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18K Yellow Gold Martini Style Diamond Earrings

What is the best carat weight for diamond earrings?

Turn on the television during the holiday season, and the odds are that you will be inundated with commercials which promote common sizes of diamond earrings, such as quarter carat diamond earrings, third carat diamond earrings, half carat diamond earrings, and one carat diamond earrings, at specific price points without any reference to color or clarity… and if you don’t listen carefully or manage to read the fine print as it flashes across your television screen, you might not catch that the carat weight of the diamonds being advertised is actually being stated in the form of total carat weight, which is the combined carat weight of the diamonds which comprise the pair of diamond stud earrings… so while the tendency might be to think that the commercial is promoting “one carat diamond earrings” for a certain price, it is actually advertising earrings which are “one carat total weight” which consist of two or more diamonds with a carat weight that add up to about one carat in combined total weight.

What Does a One Carat Diamond Weigh?

The term “carat” as it applies to diamonds represents a measurement of weight, which is measured in parts equaling one hundred. The easiest way to imagine the concept is to think of the value of one dollar, it is can be divided into one hundred parts, each equal to one penny in value. In the same manner, a one carat diamond consists of 100 parts, each expressed in a measurement of weight referred to as one point. The original method for measuring diamonds was to offset the weight of the diamond with individual carob seeds, with each seed representing one point in carat weight.

Within the diamond industry, diamonds are often described as a fractional representation of carat weight, such as a quarter carat, third of a carat, half a carat, and so on… but the weight might also be expressed in points, such as one point o-three carats, which would be expressed as 1.03 carats, meaning that the diamond weighs one hundred and three points, equaling one hundred and three carob seeds if you will… remember that the carat weight of diamond stud earrings represents the combined total weight of both diamonds used to create the pair.

Common Sizes of Diamond Stud Earrings:

As stated previously, the carat weight of diamond stud earrings is generally expressed as a fractional representation, such as half carat total weight, three quarters total weight, one carat total weight, and so on… however clearly understanding the differences between the carat weight of diamond stud earrings, as represented in commercial advertisements at this time of year, can be difficult because of allowances for the differences between carat weights as allowed for by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Based upon the description of actual carat weight provided earlier, where a one carat diamond equals one hundred points, you might assume that a pair of diamond earrings advertised as being one carat total weight, would have a combined carat weight of 1.00 carats or more, however this is not true.

According to the FTC, a one carat diamond can have a weight which ranges from 0.98 to 1.02 carats, with 1.00 carats being the average of the range. However there are price increases which occur at different levels of carat weight, like between 0.49 and 0.50 carats for example, and thus there is actually a difference in price between a pair of one carat total weight diamond earrings that consists of two diamonds weighing 0.49 carats each, which would have a combined total weight of 0.98 carats; and a pair of one carat total weight diamond earrings which consists of two diamonds weighing 0.51 carats each, which would have a combined total weight of 1.02 carats… I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which side of the equation the majority of commercially advertised “one carat diamond stud earrings” falls within.

How Brian Gavin Sells Diamond Stud Earrings:

We don’t play the total carat weight game at Brian Gavin Diamonds, when you search for matched pairs of diamonds, you begin by selecting the range of total carat weight that you want to consider, and then you will be provided with a list of all the options available within that range of carat weight. The price for the pair of diamonds is based upon the combined price of each individual diamond, which is based upon the actual carat weight of the diamond, and not the average weight of the diamond as allowed by the guidelines set forth by the Federal Trade Commission… thus when you buy a pair of diamonds with a combined carat weight of 0.98 carats, you’re only paying for 0.98 carats of diamond weight, and not being told that it’s a carat, nor being charged for a carat.

What Carat Weight of Diamond Earrings Should You Buy?

The most obvious answer is whatever carat weight best suits your budget, in accordance to your preference for diamond clarity and diamond color… assuming that you are selecting diamonds from the Brian Gavin Signature and Brian Gavin Blue collections, the diamond cut quality is automatically going to be the best possible, and thus the diamonds are going to be extremely bright and full of sparkle. The pair of diamond earrings pictured above are set in our 18k yellow gold three prong martini style settings.

A very popular size seems to be diamonds in the range of 0.40 – 0.49 carats each, which when combined will have a total carat weight which is just under 1.00 carats, because diamonds in this weight category cost less than diamonds in the 0.50 – 0.69 carat range. But if she already has diamond earrings which are a third carat each, you’re probably going to want to jump up to something which is at least a half carat each, to create enough of a visual difference between the pair.

We have several customers who are wearing diamond stud earrings weighing three quarters of a carat to one carat each, a one carat diamond has about the same outside diameter as the eraser on a standard #2 pencil, which is 6.50 millimeters. And we’ve even sold a few matched pairs of two carat each diamonds for earrings, so as you can see, the carat weight of the diamonds you purchase for earrings is pretty much a matter of personal preference and price. Be sure to contact us if you’d like help putting a pair of diamond stud earrings together!

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