What is a Carat anyways?
Carat: A carat is a unit for measuring the weight of jewels (such as diamonds) that is equal to 200 milligrams.
Before the invention of scales and a system for weighing things, a portion of civilization including Italy and Greece used carob seeds (similar to the cocoa bean) to weigh herbs, grains, jewels, etc. Carob was abundant and inexpensive and everyone carried small bags of carob seeds to verify measurement of times. The belief was that ALL carob seeds were identical in weight making merchants more honest and customers being able to verify the products weight. Over time the term form measurement became known as a carat. For example, if a merchant was selling 100 "carats" of coffee the customer would be able to pull out their own bag of 100 carob seeds and and compare the weight of the coffee to their bag of carob seeds verifying it's authenticity.
Most countries had a slightly different weight associated with a "carat" and in 1570, the jewelry industry agreed upon a standardized weight for a carat which is 200 milligrams.
Diamonds and Carats
We are often asked, "How many carats should my diamond be?". The only true answer is that it's up to the customer. There is no recommended size of a diamond. Some woman like a big diamond to show status, other woman prefer smaller diamonds that look good on their finger but aren't too big. Remember Goldilocks and the 3 bears? The same is true for diamonds. You really have to look at some diamonds in person and go from there.
The bigger a diamond is, the more it costs. When a rough diamond is mined out of the earth, it must go through a rigorous refining and cutting to develop it into a beautiful functional diamond. Below are some industry statistics regarding the average weight of rough diamonds to becoming finished diamonds that may surprise you.
- On average a 0.97 carat finished diamond started out as a piece of diamond rough weighing 3.24 carats.
- About 1 ton (2240 pounds) of earth must be moved to mine 1 carat of loose diamonds.
When we can see the amount of labor that has gone in to create a product we can start to understand it's price. We you begin to see the process of how diamonds are mined, that diamonds are usually cut by master craftsmen, and diamonds are a highly traded commodity, the value of a diamond becomes more clear.
At Motek Diamonds we strive to provide the BEST customer experience in engagement rings and wedding bands. We keep our prices low and customers satisfied which we believe has made Motek Diamonds Dallas' premier destination for engagement rings, wedding bands, and wholesale loose diamonds. Visit us at www.motekdiamonds.com