Carat Weight

A Carat is the unit used to measure the weight of a diamond and it equals one fifth of a gram. Each carat is divided into 100 points. Therefore, a 75 point diamond is equal to a 3/4 carat diamond. Diamonds of the same carat weight can be valued differently because the remaining 3Cs also play a role in determining the value of a diamond.

How did the carat system start?  The carat, the standard unit of weight for diamonds and other gemstones, takes its name from the carob seed. Because these small seeds had a fairly uniform weight, early gem traders used them as counterweights in their balance scales. The modern metric carat, equal to 0.2 grams, was adopted by the United States in 1913 and other countries soon after. Today, a carat weighs exactly the same in every corner of the world.