What's most important when buying a diamond?? Color or quality??

Question

I know both are important, but which one should be higher than the other? I have to cut a corner on one.... both will be decent color and quality- but I need to go to a lower grade for one of them. Which one is MOSt important? (and yes I know they are both important)

Answer 1

The cut.

Answer 2

The quality of a diamond is determined by four factors -  Carat, Clarity, Color, and Cut.  You could choose a diamond and similar carat weight can cost you $1,000 to $15,000 for the same weight.  What you loose when you go down the price scale is the sparkle of the diamond and how clear the stone is.  Lower end stones can look cloudy or yellow with little to no sparkle.  

The cut of the stone will be your preference and the carat weight will be based on your budget.  Color and clarity can go hand-in-hand when you choose to decrease quality.  The best way to judge is to try them on and ask yourself if you will be happy with the ring.  Always remember that a stone can be upgraded down the road when you celebrate a special anniversary.

Answer 3

Neither matters if you like the look of the diamond. Diamonds are a poor investment, so get what you like and can afford. The only thing on paper you want to check is the source - make sure you don't have a blood diamond.

Answer 4

What do you mean color or quality?  Color is a quality.  Cut, carat wright, color, and clarity are the 4 c's or qualities of a ring to look for.   Are you talking about cut (the quality of the actual diamond proportion?)   If both are going to be decent I would say color is more important.  I personally can't tell much difference in cut, especially if it is decent to begin with, but I can stop a yellow stone in a glance.

Edit:  I think Color and Clarity are more difficult.  You don't want a nasty colored ring but when people look at your ring, you don't want to see specks in it.  I would draw the line at visible inclusions on the clarity (VS2 or better) and if you were already planning on having something higher than that, focus more on the color and go higher in that (again, color for me).  So - if a choice between great color and visible inclusions, or decent color and no visible inclusions, go with the decent color, no visible inclusions.

Answer 5

CUT. Cut is actually the most important on all of them. It's what makes the diamond sparkle in the light, and trust me, it makes the world of difference. I tried on a better cut diamond, and then a less clear diamond with a lower-grade cut, and the one with the better cut LOOKED a lot better, and they were virtually the same price, but to the naked eye, about the same size.

After that, color and then clarity.

Answer 6

Cut!

Color

Karat

Answer 7

Cut!  The quality of the cut gives the diamond it's brilliance, fire and sparkle.  

A ideal or very good quality cut diamond that is not colourless will still sparkle beautifully, but have a slight yellow tinge, A colourless, poorly cut diamond will look dull and unimpressive.

Go for the best quality cut you can afford.  If you buy a near-colourless diamond it will be hard to tell the difference unless it's right next to a D or E grade colour diamond.  You can go as low as an H or I with little yellow colouring.  If you do get an H or I colour have it set in yellow gold and you won't be able to tell the difference anyway!

Good Luck!