Diamond Carat Weight
A diamond's weight is the simplest of its characteristics to measure and is used to calculate one aspect of a diamond's value. The word "carat" is derived from the "carob" bean, which was first used to determine a diamonds weight. One carat is a unit of measure; equal to a fifth of a gram (Note: One-fifth of a gram of gold is equal in weight to a one carat stone, a 5 carat diamond is equal to 1 gram.). Each carat is divided into 100 points. For example, think of a dollar, having 100 cents or parts, i.e. quarter carat (0.25ct.) has 25 points, a half a carat (0.50ct.) has 50 points and a 1.00 carat has 100 points.

A larger diamond is more valuable simply because it is found less frequently in nature than a smaller diamond. As it is more rare, the price per carat increases as the diamond gets larger, however, carat weight has no bearing on diamond color, clarity, or cut.

Select a carat value to view:
1/4
1/2
3/4
1
1 1/4
1 1/2
2