4 Carat Diamond Ring Guide (Tips For Best Quality & Prices)

valentines day gift with a 4 carat ring

Whether you are planning a surprise proposal or an anniversary gift to mark a special occasion, a 4 carat diamond ring can be the perfect way to express your feelings towards a loved one.

However, for people who have less experience in buying jewelry, the process of shopping for a 4 ct diamond ring can be very stressful. After all, how often do people make purchases involving huge sums of money (upwards of 5 to 6 figures)?

In this write-up, I am going to reveal the insider tips that will help you navigate common pitfalls and how to buy the best possible diamond for your budget.

First, How Much Does a 4 Carat Diamond Ring Cost?

Before we delve deeper, let’s address one of the most important questions that consumers have when buying a diamond.

Cost.

How much does a four carat diamond cost? What is the price of a 4ct diamond ring? Prior to doing your research and landing on this webpage, I’m pretty sure you already have a rough budget or have a similar question in mind.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to give you an absolute figure because of the many factors that affect a diamond’s cost (e.g. cut, color, clarity, carat).

Instead, I will show you some real life examples to provide perspectives on how the 4Cs influence diamond prices exponentially.

Here’s an example of a diamond at the high end of the spectrum with its D color, internally flawless properties.

4 carat excellent cut diamond d if

This 4 carat D color, internally flawless diamond costs almost half a million dollars!

In contrast, the following diamond which has H color (near colorless) and VS2 clarity (eyeclean) costs less than a fraction of the D/IF stone.

signature blue round diamond 4ct fluorescence

A super ideal cut round diamond with top of the line optical performance and precision.

Now, I want to point out something very important. While the H VS2 diamond is significantly cheaper ($91,713) and has lesser stats (color/clarity) compared to the D/IF diamond, it is much better cut for optics.

In real life, the H/VS2 diamond is going to be more sparkly, livelier and have better edge to edge brightness. In terms of visual appearance and appeal, the Brian Gavin diamond is the hands-down winner between these 2 stones.

When it comes to buying diamonds, CUT is KING. If you want to buy a diamond that exudes superior brilliance and fire, I recommend that you start your search at White Flash and Brian Gavin.

Having a Realistic Budget And Expectation is Important

As you can see, the sky is the limit when we talk about diamond prices. The top tier grades command a hefty premium due to their rarity and costs are compounded exponentially for larger carat sizes.

To give you some ballpark figures, a diamond with decent color/clarity grades that is well cut for light performance would cost upwards of $80,000.

If you go down to the lower color tiers (i.e. K color) and don’t mind seeing a tint in your diamond, a ballpark figure would be upwards of $50,000.

At the end of the day, you need to understand that diamonds are a zero-sum game. If you don’t have the budget to purchase a 4 carater, you need to manage your expectations and consider going down in carat size.

You would be far better off buying a beautifully cut 3 carat diamond ring from a reliable vendor than forcing a purchase with a limited budget just to hit the 4ct mark. And if you shop with the mindset of cheapening out and trying to find “unrealistic deals”, you will get ripped off and deservedly so.

Beyond4Cs.com’s Guidelines For Buying a 4Ct Diamond

diamond halo ring show off on finger size

Personally, I take on a practical approach when buying diamonds.

In order to shop with confidence and buy a high quality diamond, you will need to make educated decisions based on tangible and scientific data.

I advocate that readers utilize the same approach of using logic and practicality when shopping for diamonds. With that said, here are our recommended shopping guidelines for a four carat diamond:

Color: G or better.

Clarity: VS2 or better.

Cut (for round diamonds): GIA 3Ex or AGS 000 as a minimum base.

Grading report: ONLY GIA or AGS.

If you are in the market for a round diamond, you definitely want to read this step by step guide and check out this table of ideal proportions to narrow down your options.

If you are shopping for a fancy shaped diamond (i.e. princess cut, cushion cut), you should refer to this proven method of picking out the best stones here.

White Flash, Brian Gavin and Blue Nile are vendors that I recommend readers to begin their search at. The indepth data they provide on their listings is a game changer and is essential for separating the wheat from the chaff.

Let Me Explain The Rationale Behind These Guidelines

Color is pretty straightforward as a G will ensure a center stone that faces up icy white in a 4 carat diamond engagement ring. In the Asian market, consumers tend to buy higher color diamonds due to societal reasons. On the other hand, consumers in the western world are usually fine with lower color diamonds in the I-J range.

