I saw an ad at a local department store for a heart-shaped 1/4-carat diamond pendant, on sale at $49.95 (usually $149, I believe). Are 1/4-carat diamonds of any major significance, or at that level are they pretty much involved only so you can say the magic word “diamond”? I know absolutely nothing about diamonds, so I didn’t know if this would be extremely cheesy to get a diamond that’s “only” a quarter carat, or if it’d still be a nice gift at a good bargain. Thanks.
Assuming the pendant is made up of only one stone, then a quarter carat is decent size. If you can buy a quarter carat pendant for $49., then the stone will be crap.
My bet is, the pendant is made of of small stones, totalling a quarter carat.
Are you asking if a quarter carat diamond is worth the asking price? Or if a quarter carat stone is worth investing in, or if you should get a bigger stone? Or are you asking if it’s worth it to a recipient to get “only” a quarter carat diamond? I’m not sure, so I’ll answer all three questions.
I agree that an inexpensive diamond is likely to appear cloudy or be poorly cut or something. You’d have look at it to decide if it was a good diamond and thus a good bargain.
It doesn’t matter if it’s only a quarter carat. That’s still a respectable size. Engagement and wedding rings, in my experience, have been at least a half carat. My mom’s heart-shaped one, for example, is a three-quarter carat stone. In rings, a quarter carat tends to be more common among promise rings and non-commitment-connotated rings. Diamond earrings range between an eighth carat to two full carats. Pendants are usually two carats or less. Bracelets, of course, can go pretty high; I saw one that had nine carats’ worth of stones. Anyway, my point is is a diamond is a diamond. They’re not not worth getting just because they aren’t a big honker.
Finally, I think most recipients (read: girls) would be pleased to receive a diamond as a gift, no matter what the size and quality of the stone. If you gave it to somene you hardly knew, it’d seem odd, but for your mom or sister or girlfriend, it’d be nice. And to be honest, if I knew someone who would reject a diamond jewelry gift because its carat weight was too small, my opinion of them would be quite low.
Is it one diamond, cut into a heart shape, or lots of small diamonds, set into a heart shape?
Be really careful with those pieces that are lots of small stones, too. Some places use true cut diamonds, but some places use diamond chips. That’s how that can sell them so cheaply.
There’s a difference between a cut diamond and a chip. A chip is what’s left after a stone is cut, and it won’t have the sme sparkle and clarity as a true “cut” diamond.
A single stone, cut into a heart shape is not an ideal cut. A better cut is round; look for one called a “brilliant cut.”
The cut into the top, to make the rounded top of the heart takes away from the “sparkle factor” of a diamond. They usually use lesser quality diamonds for the heart-shaped cuts.
Department store jewelry usually isn’t all that great. You’re better off going to a good-quality store, rather than a chain. Even chains like Kay and Zales end up selling crappy low-quality diamonds that look cloudy. Anytime it’s a special price that seems really low ($99 today only!!), you can bet they got a boatload at a rock-bottom price.
As an average person, you probably can’t tell the quality of a diamond that small with your naked eye. Two stones the exact same size can have wildly different values based on the other criteria- color, clarity and cut.
I have a ring with a 1/4 carat marquis cut diamond in it, that cost more than a 1 carat ring of lesser quality. Same with my 1/2 carat wedding ring.
If a pendant is being sold for $49.95, it is worth less. The average markup in diamonds is huge, at least 300% generally. Most diamonds are not worth what they sell for at retail.
Don’t buy jewelry retail!
About 1 point diamonds (these are the little teeny ones)- the general rule is $10 per point at the store. Just so you can compare, jewelers buy a baby food-size jar of them for about $100. Think about how many will fit in that jar, then try and estimate their value. Exactly.
I suppose if it gets you sex from it’s recipient, it’s good enough.
Diamonds are a form of carbon crystals. They are very, very common. The particular kind that are of “gemstone” quality, are somewhat harder to come by. A very high quality one carat stone will approach $10,000. However, quarter carats are much easier to come by, and the price depends on how clear they are (black are very common and worthless), how many flaw are visible to the eye or by ten times magnification, how well it is cut. A $49 quarter carat pendant is probably not resellable for $25. Diamonds are a poor investment as far as monetary return is concerned. In terms of female brownie points, since they are shiney, expensive and useless, they are very valuable. Girls like shiney, expensive and useless things. My head would be a fine example if it were expensive and useless.