Diamond Carat Weight

A diamond's Carat value is one of the Four Cs, the four most important factors that determine the price of a stone.

What Is A Carat?

Carat's are a measure of the mass and hence weight of a diamond - in effect, the larger the stone the more carats it will contain. Note though that because of the wide variety of cuts it's possible for a diamond that at first seems larger than another to actually weigh less. If you buy a piece of jewelry such as a necklace or ring that contains many diamonds it's common for the total carat weight (cttw) of all the stones to be given, perhaps as well as the individual weights of the most important stones.

A carat is a very small unit of weight indeed. One carat (1 ct) is equal to 200 milligrams. That's approximately seven thousandths of an ounce!

Carats vs Karats

It's important not to confuse diamond carats - a measure of weight - with gold karats, which are a measure of purity. The two measurements have nothing in common other than confusingly similar names.