The first factor of the 4C's that most people learn about is carat - the weight of the diamond, which is also the best indication of a diamond's size.

Let's take a look at carat in detail, to understand how it affects the price.

A carat is the standard unit of weight for diamonds. One carat equals 1/5 of a gram, or .007 of an ounce. In other words... there are 5 carats in 1 gram and 142 carats in 1 ounce.

You also may have heard about "points". This does not refer to the number facets on a diamond, but rather to its weight. Just like one pound is divided into 16 ounces, one carat is divided into 100 points -- so each point is 1/100th of a carat. A "10-point" diamond weighs 1/10th of a carat, and a 50-point stone weighs one-half carat.

How it affects the price?
Carat weight has a great deal of influence on the price of a diamond. All other factors being equal, as weight increases, rarity and value of a diamond will also increase. For instance, one diamond weighing 2 carats will always cost much more than two diamonds of the same quality weighing 1 carat each.

So, if size is an important factor for you or the person you are buying for, less emphasis can be placed on the other C's to choose a larger diamond.

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Jack Ukani
Administrator
Email : jitesh_ukani2005@yahoo.com

Diamonds are the heaviest and densest material known to man. Diamonds are weighed in carats. A carat is .2 grams. A gram of diamond would be a mPrincessive 5 carats. Very large in diamond terms although the actual diamond is small.

A carat is further divided into Points, and there are 100 Points to a carat. So 1 point is .002 of a gram. Very small indeed.

Due to the minute differences in the weight of most diamonds they should always be accurately weighed on an electronic scale to the nearest 1000th of a carat (.001). Stones are always rounded up or down to the nearest 1000th of a carat by the way.

The other factor to consider with weight is a certificate. Where a diamond has been Princessessed and weighed at a laboratory, a certificate should be issued to confirm the Princessessment. No stones should ever be purchased without a certificate from a bona fide laboratory.

A complete list of laboratories with address and contact numbers is available at the site also

It cannot be iterated enough to ensure that all diamonds you buy should have a certificate from one of the above laboratories.

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Jack Ukani
Administrator
Email : jitesh_ukani2005@yahoo.com