How Important is Carat

Most people think carat is the size of a diamond, and who doesn’t want the biggest? Carat is one of the 4 C’s which are a mnemonic device used to characterize a faceted diamond’s quality – carat, clarity, color, and cut! Today, I’m going to talk about the C that most people are concerned with, carat!

Interestingly, carat is actually a unit of weight and not a measurement of dimensions, although, the larger the carat weight, the larger the diamond will be. The term carat is derived from the Greek work kerátion which means “fruit of the carob.” In the 1500’s, the middle east starting using carob seeds as a standard of weight for both gemstones and gold. Today, one carat is fixed at as standard weight of 0.20 gram.

These are some common abbreviations for carat:

· CT - You have probably already figured out that ‘ct’ or ‘cts’ is the shortened version of the word carat, as in 0.50ct. It is only used to describe the weight of a single diamond or gemstone.

· TWT - ‘Twt’ is the shortened version of the term carats total weight. For example, if I am referring to a single diamond, I would write 1.25ct, but if I am referring to multiple diamonds, I would write 1.25twt. This means that when I add up the weight of all the diamonds in the jewelry piece, their cumulative weight is 1.25 carats total weight!

So, how much is this going to cost me? Natural diamonds aren’t priced incrementally, so a 1.00ct diamond is NOT the same price as two 0.50ct diamonds. Pricing on natural diamonds always comes down to two factors, desirability and rarity. Most diamonds mined are used for industrial purposes, which makes the ones used in jewelry only a small percentage of what is actually mined. Diamond pricing doesn’t just depend on carat weight but several other factors as well which we will talk about in my next few blogs!

Do you need help with picking the right diamond? I would love to help you with your diamond jewelry needs! Angela Cisneros Jewelry Concierge brings back the joy and confidence of jewelry shopping, so that you can celebrate with ease! My by-appointment approach means:

One-on-one appointments (personal attention and no crowds!)
Discretion and privacy (surprises remain surprises!)
Expert help from a Graduate Gemologist with 27 years of experience (yep, that’s me!)

Learn more about me and my process: www.AngelaCisneros.com

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