Pick the style by how much attention you want the piece to draw. A solitaire pendant holds one diamond and nothing else, so it reads clean with a T shirt, a sweater or a dress. A halo pendant sets the center inside a ring of small diamonds, which makes the middle look larger and adds sparkle you notice from across a room.
There is a third look worth knowing. In a bezel pendant, a thin rim of metal wraps the whole edge of the diamond. It feels smooth, protects the stone better than any prong, and gives a modern, rounded outline, though it lets in slightly less light than an open prong head.
How the pendant is attached matters as much as the diamond. A pendant on a chain that runs through its bail can slide and settle at the lowest point of your neckline, and you can usually swap it onto another chain later. A pendant joined to the chain at both sides stays centered at all times but lives on that chain for good.
Look at the chain too. A fine cable or box chain keeps the eye on the diamond; a heavy rope or Cuban link competes with it. If you plan to layer, choose the pendant first and build the shorter or longer chains around it, so nothing tangles at the same point.
For a piece that rarely comes off, put security and metal ahead of size. Diamond is 10 on the Mohs scale, so the stone shrugs off daily wear; the clasp, the bail and the metal are what show age. Check that the clasp feels firm and that the head grips the stone from more than one side.
Metal changes how the diamond looks. White gold gets its bright color from rhodium plating, which wears with time and can be replated, and white metals show any warmth in a diamond. Yellow and rose gold hide a slightly warmer stone well, so a near colorless grade in the G to J range looks bright against them.
Finished diamond pendants make sense when you want the decision made: the stones are already set and sized to the design. If you would rather pick the exact center stone, its grade and its report, start with a setting and pair it with a loose diamond through our build your own diamond pendant tool. It takes longer, and you control every C.
Not sure yet? Browse solitaire diamond necklaces for the simplest look, or halo pendant settings if you want a framed center. Rare Carat gives you 30 days to return any order free, which takes the pressure off judging a pendant from a screen.