The Diamond Guide
Diamond Carat
Carat is weight. One carat is 200 milligrams, so a five carat stone weighs a single gram. The word comes from the carob seed, which the ancient trade used as a counterweight because the seeds were so consistent.
Points
Smaller stones are quoted in points. One carat is one hundred points, so a ten point diamond is 0.10 carats. You will hear both on the same afternoon.
Price does not climb in a straight line
It climbs in steps, and the steps land on the round numbers. A stone just under one carat and a stone just over it can differ in price far more than they differ in weight, because the market treats one carat as a threshold.
That gap is the single easiest place to save money without anyone seeing the difference.
The practical move
Buy at the top of a bracket rather than the bottom of the next one. A 0.90 carat stone next to a 1.00 carat stone is a difference measured in fractions of a millimetre across the top, and a difference in price that is not fractional at all.
Cut affects apparent size too. A well proportioned stone carries its weight across the top, where you see it, instead of hiding it in a deep pavilion.
See it for yourself.
Albert goes through the stone and the grading report with you, under magnification, before anything is decided. By appointment, downtown Toronto.
Request Appointment