Ultimately, color is an attribute that boils down to subjective preferences. If you have a tighter budget to work with on your purchase, going down lower in color would be the most logical compromise.

Due to the nature of how diamonds are graded in the laboratories, I would recommend a minimum of VS2 clarity at such a large carat size to stay safe. Rarely will you be able to find eyeclean 4 ct sized diamonds below SI clarity ratings without the inclusions impacting brilliance or causing durability issues.

Cut quality is paramount because it directly affects the visual appearance of the diamond. This is the key attribute that you should never compromise.

A diamond with great cut quality will help mask inclusions and body color through its sparkle.

diamond sparkle gif due to exceptional cut properties

I repeat: NEVER SKIMP on cut quality.

Lastly, the objective of a grading report is to provide a reliable and unbiased opinion of the diamond’s qualities. Never buy any diamond that isn’t graded by GIA/AGS (a notorious example is EGL) because these reports misrepresent diamonds and utilize dubious grading standards.

This goes back to the point of cheapening out.

Many times, consumers are offered an “alternative” grading report that was made in-house or from some obscure organization. They think they are getting a good deal from unethical dealers because the diamond’s grades are similar to that of another diamond graded by GIA.

Well, you are in for a giant rip-off if you think so because these manipulative reports artifically inflate a diamond’s quality. A diamond graded as G/VS2 by an unreliable grading report could well be a J/SI2 if the same stone was graded by GIA.

In 99.99% of these cases, unsuspecting consumers would have overpaid for an inferior diamond because of their stupidity and greed. And since you are reading this and know better, you will avoid becoming part of that statistic.

Where is the Best Place to Buy a 4 Carat Diamond?

where to buy a 4 ct diamond ring

Where do you think would be the best place to buy a large sized diamond if you are someone shopping for a diamond with good light performance and prices?

Is it your local jewelry store?

Wrong! Lack of selections and mediocre cut quality.

Would it be a large jewelry chain store?

Wrong! Lack of selections, mediocre cut quality and high prices.

What about branded stores like Tiffany or Cartier?

Depends. Lack of selections, decent cut quality but extremely overpriced.


As you can see, the common denominator of shopping in a physical store is the lack of selections and availability of truly well cut diamonds. This is because the high price tags and affordability result in little demand and supply for these goods.

Now, if you are thinking of buying in a brick and mortar store, you better think again.

Shopping in physical stores is a terrible decision due to a triple whammy of factors: limited selections, lousy quality (especially in cut!) and higher prices.

Get this, I haven’t even listed the common issues encountered in physical stores like high pressure sales environment, jewelers with poor knowledge, mediocre store policies where businesses don’t stand behind their products and etc…

You don’t have to take my word for it. All you need to do is to make a trip to any brick and mortar jeweler and experience shopping for yourself. You will be able to easily verify what I said above.

The Best Place to Shop for a Four Carat Diamond is Online

In my opinion, there is no better place to buy a 4ct diamond than to go online and shop at reliable vendors.

At this point, I know some people with misguided beliefs of shopping in physical stores are going to scream: “You must be mad to suggest buying a 4 carat diamond online!”

The fact is, more people get taken advantage of in a physical store than purchasing online.

Let me be absolutely clear here.

Going online enables the possibility of cherry picking the best stone for your needs due to the larger inventories available. But that’s not the main reason why I advocate going online.

In today’s age of digital disruption, shopping online enables you to have far better transparency of a diamond than what a traditional store would offer. Here’s what I mean using an example listing found on WhiteFlash.com…

f vs1 whiteflash diamond 4 carat aca

Not only do you get to scrutinize diamonds upclose, you are also able to get tangible data on the diamond’s performance. All the technical details of the diamond are laid out openly for you to see, analyze and interact with.

screenshot tangible cut data

From top left (clockwise): HD video of diamond, magnified image at 20X, hearts patterning and ASET image.

Here’s a reality check.

The majority of physical store jewelers have absolutely NO idea what cut quality and performance is. And the few that actually have good understanding of cut mechanics will usually not make these data available to consumers.

Why?

It is because the availability of these data will instantly make the sub-par diamonds they sell look bad.

