How Important is Carat Weight for Emerald Engagement Rings?

The four Cs are a universal way of assessing the value and quality of gemstones. However, the ‘C’ that is perhaps most often forgotten is carat. This is simply a unit of weight measurement – in the simplest terms, meaning the size of a gem – and can have a significant impact on the price of a gemstone.

While you could argue that the majority of gemstones are priced and sold based on their carat weight, with average sized stones, the other three Cs play an important role in the price of a gem. It is only when you start to look at larger stones that the fourth ‘C’ begins to play a much bigger role in the price of stones. This because larger stones are much more rare – this is especially the case with emerald engagement rings – and as a result a bigger stone of the same quality as a smaller stone will cost considerably more. Even when a stone is of poor quality, with large and visible inclusions, it still can command a high price if it is very large because its size makes it rare.

However, don’t think that bigger is always better, especially when it comes to emerald engagement rings. While obviously carat weight plays a role in determining the price of an emerald, it plays a much larger role in the pricing of diamonds than it does with emeralds. This is because the price of an emerald is more determined by the colour of the stone than by any of the other ‘Cs’. In fact, many experts agree that it is better to buy a smaller emerald with an excellent colour than a larger stone with a poor, undesirable colour.

However, you should be warned that if you are looking for larger emerald engagement rings, then you will have to pay a premium. You can expect a big difference in prices once you start looking at stones over one carat. This is because larger stones are so much harder to find in mines. On average, you have to remove five tons of dirt to find a gem-quality emerald over one carat. This is why a four-carat emerald will cost considerably more than four emeralds of one carat.

At the end, you have to consider emerald engagement rings that are within your price range, and if size is the most important thing to you, then you may have to be prepared to sacrifice quality. Just remember that the most important quality an emerald should have is a great colour.

Frederick Holm writes for the F&L Designer Guides, which hosts a thriving community of independent engagement ring designers in the UK. Inspired by their journey of discovery in search of distinctive, one-of-a-kind emerald engagement rings, F&L now celebrates the works of their favourite designers and helps promote the notion of "Go Bespoke" as a more imaginative and interesting alternative to the limitations of High Street shopping.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.