advt 120x600

advt 120x600

advt 120x600

Please do not confuse carat unit of diamond with carat (karat) unit of gold. Where as carat of gold describes its purity, carat of diamond specifies its weight.

Weight of diamonds (and many other gems) is measured in units called carats. Carat has smaller unit called point. One carat is equal to 100 points. A diamond of 0.25 carat is equal to 25 points. Carat weight can easily be measured on diamond scale.  A diamond stone may weigh 0.25 carat, 0.50 carat, 1.00 carat. 1.50 carat, 2 carat, 3 carat, 4 carat, 5 carat ... and so on.

If we talk in terms of SI units, one carat is equal to 200 milligrams (0.20 gram). The preciousness of a diamond multiplies dramatically as the weight increases. Rareness of larger diamonds is one of the reasons behind their high value. Also, diamonds of larger size are more in demand as they are used as gemstones. We can say that two diamonds with 1 carat weight each have less price than a single diamond with weight equal to 2 carat and same cut, clarity and color. Very large & very huge diamonds are present only in the possession of multimillionaires, erstwhile kings and govt museums.

Size of a diamond is also measured in millimeter (mm). 1 carat round diamond is approximately 6.5 mm in diameter. 3.0 mm = 1/10 carat. 8.2 mm=2.00 carat. 9.4 mm= 3.00 carat.

Ancient diamond jewellers used seeds of carob to measure diamonds. The word carat was derived from carob. Since 1 carob seed weighs about 0.2 gram, 1 carat is equal to 0.2 gram. With the advancement in science and technology, jewelers started using mechanical balances and ultrasensitive electronic balances to measure the weight of diamonds precisely.

Ct is the abbreviation of carat. It is written like 1 ct, 2 ct, 3 ct etc. Ct TW means total weight of all the diamonds constituting a piece of jewelry.

Again we want to explain how jewelers cheat buyers. For example: If a diamond ring with multiple diamonds have ct TW = 2 ct. If a solitaire diamond ring (a ring with single diamond) has carat weight = 2 ct. Suppose other features (cut, color & clarity) of diamonds of both the rings are comparable. You should know that solitaire diamond ring will have more price. This is because the solitaire diamond ring has a single big diamond with weight = 2 carat, whereas the diamond ring with multiple diamonds has ct TW = 2 carat. That means many small diamonds in this ring together weigh 2 ct. Since bigger diamonds are rare, they have more price. The jewelers may try to fool you by selling you a multiple diamonds ring at the price of solitaire ring by just telling you the weight 2 ct.

Diamonds weighing less than 20 points are called 'Melee' (pronounced as mai-lee). Melle diamonds are much cheaper than diamonds of larger size.

For buying a diamond, while some people look for beauty of diamond in terms of cut, color and clarity, others seek a stone with bigger size, regardless its cut, color or clarity.

The largest rough diamond (gem quality) ever found was Cullinan diamond. It weighed about 3,106.75 carat (621.35 gram). It was found in South Africa in 1905.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Carat Craze: Just like craze for VIP registration numbers for cars, people have obsession for carat weight. Ladies yearn to have a jewel with a diamond of weight more than 1 carat, 2 carat or 3 carat etc. They will reject a diamond of weight 0.90 carat or 1.95 carat. A decimal point less than whole numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 carat is not preferred by them. They is no particular reason for this. It is just a superstition or a social display of proud. Does a diamond of 1 ct look better than a diamond of 0.95 ct. Ofcourse not. But the price does differ. The carat craze has resulted into a big difference in price diamonds of nearly same size. For example: A 0.95 carat diamond will be much cheaper than a 1 carat or 1.10 carat diamond. Similarly, a 2.9 carat diamond will be much cheaper than a 3 carat diamond. So, why waste money when looks don't matter much. Ask your jeweller for a 0.90 carat or 0.95 carat diamond instead of 1 carat and pay less.

*   *   *   *   *   *

How can I calculate cost of a diamond ring with multiple diamonds by considering carat weight?

For a diamond ring with many diamonds, there are two types of carat weight. One is total carat weight of all the diamonds, denoted as Ct TW. The other is individual carat weight of each diamond. Just calculate the price of every piece of diamond individually by referring to its carat weight. Then add the cost of every piece of diamond plus price of metal (eg gold) of ring to get total price of the ring. Mostly customers make mistake by calculating price of the diamond ring by considering total carat weight of all the diamonds (Ct TW) as a whole, which comes out to be very large.

Even when we calculated individual carat weight of each of the diamonds separately, we don't have a fixed scale to do so, as cut, color and clarity of diamonds differ considerably.