How do you calculate the cost of a diamond?

There’s hardly any person in the world who does not crave for diamond. But have you ever thought how the cost of a diamond is calculated? Martin Rapaport is the person who solved this problem by composing Rapaport Diamond Price List, which is popularly known as the Rap, or the List.

The best way to calculate diamond prices is to use Rapaport Diamond Report that is composed of sheets containing various price lists.

However, these price lists can be accessed only by subscription and are meant for the professionals only. The color of these sheets is always red so that it cannot be photocopied or faxed. The price lists are made according to the weight ranging from 0.01 to 5.99 carats and of course according to the shapes. The price rises are printed in bold while price falls are printed in bold italics. You should know that cut/shape, symmetry, polish and fluorescence are not included on the list because these aspects can lead to significant variations in price.

The prices specified on the lists are expressed per carat – it is $100s per carat. You can find the weight of the diamond on the first line of the list along with the date and the cut. The clarity grade from IF to I3 can be found on the second line.

In the first column, you can find the color grade from D to M. Thus to calculate the price of a diamond you just need to move horizontally and vertically according to the color and the clarity. By moving this way, you can know its price in dollar per carat.