If you are in the market to buy a diamond, then you want to make sure that you go into the process with some information that can help you. It can be a process to get the right diamond, and the more information you have about diamonds and purchasing them, the better you are going to be.
Mined vs. Created
One of the things that you will want to think about and learn more about is the mined diamonds vs. created diamonds. Chemically, the two are exactly the same, and the general process to make them is the same. In general, heat, pressure, and certain chemicals equal diamonds, whether it's in the ground or in the lab. The biggest difference between mined and created diamonds is the price. A created diamond is going to be less expensive, for many reasons. One of those reasons is that it takes much less work and time to get created diamonds than it does to go into a mine and do a lot of digging to find a diamond. Created diamonds can also easily be colored, leading to things like yellow, chocolate, or black diamonds.
Measurements
When people talk about diamonds, they often use carat to describe the size. Carats are used to describe diamonds, but instead of measuring size, they measure weight. A carat equals 1/5 of a gram. The greater the carat weight, the more the diamond is going to weigh. A side effect of that is that the diamond will be bigger in size, but that also depends on the cut. The way that a diamond is cut can affect its visual size.
Cut
Another thing to learn about is the cut of the diamond. The cut is the way that the diamond is shaped in the finished product. There are a number of types of cuts, and they all have their benefits and drawbacks. Some cuts are going to add a lot more sparkle to the final product because of how they are cut. The more facets any cut has, the sparklier it will be. For example, the round brilliant cut is the sparkliest diamond cut, with 58 facets to bounce light back. On the other hand, a baguette cut would still be a pretty cut, but it has far fewer facets, meaning it doesn't sparkle nearly as much.
If you are going to buy a diamond, you need to know all kinds of things so that the process is easier for you.