Diamond Price Calculator
An indicative range, read from carat weight and the four Cs.
Tap the i beside any factor to see what it means.
$5,900 – $8,400
1.00 ct · Round · Excellent cut · G · VS1
Approximate retail, USD
An indicative range, not a formal appraisal.
Weight is only the beginning
How to price a diamond, and what this calculator is doing
Every diamond price starts from a price per carat, not a price. A dealer looks up the going rate for the weight, shape and grade combination in front of them, multiplies it by the carat weight, then adjusts for the things a report cannot show: how the stone actually performs in light, whether the certificate comes from a laboratory the trade respects, and how quickly the seller wants their money.
This calculator does the same arithmetic in the open. It anchors to a one-carat round brilliant, G color, VS1 clarity, excellent cut, then scales that anchor by weight, shape and the four Cs. The result is a range, because a single figure would be a lie: two stones with identical grading reports routinely trade ten to twenty percent apart.
Why price per carat jumps at the round numbers
Diamond prices do not rise smoothly with weight. They step. A 0.99 carat stone and a 1.01 carat stone are indistinguishable on a hand, but the 1.01 can cost fifteen to twenty percent more per carat, because the whole market shops at 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00. The same cliff appears at every magic weight.
That is also where the value is. A stone just under a threshold — 0.90, 1.40, 1.90 — is the cheapest way to buy size, and nobody looking at your hand will ever know.
What moves the number most
In rough order of effect on a US retail price:
- Carat weight, which drives price faster than linearly because large rough is rare.
- Cut quality, the only C that decides how bright the stone looks. A poorly cut D flawless can look duller than a well cut H VS2.
- Color and clarity, which matter to the price sheet far more than they matter to the eye once you are inside the near-colorless and eye-clean ranges.
- The laboratory on the report. GIA and AGS grading is treated as the benchmark; other labs are commonly discounted because their grades run softer.
- Where you are buying. Mall retail, independent jeweler, online inventory and estate sale can be three different prices for the same stone.
Retail, market and resale are three different numbers
The figure here is an approximate retail range: what a comparable stone would be offered at today. It is not what you would be paid if you sold. Expect a private sale to bring roughly thirty to fifty percent of retail, and a dealer's cash offer twenty to thirty-five percent. The insurance instrument works those numbers out in detail.
Questions we are asked
- What is my diamond worth?
- Enter the carat weight, shape and the three graded Cs above for an indicative retail range. If you are asking because you want to sell, the honest answer is lower: private buyers typically pay 30 to 50 percent of retail and dealers 20 to 35 percent, whatever the appraisal says.
- How much does a 1 carat diamond cost?
- A one-carat round brilliant with a respected report spans a very wide range in the US market — roughly $3,000 to $12,000 at retail — driven mostly by cut quality, color and clarity. Lab-grown equivalents sell for a small fraction of that.
- Is a diamond appraisal the same as its value?
- No. Most appraisals are written as retail replacement value for insurance purposes, and are often above what the piece would sell for. They exist to settle a claim, not to price a sale.
- Does a GIA certificate increase a diamond's price?
- It does, in practice. A report from GIA or AGS gives a buyer confidence in the grades, so certified stones command more than uncertified ones and more than stones graded by softer laboratories.
Beyond the EstimateHave the stone recorded
An estimate is a guide. A record is permanent.
No card asked for to open one.