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| Find out more about Sizes |
| Home » Education » Find out more about Sizes |
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CARAT
Carat weight is not a factor, which denotes diamond quality. It purely denotes the size of a diamond, by its weight. Obviously it also affects the value or price of a diamond, because consumers tend to prefer bigger rather than smaller diamonds. Large diamonds are also more rare than small diamonds. Because there is higher demand and lower supply for large diamonds, they command higher prices.
Often people talk about the size of diamonds. Although commonly thought to refer to the actual size of a diamond, a carat is actually a standard unit of measure that defines the weight of a diamond. One carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams. Carat sizes are also expressed as "points", with a one carat diamond equaling 100 points, a one-half carat diamond being 50 points, a three-quarter carat diamond being 75 points, and so on
Larger diamonds are much more rare than smaller ones. In fact, hundreds of tons of rock and ore must be processed to uncover a single one-carat gem quality diamond, and less than one percent of all women will ever own a one- carat or larger diamond. Since a carat is a unit of measure and not size, two diamonds of the same carat weight may appear to be different sizes depending on how the diamond is cut. Some diamonds will have extra weight on the bottom part (or pavilion) of the stone, and therefore appear smaller. A perfectly cut diamond will appear larger than many diamonds of a heavier carat weight. It is not always easy to establish the weight of a mounted diamond, it would need to be removed from its mount, and then reset, which always involves some slight risk, not to mention time and expense.
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