How Diamonds are Priced

Like the “Kelley Blue Book” for cars, there is a diamond price guide for diamonds called the “Rappaport Diamond Report”. It shows weekly diamond wholesale prices broken down in terms of shapes, sizes, colors, and clarity. However, it must be noted that it does not take into account the proportioning or the Cut of a diamond, Polish, Symmetry, Fluorescence, Girdle thickness, etc which can affect the value of a diamond substantially. It must also be noted that if the carat weight is not a critical factor, one can save a good amount of money by dropping the carat weight a little so that it falls into a lower price category.

The price difference between a 0.99 carat diamond and a 1.00 carat diamond of identical grading could be 30% to 60% depending upon the quality.

Examples of Rappaport Diamond Report for Round Brilliant cut diamonds from 0.90 carat thru 0.99 carat and 1.00 carat thru 1.49 carats is shown below. Diamond Clarity is listed in the top horizontal row and diamond Color is listed in the vertical columns. Diamond prices are listed in hundreds of dollars. For example, 78 means $7,800-.

Rounds (.90 -.99 Carat)
  IF VVS1 VVS2 VS1 VS2 SI1 SI2 SI3 I1 I2 I3  
D 127 106 92 73 66 62 53 41 33 23 14 D
E 105 99 84 67 63 58 51 39 32 22 13 E
F 99 94 78 64 60 55 49 38 31 21 13 F
G 84 77 66 59 55 51 45 36 30 20 12 G
H 68 64 60 56 52 47 43 34 28 19 12 H
I 57 54 50 48 44 42 38 31 26 18 11 I
J 47 45 43 41 36 37 34 28 24 17 11 J
K 39 38 36 34 32 31 28 24 19 15 10 K
L 33 32 31 29 28 27 25 22 18 14 9 L
M 30 29 28 27 26 25 23 20 17 13 9 M

 

Rounds (1.00 -1.49 Carat)
  IF VVS1 VVS2 VS1 VS2 SI1 SI2 SI3 I1 I2 I3  
D 231 170 145 110 86 73 61 48 41 28 16 D
E 158 149 126 101 81 68 58 45 39 27 15 E
F 143 130 115 92 77 65 55 43 37 26 14 F
G 101 97 93 81 72 61 53 41 36 25 13 G
H 84 80 75 68 62 58 51 40 34 24 13 H
I 72 70 65 56 55 52 46 37 31 22 12 I
J 60 58 56 53 48 46 43 33 27 20 12 J
K 54 52 50 48 41 40 36 30 25 18 11 K
L 48 46 45 43 38 36 32 28 23 16 10 L
M 40 39 37 35 31 29 26 22 20 15 10 M

For example, if the budget is $5,000-, there are many different options to choose a 1-carat diamond from. Two options could be, either a GIA certified J color VS1 clarity diamond or a G - H color SI1 clarity diamond. Needless to say a G-H color SI1 diamond will be much more brilliant than a J color VS1. It’s for one to decide after inspecting different diamond options that the jeweler offers.

Cut, Polish, Symmetry, Fluorescence, Girdle thickness, type and location of the inclusions and of course Certification from a reputable lab can affect the value of a diamond tremendously.

The buyer must understand that different gem certification labs follow their own diamond certification standards. GIA is the most reputable lab in the world but having a GIA certified diamond is no guarantee that the diamond is of excellent quality.