Eye-catching and fascinating, diamonds are some of the most prized stones on the planet. If you’ve ever seen a large diamond, you might wonder just how much it’s worth.
Unlike many other precious materials, however, weight is only one factor when it comes to determining how much a diamond can sell for.
How are a diamond’s weight and size measured?
Diamonds aren’t measured in grams, ounces, inches, or centimeters, but are instead measured in a unit called a carat.
A carat can be a few different sizes, visually, so it can be confusing to figure out how large a 1 or 2-carat diamond is. A carat, however, is actually a unit of weight.
Some professional diamond dealers can guess how many carats are in a stone by looking, but they’re taking in factors such as clarity, density, and cut to judge how much the stone weighs.
In addition, some stones, such as diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, have different chemical makeups, and therefore different weights, so stones of different types might have the same carat size but will be visually much different sizes.
Other times, 3-carat and 5-carat stones, for example, might be visually the same size.
One carat is equal to 0.2 grams, which is equal to 200 milligrams or about 0.0071 ounces.
The carat unit is used for gemstones because it’s universal, and it can be used and understood in any region or country regardless of what system of measurement that area typically uses.
This makes it easy to buy and sell stones for the correct market value worldwide.
How is diamond price determined?
When you’re considering how much a diamond is worth, the weight or carat size is an important factor, but it’s definitely not the only factor.
When considering a diamond’s cut, jewelers will look at how ideally the diamond is cut and how much that shape makes the diamond sparkle. Some cuts are more difficult to perform, so they’re worth more.
Cushion cut diamonds are usually one of the most expensive, while round diamonds are a bit less expensive.
Clarity is used to determine how many, if any, flaws or imperfections the diamond has in it.
Some imperfections, called inclusions, are visible right away, while others need to be seen under magnification.
Color refers to how clear a diamond lacking in color is. If the diamond has a yellow tint to it, it will be worth less.
However, many diamonds are called fancy color diamonds, and these work on a different color grading scale. Fancy color diamonds can be blue, pink, yellow, or even black or chocolate colored.
Fancy colored diamonds are graded on the depth of their color.
Once the cut, clarity, and color have been figured in with the carat size of the diamond, the diamond’s value can be found.
How much is a 1 pound diamond worth?
Because so many factors go into how valuable a diamond is, it’s almost impossible to say with any certainty how much a 1 pound diamond would be worth. However, you can get a good estimate of what the price range might be like.
In general, a 1-carat diamond will be worth between about $2,000 and $18,000. We know that a single carat is 0.2 grams, and there are about 453.592 grams in 1 pound.
This tells us that there would be about 2,267.96 carats in 1 pound. This means that the lowest price for a 1 pound diamond would be about $4,535,920, and the highest price would be around $40,823,280.
However, it’s important to remember that these prices are only an estimate, as the price for a diamond can also fluctuate based on demand and where the diamond is from.
