Carat
Carat, last but not least, is also the important factor to consider when you purchase diamonds. Carat is the weight of the diamond, not to be wrong with the size which is measured in millimeters. One carat of diamond weighs 200 milligrams or 0.2grams. Diamond weighs under one carat are usually measured in point. One carat is equal to ‘100’ points. Most jewelers may describe carat by its point alone. For example, a 0.75 carat diamond is termed as 75 points diamond or 75-pointer. Keep in mind that diamond carat is not related to Karat of gold (like 18K gold) which refers to gold purity.
Diamonds with higher carat weights are cut from larger stones that are harder to find in nature than small ones. So, the relationship between carat weight and price depends on the rarity or availability of a rough stone. However, carat weight alone does not determine diamond value. The overall appearance and brilliance should carry more importance. Two diamonds of equal weight can have very different values depending on the quality of clarity, color and cut. For example, a mediocre 1.0 Carat diamond will not shine as brilliant as a well-cut colorless 1.0 Carat diamond, hence the mediocre diamond will be less expensive than the well-cut diamond even though they have the same carat weight.
How carat system started?
The term ‘Carat” is actually named after the seeds of carob tree. The ancient jewelers used them to weigh against precious metals and stones as they believed these carob seeds have little variance or fairly uniform in weight. The modern metric carat, equal to 200 mg or 0.2 g, was standardized in 1907 at the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures, soon afterwards adopted by all countries around the world.