| The 4Cs of Diamonds
Carat
As with all precious stones, the weight of the diamond is expressed in carats (originating from a naturally occurring unit of weight: the seed of the carob tree). Diamonds were traditionally weighed against these seeds until the system was standardised. One carat is now fixed at a weight of 0.2 grams.
One carat is divided into 100 points. Therefore a diamond weighing 50 points is half a carat, 25 points a quarter of a carat and so on.
The larger diamonds are much rarer than their smaller counterparts. Indeed hundreds of tons of soil, rock and ore must be excavated in order to uncover a single one carat gem quality diamond, and less than 1% of all women will ever own a one carat of larger diamond. Size is the most obvious factor in determining the value of a diamond. But remember two diamonds of the same carat weight can have very different values, depending on the cut, colour and clarity so it is important that all four characteristics are taken into account.
Cut | Colour | Clarity | Carat |
