Carat Definition for Diamonds and Precious Stones
Many people do know about carats when it comes to diamonds. What they do not know about carats is how the measurement works. There are multitudes of carat sizes. Common diamond carat sizes people talk about for example are ½ carat, ¾ carat, and 1 carat. What most folks do not know is that a carat is carat weight. It is the measurement known as mass measurement of precious stones such as emeralds, rubies, and diamonds. A one carat weight diamond is 200-milligram. 2 mg or 0.01 carat is a unit point measurement of one-hundredth of a carat. A diamond price goes up when the carat weight increases, unless there are other factors impacting the value. Rare diamonds the are bigger ones and they are viewed as worth more and normally cost dramatically more.
When a diamond size increases the price per carat does not increase in a mathematical linear way. Diamond prices go up markedly for each increase in carat weight in the marketplace and has done so historically. Market demand is dramatically more for diamonds with larger carat weights as opposed to diamonds with measured lower carat weight. Consider the cost per carat of 1.75 carat diamond compared to the cost per carat of a 2.00 carat weight diamond and you will the price per carat is far lower for the smaller diamond. This fact is caused by the fact that market demand is way less for smaller diamonds than it is for similar grade bigger diamonds.
The Diamond Industry Facts
The Rapaport Group of New York publishes the Rapaport Diamond Report each week. It is a price list for diamonds for featured segmented diamond cuts, clarity, carat weights. It is viewed by the industry as the standard bearer for baseline retail prices of diamonds. It is found on a wide basis that jewelers buy and sell diamonds at prices they negotiate from the prices featured on the weekly Rapaport Diamond Report.
Carat is the commonly used diamond lot denomination for diamond lots for sale when gem diamonds are traded on a wholesale basis. Wholesale diamond buyers may want to purchase diamonds in lots of 100 carats of 0.5-carat D-F VS2-SI1, top level cut diamonds, demonstrating a desire to buy 200 diamonds with those listed quality levels. Due to these factors, the prices of diamonds are mostly price listed for buyers per carat instead of by the stone.
The description employed to provide a unit of measurement for diamond total mass or for any other gemstone in a jewelry piece is total carat weight (t.c.w.) when the piece features several gemstones. The total carat weight (t.c.w) for diamond solitaire earrings is normally included in the description for them when they are for sale. The (t.c.w.) description provides the diamond mass of the earring set, instead of listing the individual carat size of each diamond. Diamond bracelets and diamond necklaces are listed for sale with their total carat weight.
