Ever Wondered What a Carat Is?

When it comes to the subject of diamond engagement rings and other products made using the special stones, most people have heard of carats.

This is a measure that is used by jewellers across the world and is often discussed by those buying and selling the items.

However, you may be among the many individuals who do not understand what this term actually means.

Many are under the misapprehension that is has something to do with the quality of the diamond earrings, loose cut diamonds and other such products.

This is not the case. In fact, it refers to the weight of the precious gems.

A carat is equal to 0.2 grams. Therefore diamonds weighing 0.6 grams would be described as a three carat stone.

The word itself can be confusing for some, as in pronunciation – although not in spelling – it brings to mind that familiar orange vegetable so loved by Bugs Bunny.

However, the term in fact derives from the carob seeds that were originally used to measure the weight of the objects.

So successful was the method that it only went out of fashion when the system was standardised at the beginning of the 20th century.

Next time you hear the word carat in relation to diamonds, you can rest assured you know exactly what it means. You may therefore feel more comfortable when browsing jewellery in shops and online.

And who knows, the knowledge may also come in useful if you are a fan of pub quizzes!

Link To Us:

If you want to link to this blog, copy and paste the following HTML code to your website.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 at 11:04 am.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed.



Leave a Reply