The word carat refers to a weight when we're talking about diamonds, 1 carat is exactly 0.2 gram. It can be pretty confusing since gold in jewelry is also noted in carat, where the word refers to a unit of purity for gold alloys. The symbol for carat as a weight (such as in diamonds )  is “ a 1 ct diamond”, whereas in gold one refers to 24 kt, 18 kt, or 14 kt Gold. One carat diamond is divided in 100 points. A 0.50 ct diamond can also be referred to as a 50 points diamonds. A 0.30 ct diamond is 30 points etc.

Carat?

The word carat comes from the seed of the carob tree. Those seeds were used to measure weight in times of the Romans and Greeks. Still, today some people write "a carob diamond" for “a ct”. Some people also write “ a carot diamond”, but this refers to a vegetable of course ;).

Diamond carat and diamond prices

Prices for diamonds depend mostly on the “ 4C’s”, cut, color, clarity and carat. Diamond prices can go up or down depending on higher quality grades and weight. The price differences can go exponential up or down. For instance, the price of a 2 carat diamond is more than double the price of a 1 carat diamond of the same characteristics. A 3 carat diamond can be more than 50% pricier than a 2 carat diamond of the same grade. In the end prices will depend on market conditions.

As a ballpark figure an indicative price of a 2 ct diamond would be around 3 times the price of a 1 ct diamond. The price of a 3 ct diamond could be around double the price of a 2 ct diamond. Price differences between different carat weights tend to be bigger for better quality stones.

For more information about diamond carats and diamond prices you can always ask us for advice or information!