The Perfect Diamond

D Flawless Diamond

If you have read our section about Diamond Qualities, you will know that a certified D colour, Internally Flawless clarity diamond is the best you can get. Some would say it is perfect. Remember, though, that diamonds are graded under 10x magnification. A diamond that shows no visible inclusions under 10x magnification would almost certainly show some under 20x, or higher, magnification.

Even the use of 10x magnification for grading diamonds is quite arbitrary. There is no reason why 5, 8, 15, 20, or any other factor could not have been chosen. The standard tool used by most jewellers world-wide is now a 10x hand held "loupe" (French for magnifying glass).

The answer to our second question, above, is therefore, if it is D ,IF, and well made, then yes it is not really possible to get better, only bigger.

The next problem is that D, Flawless diamonds are rare and expensive, although we do have a page of D-Flawless round brilliant cut diamonds for sale, also D-Flawless princess cuts. To be able to answer the first question, we need to know how big your idea of the perfect diamond would be.

The following table shows the estimated UK retail price of a D, Flawless diamond in various carat weights. Prices shown are for the diamond only, and do not include the mount, or the cost of the grading certificate.

Retail Prices for D Colour, Flawless Clarity, Diamonds
Carat Weight	£ per Carat	Total £
.01	1,700	17
.05	1,700	85
.10	2,000	200
.15	2,400	360
.20	2,650	530
.25	4,000	1,000
.30	7,800	2,340
.35	8,000	2,800
.40	8,300	3,320
.45	9,000	4,050
.49	10,000	4,900
.50	13,000	6,500
.55	13,000	7,150
.60	13,000	7,800
.65	13,000	8,450
.70	14,000	9,800
.75	14,000	10,500
.80	14,000	11,200
.85	14,000	11,900
.90	14,600	13,140
.95	14,600	13,870
.99	15,000	14,850
1.00	26,000	26,000
1.25	26,000	32,500
1.50	28,300	42,450
1.75	28,300	49,525
1.99	29,000	57,710
2.00	41,300	82,600
2.50	42,000	105,000
2.99	43,000	128,570
3.00	64,300	192,900
3.5	65,000	227,500
3.99	65,500	261,345
4.00	67,500	270,000
4.50	68,000	308,250
4.99	70,000	349,000
5.00	90,000	450,000
5.50	90,000	495,000
6.00	100,000	600,000
7.00	110,000	770,000
8.00	120,000	960,000
9.00	135,000	1,215,000
10.00	150,000	1,500,000

In practice, you would have difficulty finding small diamonds offered for sale with a grading certificate. The published trade prices from the GIA (Gemmological Institute of America), and the GAGTL (Gemmological Association and Gem Testing Laboratory of Great Britain) start at about £100 even for the smallest stones, up to about 0.70 carats, rising to about £150 for a 1 carat, £220 for a 2 carat. Certificates from other laboratories, unless a CIBJO member, can be obtained for less, but are not universally recognised, and usually not worth the paper on which they are written.