Diamond Jewelry Carat Weight and Size
The diamond carat weight and size are two aspects that a prospective buyer must be aware of. While these two points can be confusing for new buyers, the proceeding information ought to clear things up.
Facts about Carats
Carat is used to describe the diamond’s weight. One carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams of weight. Carat is oftentimes spelled as ct. When expressing the weight of a diamond, the ct abbreviation is often used. If you see the words ct TW, it means carat total weight. This is used to denote the total weight of several diamonds.
Diamond Carat Weight and Size: Other Facts
Carat weight is employed for measuring other precious stones. But remember that gemstones of similar sizes do not always have similar weights. The reason is some stones are denser than others. A denser gemstone will weigh more.
If buying small diamonds, keep in mind that the weight is denoted in points instead of carats. For every one carat, there are 100 points. In other words, one point is equal to one hundredths or 0.01 of a carat.
0.05 is equal to five one hundredths. This means the 5 point diamond has 0.05 carat. A 0.25 carat diamond is the same as a diamond with 25 points.
Why Carat is Important
Simply put, carat affects the value of the piece. Even if the quality is the same, larger diamonds will always be more expensive than their smaller counterparts. Large diamonds are more difficult to locate, which adds to their value.
A single one carat diamond is more valuable than several smaller diamonds even if the total carat count is the same or higher. Usually, diamonds weighing below the next full carat is cheaper than those that go over the full carat.
Can Diamonds be Compared?
Making comparisons is very difficult because the qualities and features are so diverse. A just comparison is only possible if the characteristics are the same.
If you want to compare the costs though, you can assess the price per carat. To get the cost per carat, divide the cost of every stone via the carat weight. There are also diamond weight estimators that can give you an idea of its size relative to the weight.
It should be stressed that diamond carat weight and size are just some of the things you have to consider when shopping for one. You also need to look at the color, the clarity and other features.