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How much does a 2 carat diamond ring cost?

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The answer to the question how much does a 2 carat diamond ring cost is not quite a simple as you might think.
 
After searching through the best online jewellers in the UK and some based in the US, we found the price to vary significantly from £1000 to £25000. The majority of two carat diamond rings were between £2000 and £7000.

Of course, the quality of the 2 carat diamond makes a real difference and you could easily go higher than £25000 for a ring with a whiter colour (D grade) or a better clarity (IF - internally flawless is the best).

However, you will find similar grade 2 carat engagement rings varying in price by several thousand pounds.
 
We looked for the cheapest 2 carat diamond ring on offer, with the criteria that it had to be a single solitaire stone (combining several smaller diamonds to make a total carat weight of 2 carat is cheaper). We also wanted it to be on a gold or platinum setting.
 
Here is our 2 carat diamond ring price comparison table:
Ranking (cheapest first)

Ranking (cheapest first)

Retailer

Price

Carat[i]

Clarity[ii]

Colour[iii]

Metal[iv]

1

eBay [v] (second hand)

£1019

2.30

I3

G

18 carat gold

2

Amazon (marketplace)

£1325

2.00

I3

J-K

18 carat gold

3

Etsy (second hand)

£1672

2.12

I2

H

14 carat gold

4

Overstock

£2684[vi]

2.00

I1-I2

H-I

14 carat white gold

5

SuperJeweler

£3355[vii]

2.00

I1 – I2

J - K

14 carat white gold

6

Macys 

£4051[viii]

2.00

I3

I-J

14 carat white gold

7

Zoara

£4622[ix]

2.00

SI2

K

14 carat white gold

8

Diamond Heaven 

£5000

2.00

I1

I

18 carat gold

9

77 Diamonds

£5422

2.00

SI2

K

18 carat white gold

10

Blue Nile

£5857

2.00

SI1

I

14 carat white gold

11

The Diamond Ring Company

£7052

2.00

SI2

K

18 carat white gold

12

Diamonds Factory

£7184

2.00

SI1

G

9 carat white gold

13

Serendipity Diamonds

£12400

2.00

SI2

J

18 carat white gold

14

Wedding Rings Direct

£14417

2.00

SI2

H

18 carat gold

15

Vashi

£17834

2.00

SI1

I

18 carat gold

16

Beaverbrooks

£25000

2.35

VS2

J

Platinum



[i] Carat is a diamond’s weight. We have searched for the cheapest ring of at least 2.00 carat.

[ii] Clarity is the number of imperfections there are in the diamond. The usual grading scale is (from highest to lowest): IF (internally flawless), VVS1 (very very slight inclusions), VVS2, VS1 (very slight inclusions), VS2, SI1 (slight inclusions), SI2, I1 (inclusions) I2, I3.

[iii] Colour goes from D (which is white) up to Z (yellow). No idea what happened to A,B and C!

[iv] Rings are usually gold (9 carat, 14 carat or 18 carat) or platinum. The cheapest is usually 9 carat gold, followed by 14 carat then 18 carat. Platinum is generally the most expensive. See our guide for more detail.

[v] Second hand ring, prices vary but this was the cheapest 2 carat ring we could find.

[vi] Price includes import taxes and customs duties. Original price was £2191 but we added on 22.5% which is the general cost of VAT plus customs duty for importing from the USA to the UK

[vii] Includes import taxes due to HMRC, original price was £2739

[viii] Includes import taxes due to HMRC, original price was £3307

[ix] Includes import taxes due to HMRC, original price was £3773

(Please note, some of the links on this site are affiliate links, but we include good deals regardless of whether they have the potential to earn money for the site or not).

​A few notes and conclusions from our 2 carat diamond ring price comparison:
  • Searches were carried out in late November 2015 and were the cheapest ring available on the website at that moment in time. You might not get the exact same deal, but it will give you a good idea of where to look first.
  • Unsurprisingly, the cheapest rings are all lower clarity and less white diamonds. However, many of the cheaper websites, such as Amazon, Overstock and SuperJeweler do also have higher grade 2 carat diamond rings available.
  • Buying second hand is cheapest - no great surprise - but it isn't as much of a saving as I was expecting. If you buy from Amazon or import from a big US retailer (e.g. SuperJeweler) then you can get a 2 carat diamond ring for around £3000. Remember that you will need to pay import taxes (customs duty plus VAT) if you are buying a diamond ring from the USA. Some American jewellers add the cost on at the point of sale, others don't add it on but it is your responsbility to pay the taxes due to HMRC.
  • Many of the High Street jewellers such as F Hinds, H Samuel or Goldsmiths don't sell 2 carat diamond rings, presumably because they wouldn't expect to sell many. Beaverbrooks is the only one of the High Street jewellers offering a two carat diamond engagement ring.
  • Very similar rings sell for very varied prices. For example, on paper the cheapest 2 carat diamond ring at Vashi is almost the same as the cheapest 2 carat diamond ring from Blue Nile. The only difference is an upgrade from 14 carat gold to 18 carat gold, but there is a £12000 difference between them (£5800 at Blue Nile compared to £17800 at Vashi)

Related pages from the Cheap Engagement Rings guide: