For those of us less familiar with the world of diamonds, no doubt when you have been shopping for a diamond you have heard the word carat being used. Before anybody cracks the joke, no I am not referring in this case to the little pointy orange things that come out of the ground that Rabbits eat!



The word Carat is used when considering and evaluating the worth of a diamond and it is also a word that is used to describe how much the diamond weighs. A single diamond carat is equal to the weight of 200 mg or .2 grams.

Diamonds are described two different ways in regards to the diamond carat. An abbreviation of ?ct? is used to describe the weight of a single diamond stone while an abbreviation of ?ct TW? is used when describing the total weight of an entire piece of jewelry- when it has more than one stone in place.

To complicate matters and confuse things even further it is important to recognize that two stones (diamonds that is) may have the exact same worth in carats meaning they weigh exactly the same but are completely different in appearance and size. This is actually due to the actual density of the gemstone itself. The greater the density of the stone head the heavier it will be and it is not unheard off to find a small stone weighing more than a larger stone because of its greater density

When selecting your diamond ring, you can choose between a single, solitaire style setting (a single diamond on the ring) and a setting that has multiple, smaller stones to make up the ring. The value of a solitaire one diamond carat will actually be more than if you buy a ring that has two diamonds that add up to one carat or greater. Larger sized diamonds are more rarely found when mining diamonds, making them more valuable and expensive than purchasing the same amount of diamond carats in smaller stones.

So how do you determine what size diamond to buy? Do you want a diamond carat of 1, or 2, or do you want a ring with multiple, smaller stones? The bottom line here as any gentleman with sophistication and style will tell you is that it depends upon the person who will be wearing the ring

A diamond will look larger on a slender finger, so keep that in mind if the recipient of the ring has thin hands. The actual diamond carat measurement is probably not as much of a concern as the appearance, shape, and setting of the ring. Particularly because a 1 carat diamond ring will not look half the size of a 2 diamond carat ring, it's far more important to select a ring that is pleasing to look at than it is to buy one with the most carats you can afford.

Determine how much money you have to spend, and then decide on the cut of the diamond. Once you have these two pieces of information narrowed down, you can start browsing the diamonds in your price range, in the style you want, and find out what diamond carat you are in the market to buy.

It isn't that hard once you start to investigate and depending upon the stone and indeed the recipient, it might turn out to be the best investment of your life.