Carat
Carat refers to a diamond’s weight
About Carat
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Carat referred as ct. Is the unit of weight measurement used to weight gems and diamonds.
1 carat is equal to 0.2 grams, about the same weight as a paperclip.
(Don’t confuse carat with karat. Karat as in 18K gold, which refers to gold purity)
Just as 1 rupee is divided into 100 paise, 1 carat is divided into 100 cents.
For example:
A 50 cent diamond weighs 0.50 carats.
Diamond weights greater than one carat are expressed in carats and decimals. (For instance, a 1.08 ct. stone would be described as “one point oh eight carats,” or “one oh eight.”)
Carat weight is often confused with visual size, when it's actually a weight measurement.
Total carat weight is the total weight of all diamonds and other gems stones in a particular piece of jewellery
Relation between Carat weight and Price
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A fraction of carat can make a considerable difference in cost.
Once the cut, colour and clarity of the diamond has been decided, the carat weight of a diamond is easily decided to fit within the budget.
A general rule of thumb is that a diamond of double the weight costs around four times more.
“Under-sizes” or “Shy Size” are diamonds that weigh just below a cutoff-weight or magic-number weight.
For example, buying a 0.97 carat diamond instead of a 1 carat diamond, will save a good amount of money
They are more difficult to find as the diamond cutter will choose to sacrifice beauty in order to cut a diamond with a weight that meets the cut-off weight.
The cutoff weights are 0.50 ct., 0.75 ct., 0.90 ct., 1.00 ct., 1.50 ct., and 2.00 ct.
Q & A
Diamond having the same carat weight can be different in sizes, depending on how they are cut.
For example,
1 carat diamond could measure 5.95mm in diameter, while another 1 carat diamond can measure 6.5mm.
One of these diamonds is cut with a larger table making it appear larger than the other.
