Carat Weight. Carat Weight is how much a diamond weighs. Diamonds are weighed to a thousandth (0.001) of a carat and then rounded to the nearest hundredth, or point. Over a carat, diamond weights are usually expressed in carats and decimals. A 1.05 ct. stone, for example, would be described as "one point oh five carats," or "one oh five." A diamond that weighs 0.65 ct. is said to weigh "sixty-five points," or a "sixty-five pointer."
Diamond weights are stated in metric carats, abbreviated "ct." One metric carat is just over seven thousandths (0.007) of an ounce. One ounce contains almost 142.00 carats. To put it in perspective, a small paper clip weighs about a carat (but costs significantly less).
The metric carat is divided into 100 points. A point is one hundredth of a carat. An easy way to remember this is to think of carats as dollars, and points as cents. They are even written the same way: The carat first, then a decimal point, and then the points: $1.38 means one dollar and 38 cents, while 1.38-ct. means one carat and 38 points.
Some weights are considered key weights or magic sizes (half carat, three-quarter carat, carat). By appearance alone, it would be difficult to tell the difference between a 0.99 ct. diamond and one that weighs a full carat. But the price differences between the two can be rather significant.
A diamond ring weighing 1TCW, or one full carat, that is composed of 10 small diamonds will cost less than a 1TCW ring with a single diamond. This is often a difficult concept to explain. People know that a pound of coffee costs about twice as much as a half pound of coffee. So it is not easy to explain why a 2.00ct. diamond might be worth much more than twice the value of a 1.00ct. diamond of similar clarity, cut and color.
Diamonds of jewelry quality are still relatively rare. And large diamonds are rarer than small diamonds. The scarcer a diamond is, the greater its worth. So a larger stone doesn't just cost more. It also costs more per carat.
Plus, there are three other factors that contribute to the diamonds price (color, cut and clarity). And although carat weight is important, like the other three Cs, no one of them is automatically more important than the others. They all have to be factored in together in assessing the true value of a diamond.
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Click to Read about Clarity >> |
