Cost is the little discussed Fifth “C” to consider when purchasing a diamond. . It is the direct result of the compromises that are made in selecting the other four “C’s”.
If cost was not an important part of the mix, most of us would choose to wear only D-Flawless diamonds. But of course, if cost were not part of the mix, there would not be nearly enough D-Flawless diamonds for us to wear.
Let’s examine a hypothetical purchase using $6,000 and see what that can buy in terms of cost. These are priced at an average price for a Hearts and Arrows cut diamond unless the cut is the varying factor and are hypothetical and do not represent actual diamonds available. This was prepared using the Rapaport Diamond Report from July 2, 2004. This is for illustrative purposes only. Please do not get too attached to these numbers, but rather look at the incredible spread of sizes and colors and clarities that can be purchased for the same amount of money. For the $6,000 possible stones might be:
So you see, for $6000 we can go from a stone that is not even a ¾ carat to a stone of over 2 carats that still looks nice. We could get to a 3 carat stone for the same money, but it would NOT be very fun to look at.
Although often not mentioned, this is why we consider cost to be one of the “C’s”. What size and quality you can buy depends on what you are willing to spend, and it is the compromises between cut, color and clarity that determine the cost per carat for each size range and, therefore, the carat weight of the stone you get for your money.
You can now see how each of the five C’s warrant thought and understanding in making the best possible choices.