Now, let me tell you outright that ideally cut 4 ct diamonds like the example above from White Flash are unicorn rare. The chances of you finding a diamond in the market cut to this level of precision and performance is almost zero.

This is because you need specialized labor and proper manufacturing know-hows to produce such diamonds. And even if all the stars and constellations align perfectly for you to find one at a local store, it will not beat the competitive prices offered by online retailers.

Online vendors like White Flash and Brian Gavin specialize in diamonds with impeccable cut quality that you simply can’t find anywhere else! Besides high quality diamonds, they also offer 100s of beautiful settings to choose from.

Let’s Wrap Things Up And Shop With Confidence!

happy couple celebrations love anniversary

For a 4 carat size diamond, you would be looking to spend anywhere between $40,000 – $500,000 depending on its specifications. At the end of the day, your budget and taste should be balanced according to your recipient’s preferences.

Here’s my take. If you already decided to spend a large sum of money on this purchase, it would only make sense to make sure that the money is well spent.

It would be wise to plan ahead and start your search early to avoid making a rushed purchase as it may not be easy to find a 4 carat diamond engagement ring that fits your budget or specifications perfectly.

With that, we’ve come to the end of this write up and I hope this guide has helped. I encourage you to re-read this article and spend some time browsing on Beyond4cs.com to build up your knowledge.

And if you still have questions or need a second opinion on a diamond, feel free to drop me an email and I’ll promptly reply to help you out.

If you are looking for reputable businesses who offer high quality diamonds and excellent craftsmanship in their settings, I recommend checking out White Flash, Blue Nile and Brian Gavin.

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16 Comments

  1. John S. Tejeda-
    October 16, 2017 at 4:16 am

    I’m looking for a 4 karat diamond ring with an oval shape center stone. I have a budget of about $60,000 and would like to stay within this amount of money. If the center stone is very high quality, I don’t mind paying a little more for the purchase.

    I don’t want to go below a G color and VVS clarity for the stone. I have difficulties in finding a diamond and would greatly appreciate your help. When I visited White Flash and Brian Gavin, I don’t see any heart shape diamonds with videos or images.

    Can you offer any guidance here?

  2. Paul Gian-
    October 16, 2017 at 5:37 am

    First, a little mistake to highlight and correct: “4 karat diamond ring”. Karat is actually a unit of measurement for gold purity.

    If you are looking for a 4 carat oval diamond ring, the best vendors that deal with fancy shapes are James Allen and Blue Nile. I went ahead to perform a search for you and would recommend this option:

    https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/4.17-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-3298004

    I wished there could be more options but at such big carat sizes, choices are limited. Personally, I think this stone would make a 4 carat oval diamond ring “pop”. The stone has excellent shape appeal and light return.

  3. Joseph-
    October 18, 2017 at 4:23 am

    How much is a 4 carat engagement ring if I buy it in a branded store like Graff or Tiffany and Co.? I would like to know how much more it would cost if we compared an identical ring from branded stores vs another that was purchased elsewhere.

  4. Paul Gian-
    October 18, 2017 at 5:44 am

    In order to make a 100% accurate analysis and compare how much is a 4 carat diamond, you will need to compare apples to apples. This is not possible because the settings from branded name stores are copyrighted. You will need to factor in diamond details right down to technical factors like cut precision and performances.

    What would be possible is to eliminate variances as much as we can in order to perform a good comparison. For example, you could take a 4 carat diamond solitaire engagement ring from Tiffany with an F VS2 center diamond and compare it directly with a similar 4 carat diamond solitaire engagement ring design from an online vendor.

    From experience, I would say that the big brands will place a price premium anywhere from 20% to 100% more. We actually wrote a review on Tiffany and Cartier to share my personal experience. If you are interested, read the following links:

    https://beyond4cs.com/reviews/cartier/
    https://beyond4cs.com/reviews/tiffany/

  5. Walter-
    October 21, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    I recently returned from a business trip in London. I visited Hatton Garden and was astonished that a D color internally flawless 4 carat diamond ring price quoted to me was only £250,000.

    The diamond is graded by GIA is mounted in a solitaire ring setting made of platinum. If I did the conversion to USD, the cost would be around $340,000.

    Does this look like a good deal?

