Diamond Buying Made Easier > Diamond Carat Weight
Diamond Carat Weight
Diamond carat weight is probably the easiest of the 4Cs to understand when we are buying diamonds... you put the loose (unmounted) diamond on a scale and write down the carat weight.... simple! But, you knew there had to be a but, do not confuse diamond carat weight with the physical size of a diamond.
You can generally trust diamond carat information, every country in the world has all kinds of rules about misrepresenting diamond carat weight. Modern electronic diamond carat weight scales are extremely accurate and inexpensive, so anyone buying or selling diamonds can accurately weigh a loose diamond.
However, you should pay close attention and make sure that the diamond you are buying expresses the diamond carat weight to the one hundredth of a carat.... meaning 2 places to the right of the decimal point, for example- 1.27ct. or 0.83ct.
I could go on and tell you about some nonsense about carob seeds but it's not really that important. Here are a couple of charts that help when referring to
diamond carat weight.
- Important Take Away Points -
Diamond Carat Weight
#1- Two round brilliant cut diamonds that have the exact same diamond carat weight (they weigh the same when placed on the diamond scale) but they could be very different in measurement of their diameters... one diamond could actually look and be physically smaller.
This has to do with how the diamond cutter has distributed the weight throughout the diamond.... in the Diamond Cut section I explain how a cutter can keep additional carat weight from the original diamond rough.
#2- When it comes to diamond buying there are some diamond carat weight ranges that can command higher prices for a diamond just because it close enough to a certain "magic" diamond carat weight.
For example, with a diamond that actually weighs 0.90ct. there is a jump in price because it is close enough in weight to be considered a one carat diamond.... although it actually does not weigh out at one carat yet... but it could be considered a "light 1 carat" diamond.
The diamond carat weight groups are as follows-
(0.23-0.29ct.) - 1/4 ct.
(0.30-0.37ct.) - 1/3 ct.
(0.38-0.45ct.) - 3/8 ct.
(0.46-0.49ct.) - Light 1/2 ct.
(0.50-0.69ct.) - 1/2 ct.
(0.70-0.89ct.) - 3/4 ct.
(0.90-0.99ct.) - Light 1.00 ct.
(1.00-1.49ct.) - 1.00 ct.+ (along with a jump at 1.25ct.)
(1.50-1.99ct.) - 1.50 ct.+ (along with a jump at 1.75ct.)
#3- If you don't know what a 0.45ct., a 0.75ct., or a 1.10ct. diamond looks like, go to a local jewelry store, they would be happy to show you for free.
You could ask a family member or coworker about the size of the diamond that they are wearing. Although.... it's not a good idea to go up to somebody on the street and ask them about the diamond
carat weight of their diamond ring... you might get hit on the head, tasered, or maced!
#4- All of the diamond carat weight in a piece of diamond jewelry can be added up to come up with a "total carat weight". For example, a "3 stone ring" could have a 0.34ct., a 0.37ct., and a 0.55ct. diamonds in it for a total carat weight of 1.26ctw. (there should be some indication that it is a total carat weight, expressed here as ctw.)
#5- Loose diamonds can be put on a diamond carat weight scale to determine the actual diamond carat weight but once a diamond has been mounted into a piece of diamond jewelry
that opportunity is no longer available.
In order to find the diamond carat weight of mounted diamonds... the diamond's carat weight must be estimated from its measurements. It's not very accurate (±10-15%) but you can't be taking diamonds out of their mountings in order to weigh them. It's always best to know the diamond carat weight, diamond clarity, and diamond color before any diamonds are set into a
mounting.
James Allen is a very interesting site because they have actual photos of the loose diamonds in their inventory!
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