Diamonds: What is Carat Weight
The 4 C's of diamonds are cut, color, clarity and carat weight. Each affects the price of a diamond. Let's start with carat weight.
The term describes the mass weight of a diamond. For example, one carat equals 200 milligrams or .2 grams. For diamonds less than one carat, a point system is frequently used. One point equals one one-hundredth of a carat, which is 0.01 carat or 2 mg.
Although two stones can have the same carat weight, they can be totally different in size and appearance. The reason is that different kinds of stones have different stone densities. The more dense a stone is, the more it weighs. That's why a smaller stone can sometimes weigh more than a large stone, because of the density of the smaller stone.
With regard to a diamond carat, a diamond can be described in one of two ways:
1. "ct” describes the weight of a single diamond stone
2. "ct tw" describes the total weight of an entire piece of jewelry, that is, when it has more than one stone in the setting.
How is the Value of a Diamond Affected by its Weight?
With diamond jewelry, you can select a single stone, solitaire settings, or a setting with multiple, smaller stones. A single diamond carat will actually be more valuable than a setting with two diamonds that add up to one carat or greater. Because large-size diamonds are harder to find when mining, they are more valuable and, thus, more expensive than if you bought the same amount of diamond carats in smaller stones.
How Should You Select a Diamond Carat?
Decide whether you want a 1 or 2 carat diamond or multiple smaller stones. Cost will be a major factor as well as personal taste.
A diamond's actual measurement most likely is not as important as its appearance, shape, and the setting of the jewelry. It's usually more important to choose a piece of jewelry that is attractive to look at than to buy a diamond with the most carats. After all, a 1-carat diamond will not look half the size of a 2-carat diamond.
Once you've decided on how much you can spend, you're then ready to consider the other "c's" of diamonds.
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