts with fairly plain settings.
Remarriages (women 30+): .5ct - 1ct
Newly engaged women and newly married/new moms (early 20s +): mostly .33-.5ct, but more likely to have fancy settings - verragio, tacori, lots of melee etc.

In my city, some people move from more affluent communities, so once in a blue moon you spot a 1.5ct+ rock.
My area isn''t big for conspicuous consumption of designer goods - people spend their money on expensive pick-up trucks or Suvs, Ski passes and equipment (several mountains near by), big TVs, and large houses (no thank you - too much to clean!).

The general lack of interest in Jewellery is reflected by the cruddy diamonds brought in by the maul chain stores - lots of Si2s and Si3s in lower colors and cheap-looking settings. Luckily our non-chain B+Ms carry better stock, but still no precision cut brands that I''ve seen. The only shapes available are round, princess, oval, and marquis. Many folks who want something special are willing to drive to Vancouver to go shopping there.

 

[FrekeChild]

My ring: 1.2ct blue spinel
Guessed Average for the city:.4ct diamond
Guessed Average for direct vicinity (1 mile around my house): 1+ct diamond
Area: Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

[Black Jade]

I''m not saying where I live, but its a mid-Atlantic state, sort of in the country. However, many commute to a large metropolitan area from my town and its an affluent area (large houses, big SUVs etc), even in the economic downturn.

Average size is .40-.75. Everyone talks about ''one carat'' but few have that size and even fewer have larger. and the larger stones are uniformly awful looking. Like, the person could have afforded a nice 1 carat but chose to buy a grey, included 1.50 to 2 carat instead. However, these large but ugly stones are much admired. There are alot of smaller stones, too. Today I saw a lady with a .10 or .12 solitaire, probably and this is not unusual among the older women. It isn''t most of them by any means but there are plenty that are around this size and no one seems to look down on them.

Younger women do not have larger stones than their mothers but they seem to aspire to larger stones. That is, the mom might want a 1 carat, but the daughter or daughter-in-law really, really wants a 1 carat. Mom and daughter''s ring will look different because the mother is more likely to have yellow gold, and perhaps an enhancer of some kind or added bands, while the daughter has white gold and a lot of pave or maybe a three stone.

I also go to NY very often and in spite of what I''m always reading on Pricescope, I do not see a lot of huge stones there. I see SOME. And when I do see a big stone there, its a nice one. Like my niece who just got married with something like a 1.5 oval, haloed in WG or platinum, very sparkly high quality stone. She is a NY lawyer. The people in NY I know with jobs like this either have stones in the 1.25 to 1.75 range (I have never seen a 2 carat IRL) or else they talk a lot about ''blood diamonds'' and spend their money on trips instead. But, looking around Manhattan (and even more when you go into the boroughs, I''m familiar with Brooklyn and Queens especially), I would still say that the AVERAGE stone is something around .50, just like at home, and there are an awful lot of tiny diamonds in NY also. Not tiny as in P''scope tiny (''under 1 carat'') but actually truly small. I was sitting with my sister in law, a doctor married to a doctr, at a very fancy wedding two weeks ago and her e-ring is about a .15. It is a beautiful ring and the diamond is sparkly and beautiful, but it may not even be as big as that. This is a woman who lives in a mansion, who owns several very high end cars, they often take fancy trips and she was married in a haute couture wedding gown--I don''t mean a designer gown that had a label, I mean from an actual designers atelier, custom made for her. If I said the name of the designer, you would all recognize it.

 

[babycush]

I'm in medical school, and there's a handful of girls with sparklies. A couple probably around 0.75, one about 0.5, a 3-stone probably around 0.25 total, and a teenie-weenie newcomer around 0.15 but with a beautiful pave band. (Mine- in my avatar- is about 0.67 total). Another girl has a gorgeous vintage piece that serves as e-ring/wedding band combo, probably around 0.5 in total. I think the trend of smaller stones makes sense for us because we have to be wearing gloves and washing our hands so much that a huge honkin rock would just be in the way.

Oh, and we're in downtown Chicago

 

[Dreamer_D]

I live in Canada also, in the west.

I think the average around here is under .50ct or thereabouts. Very rarely I will spot a stone around 1-1.25ct. Never personally noticed one much bigger than that!

 

[dawnabee]

Nothern NJ -- 13 miles outsides of NY,NY

Age group (45+) .5-1ct yg

Age (25+) From what I actually see on peoples fingers daily I''d say 1-1.5cts with pave, side stones etc settings (no plain bands really or if there is the w bands all diamond)
The talk/hype- From what I hear people wanting and have seen on occasion 2-3ct ranging

Overall I''d say 1.5-2ct

 

[KittyGolightly]

I live in the LA area, and honestly, I have no idea what the average size is. You see all sizes here. My coworkers wear everything from less than a quarter carat to more than two carats.

 

[beezygal]

I also live in Western Canada... in BC

I think the average here is less than 1ct... maybe .5-.7ct... i''m guessing...

 

[RaiKai]

Canadian prairies here - currently closer to West but formerly Central. The average around here is probably around 0.25 with 0.5 on the higher end and lots of even smaller stones...lots of young marriages though around here due to religious influences and people do not really upgrade.

Even amongst my fellow lawyer friends in bigger cities a 0.5 to 0.75 is topping the range.

Very rarely do I see a ring above 1 around here. I think I saw more 1-2 stones standing in the security line in the Las Vegas airport a couple weeks ago then I have seen on people in my 30 years living around Canada!

I have a 7mm sapphire myself - coloured stones are definitely not common around here!

 

[yssie]

I did notice that when I had a 1ct, it seemed that most other women had about the same; when I got my 2ct suddenly most other women had 2cts too. What you personally notice to be true is probably skewed.

