Diamond carat weight is the measurement of how much a diamond weighs. A metric “carat” is defined as 200 milligrams. Each carat can be subdivided into 100 ‘points.’ This allows very precise measurements to the hundredth decimal place.

Prior to the twentieth century, diamonds were measured using carob seeds, which were small and uniform and served as a perfect counter weight to the diamond. The word “carob” is the origin of the word “carat” that we use today.

A diamantaire may describe the weight of a diamond below one carat by its ‘points’ alone. For instance, the diamantaire may refer to a diamond that weighs 0.25 carats as a ‘twenty-five pointer.’ Diamond weights greater than one carat are expressed in carats and decimals. A 1.08 carat stone would be described as ‘one pointzero eight carats’.

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GIA CARAT WEIGHT