You can buy coffee by the pound. You can even buy deli meat by the pound. Even if you’ve never bought a diamond, the correlation between weight and price is a concept that we can all understand. Therefore, the general perception is that a larger diamond is more valuable than a smaller one.

Diamonds are measured or weighed in “carats”, or the equivalent of 200 milligrams. Precision in weighing a diamond is such that a diamond is weighed to a thousandth (.001) of a carat and then rounded to the nearest hundredth.

What is not as easy to understand is that a 2.00 carat diamond is not always worth twice as much as a 1.00 carat diamond. Large diamonds are rarer than smaller ones, so logically they seem to be worth more. But the value of a diamond is determined by considering all of the 4Cs of diamond quality as a whole.

Remember, when you are looking at diamonds, bigger is not always better. Learn about the next C, Diamond Color, before your next purchase.