 

[elrohwen]

I live in CT, specifically Fairfield County, and I would say 2ct is about average.

I have a 1.7ct, but it was an heirloom - we wouldn''t have purchased a diamond that size.

 

[MayFlowers]

Well I work at a daycare and most of the mothers I see have solitaire rounds in YG, mostly between the size of 0.4-0.75. Most people my age (20''s) have gotten a wide variety. Most of them have WG and have lots of melee or have three stones. I would say most everyone has a ring between 0.5 and 1.0 total carats, with a few outliers of course. Most of these girls have also gotten their rings from mall stores too. Oh and I live in Louisville, KY.

 

[CourtLynB]

I live on the eastern end of Long Island (about 10 minutes outside the Hamptons). I''ve noticed a huge range of sizes over the past couple of months (it''s funny how once you start thinking about something, you see if everywhere). Sometimes out east I''ll see monster 2-3+ carats with a ring on every finger and get blinded by the sparkle. But some definite sizes I do know:

Friend 1- 2.07 ct Princess solitaire
Friend 2- .75 ct Round Brillant
Boss- 1.5-2 ct Cushion (but i don''t think the cut is very good) with a split shank pave band
Friend 3- if I know her BF well enough, she''ll be getting over 2 carats
Myself- around 1.5 ct center stone with pave everywhere (my inspiration was the Tiffany Legacy with graduated side stones), fingers crossed!

I think areas with more lifestyle diversity have a much wider range of stone sizes. But they''re all beautiful

 

[Callisto]

I''m in a north texas suburb and I would say its pretty small average... .5 maybe. It''s kind of a hippy town so I actually see very few typical engagement rings. Lots of unique vintage rings or colored stones. I''m thinking about my coworkers and one wears a big colored stone (unfaceted), 2 have prolly a .75 solitare, one just wears a band... I actually don''t work with that many married women come to think of it. I''m sure if you went into DFW area the average would increase significantly. There''s also some VERY wealthy suburbs around where we are that I''m sure have insane averages, but its pretty modest where I am.

 

[Bleed Burnt Orange]

Mine is 1.11, a friend that just got engaged is 1.5something plus diamond halo and half diamond on the band and another married friend is 1.5something with probably 1ct in a 3/4 eternity. I would say in the greater Houston area it varies, but...among my circle, well...you see.

I bet in Houston proper it''s at least 1.5.

 

[Grlsbestfrnd]

It really lets me see how skewed my view can be because of pricescope lol. There are so many huge diamonds on here that it makes me forget it''s not the norm at all!

CourtLynB: That''s my dream ring! I LOVE the Tiffany Legacy setting. I would love a 1.5 carat but I''m pretty sure that won''t happen so I''m crossing my fingers for a 1 carat.

 

[Autumnovember]

I live in the Philadelphia area and I would say 1 carat to 1.5...but I also live in the Manhattan area where its 2 carat to 2.5

My e-ring (not really officially mine yet) is 2.5

 

[luckynumber]

well, i live in the UK, and large stones definitely NOT the norm!

average is below 0.5ct, even among the affluent, who have millions of pounds worth of property, cars etc.

i think the stones are getting bigger, but a lot of them are really badly cut.

i have 2 (yes, 2!) stones over 2cts which were truly beautiful in all my years of looking at peoples'' hands (i do look a lot)

 

[LAG2010]

hope you don''t mind me jumping in, but i always find posts like this so interesting.

I live in Manhattan, and have definitely seen a huge variety of carat sizes. it''s such a huge city, so it''s hard to see a true average. however, most of my friends are either engaged or married, and while i don''t know the specs of all stones, i''d guess they run from 1.5 - 2.5. i have one friend with a 5 carat stone, but that''s definitely an anomaly.

Also, it''s always hard to guestimate size due to so many things; finger size, pave settings, diamond type. My center stone is a little over 2.5 carats, but it''s in a halo, so it probably looks bigger than it really is. and i have one friend with a 3 sized finger who''s 2 carat stone looks ginormous!

 

[CatLady]

I''m in a city in the Midwest. My ring was 1 ct, and most of my friends have similar sized rings. I would say that .75- 1.25 is the average.

 

[LadyJane83]

Lawyer in the DC/Baltimore metro area. I''d say the average size is .5 to 1 carat. I''ve seen smaller and larger ones. I''d say anything over 1.5 carats is pretty rare and would draw some attention.

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

I live in a relatively wealthy (and primarily white) suburb of Houston, TX. I work at a restaurant and enjoy looking at my customers'' rings.

Middle aged women wear large center stones...probably around 2 cts.

The younger (20''s and 30''s) women seem to wear small(er) center stones (probably just under 1 ct.) with more side stones (however, many rings I see are noticeably low quality with no sparkle...maul stores?)

Maybe PS has made me a diamond snob?

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

Just noticed that BleedBurntOrange lives in my area too.

...Everything''s bigger in Texas, I suppose...

 

[babycush]

Date: 5/4/2010 7:05:43 PM
Author: ChloeTheGreat



Maybe PS has made me a diamond snob?

Isn''t that the whole point?

 

[HopeDream]

Babycush: LOL!!!

 

[emeraldlover1]

I live in Manhattan as well and do see a variety of sizes. When I''m in the nail salon every woman seems to have a very large ring. However, in my circle of friends most people have between 1.5 and 3ct. I have two friends with 5ct+''s. I imagine when I move out of the city my ring my start to seem a little bigger. I''m in the middle at 2.75.

 

[monkeyprincess]

I live in a large city in the midwest. Obviously, I see rings that are larger and smaller, but I would bet average is around 1 carat. My ring is just under 1.5 carats, and I would say most of my friends and colleagues have rings between 1 and 1.5 carats.