A diamond’s carat weight is a part of the four c’s and is a determining factor in a diamond’s overall value. A carat is a unit of measurement that is used to describe the weight of diamonds. One carat equals 0.2 grams or 0.007 ounces, and five carats equal one gram. Carat weight is usually expressed in points or fractions. A 1.0- carat diamond contains 100 points, and 0.33 carats is expressed as 33 points or 1/3 of a diamond carat.

The points are not usually used to describe weights over one carat. The price of a diamond can be greatly affected by its carat weight, but the cut, color, and clarity of a diamond will also have an effect on its price. For example, a 0.50-carat diamond wit high color and clarity ratings may cost more than a 0.75-carat diamond with lower color and clarity ratings. However, each price range harbors a number of combinations of diamond carat weight and quality. For those who value size over quality, they might choose a 1.0-carat diamond with an “I” or “J” color rating and S12 clarity, and a good cut to get maximum size. On the other hand, if you value quality over size, you might choose a 0.75-carat diamond with an E or F color, and a “VS2” clarity with an ideal cut.       

Large diamonds are more rare in nature than smaller ones, so a diamond’s value increases exponentially with the carat weight. For instance, a 1.0-carat diamond will cost more than twice as much as a 0.50-carat diamond of comparable quality. A diamond with a carat size of 0.5 will cost around $1500 to $3000, whereas a 1.0-carat diamond will cost about $6500. Diamonds with 1.5-carats cost about $8500 to $26,000, while in comparison, a 2.0-carat diamond, which may cost around $13,000 to $26,000. However, there are many 3.0-carat diamonds that cost below $20,000, but their value may exceed $50,000, and 5.0-carat diamonds may exceed $100,000. As the diamond carat size increases, the diameter and the depth of the diamond increase, which explains why a 1.0-carat diamond does not look twice as big as a 0.50-carat diamond. The weight of a diamond is not an indication of its size. The width of the diamond will increase with its number of carats.

The minimum individual carat weight is defined as the minimum carat weight of one diamond in a piece of jewelry. If the total carat weight of a pair of diamond stud earrings is one-half-carat, then that weight of each diamond will be one-fourth carat. The price of a diamond per carat does not increase smoothly with increasing size. Instead there may be sharp jumps around milestone carat weights, because demand is much higher for diamonds weighing just more than a milestone than for those weighing just less. For example, a 0.95-carat diamond may have a lower price per carat than a 1.05-carat diamond, because of the difference in their demand.

The total carat weight (t.c.w) is used to describe the total mass of diamonds in a piece of jewelry. Diamond earrings are usually quoted in t.c.w when placed for sale, which indicates the mass of the diamonds in the earrings and each individual diamond. Total carat weight is also used for diamond necklaces, bracelets, and other similar jewelry pieces. Of course the rarity of a diamond is affected by its size. The rarity of a 1.0-carat diamond is much greater than twice that of a 0.5 carat. A 1.0-carat diamond only weighs twice as much as the 0.5-carat diamond, but it is much more difficult to mine.

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