Carat Weight

Carat is an international term for the weight of a diamond. An increase in carat weight does not produce the same increase in diameter, though it influences the price greatly.

Carat is an international word to determine the weight of a diamond. One should distinguish between carat and karat. Karat is the US term, coined to define the fineness of gold alloys. For example, 24 karat is pure gold, while 14 karat is 14 parts gold combined with 10 parts other metal.

Term carat dates back to the ancient times. It coincided with the weight of one carob bean. It was in 1913 when carat weight was internationally adapted to the metric system.

One carat equals 0.2 grams. That is a little more than 0.007 ounce. To put it differently, 142 carats are required to get 1 ounce. For small gems` weight, point metric system often seems to be more appropriate. One point is 0.01 carat or 1/100 of a carat. Correspondingly, 50 points means half a carat.

Sometimes terms size and carat are used interchangeably. However, the equating of the terms is appropriate for small round diamonds only. The weight increase of such gems influences their size and diameter to a rather insignificant extent. When it comes to the larger diamonds, the type of cut should be taken into consideration. Though shallow cut diamonds seem to be larger in diameter, they have the same weight as deeper cut stones. Being larger in diameter, however, shallow cut diamonds possess less brilliance and fire.

Weight in carats

The weight of a gemstone has a significant impact on its value. With each weight category (quarter, third, half) increase, the price will grow dramatically, even if the diamonds are identical in other respects. To put it differently, if the stone is twice as large as a smaller one, all the other factors (color, cut, clarity) being equal it may be three or even more times more expensive.

An increase in carat weight does not cause the same increase in diameter. 25% carat weight increase means only 8% increase in size for a 1.00 carat stone.

It should be quite clear that knowing the weight of a diamond does not mean knowing how it is proportioned. Poor cut can lead to the improper light reflection. Therefore, it is very important to take into account the cut of the stone.

It takes great efforts to mine diamonds. Approximately 1million rough diamonds are mined before one is found to be cut into a perfect 1.00 carat stone. When cut, gems lose about 40- 60 % of their rough weight.

There exist certain standards applied to a diamond`s weight. FTC guidelines allow certain deviation in weight. There can be a one-half point tolerance in the diamond stated weight. For instance, 0.495 carat diamond can be evaluated as a 50 point gemstone, while 0.494 carat is to be evaluated as a 49 point stone.