These Graphics Explain the 4 Cs So Well, Your SO Might as Well Buy That Ring Now

When shopping for a diamond, you never want to see any yellow in the rock. Using the industry scale of D (no yellow tint) to M, Dean suggests anything with an I or up is better.

"You want it to be white. You want no color," Dean said. "But, we do sell J and K on [James Allen]. There are actually certain cultures, or markets, that love I, J, K. That's what they want to buy. They want the stone to be yellow, and they're setting it in yellow gold, and it's beautiful." For most brides, however, a near-colorless diamond is perhaps the popular choice.

Carat refers to the weight of a diamond, and the heavier it is, the more expensive it is. Nonetheless, we tend to focus on the size of a diamond when we talk carats because we want to see how big it is! For reference, this is what a three-carat ring looks like on a real girl's hand.

"There are people buying 50-point stones as a center stone, and there's people buying five carats. There's no right or wrong to that, depending on the chapter of your life, the economics, and your social environment," Dean said. "On James Allen, the average diamond sold is 90 points, just under one carat. And the average ring price is around $6,000." FYI: the average cost of an engagement ring comes around $7,789 for New York City residents.

A quality two-carat stone looks pretty darn good to us.

Clarity refers to the imperfections (blemishes, scratches, nicks, etc. . . .) in a diamond, and experts use the scale I1 to IF (internally flawless) as a measurement tool. So what's the sweet spot for deciding on the clarity of your ring? Depending on your finances, anything from SI1 and up is the best. "Never in my years have I ever recommended a friend to buy an internally flawless diamond, but we sell a lot of them because there are some consumers that love that concept," Dean said. "There is no right or wrong answer in buying a diamond. And that's why for [some] it's torture and that's why it's wonderful when [their partner] is willing to collaborate on it."

The light that is reflected off a diamond is known as the brilliance, and a well-cut diamond reflects almost all the light that enters it. Terms like cut and shape, however, are used interchangeably when talking about diamonds. "For us at James Allen, more than half the stones we sell are rounds," Dean said. "It's classic. It's traditional. And scientifically speaking, has the maximum brilliance because of the less light dispersion through the bottom of the stone. So I love round stones." For brides who are looking for something outside of a round-cut diamond, there are other options such as heart, emerald, and oval. Use the handy guide here to choose your favorite cut.