  6. Paul Gian-
    October 21, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    First of all, you need to provide details. Did you looked at a 4 carat cushion cut diamond ring or a 4 carat emerald cut diamond ring or a different shape? The cost basis for cutting different shapes will vary.

    Round brilliant cuts utilize more rough material compared to polishing princess cuts. This is why a fancy shape diamond generally costs less than a round brilliant cut across the board.

    Other quantitative features like cut quality, location of inclusions, fluorescence and etc will also play a role in cost.

  7. Walter-
    October 22, 2017 at 7:00 am

    Thank you for your reply. The piece of jewelry shown to me was actually a 4 carat pear cut diamond ring. From memory, the ring sparkled like crazy when the salesperson showed it to me.

  8. Paul Gian-
    October 22, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    As I said earlier, without knowing further details, it would be extremely difficult to offer any constructive advice. All jewelry look bright and sparkly under a store’s lighting. The interior design of jewelry stores is planned to make all diamonds (regardless of how well cut they are) to sparkle.

    It is only when you start looking at details and the diamond under different conditions will you start to appreciate cut quality. A well cut diamond will return light and perform in many other lighting conditions like diffused office lighting or a dim restaurant ambient environment.

    Anyway, I digress. Let me show you a well cut 4 carat pear cut diamond ring example and let you be the judge of prices for yourself.

    4 carat pear cut diamond flawless

    SKU P403-7474Z0848

    Note: this diamond is a D FLAWLESS (Not IF) and the clarity is a notch higher than internally flawless. The loose diamond by itself costs less than half the one you saw at Hatton Gardens.

  9. Andrew-
    October 25, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    I came across a 4kt diamond ring selling for a ridiculously low price of $5,000 in an auction. The buyer premium listed was 16%. What do you make of it?

  10. Paul Gian-
    October 26, 2017 at 3:22 am

    You mistaken a 4ct diamond ring for a 4kt diamond ring. The latter refers to a ring with gold purity of 4kt (karat) and not the carat weight of the center stone.

    A 4 karat diamond ring price has a totally different meaning and cost to a 4ct diamond engagement ring. Details are very important here and clearly you have no idea what you are buying or looking at. Do more research!

  11. Lisa-
    October 28, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    Not sure whether I would agree with your view that shopping online for such an expensive product would be wise. I would rather see and touch the diamond ring before making any decisions.

  12. Paul Gian-
    October 29, 2017 at 2:50 am

    You could go down the rabbit hole to try your luck at finding a diamond in a physical store and bang your head in frustration during the process.

    All you need to do is to walk into any local stores (try both the small guys and the big brands) and ask to “see” some diamonds. You will soon find out that this is easier said than done and you can verify your experience with what I said in the article.

    I would be extremely surprised if the store had any available diamonds in their shop to begin with. And when they actually start asking for a “deposit” upfront (which is typically non-refundable) to view diamonds they call in. What is happening here is that the store is actually shopping for a diamond online on your behalf and passing on all the RISKs to you.

    So much for your misguided belief of “touching” and “feeling” the diamond prior to purchase. You are simply allowing someone else to shop “blindly” online on your behalf. It’s foolish.

  13. Wanda-
    November 2, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    Thanks for the write up. It’s insightful and addresses many questions beginners like me have. I’m actually shopping for a 4 carat emerald cut diamond ring in the form of an eternity design.

    Do you have any recommendations on where to buy one?

  14. Paul Gian-
    November 2, 2017 at 11:12 pm

    You probably need a custom design to be made as eternity rings utilizing emerald cuts are very specialized and hard to get right. Check in with Brian Gavin.

    https://beyond4cs.com/go/briangavin/

    They are fantastic in handling these type of work orders.

  15. Timothy-
    November 8, 2017 at 5:31 am

    I need your help and opinion for a 4 carat princess cut diamond ring. What do you think of these?

    SKU: S405-514252518

    https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/4.03-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-sku-2672554

    Is it worth going up to a G color as the price is significantly higher compared to the I color diamond?

  16. Paul Gian-
    November 9, 2017 at 6:00 am

    For a 4 carat princess cut diamond ring, an I color would show a tinge of body color due to the size of the stone. If you expect to see a nice icy white appearance, go for a G or better color. Between these 2 princess cuts, I would say the James Allen option is better cut for optical performance.

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