| Many people equate the term carat with the size | | | | brilliance and scintillation. You may be tempted to |
| of a diamond, and as carat size increases, so will | | | | purchase a stone that’s cut flatter so that |
| the carat weight. But the operative word there is | | | | you can have the appearance of a larger, or |
| weight. Carat refers to the weight of a diamond | | | | heavier stone. But a diamond that’s cut too |
| and is equal to roughly 200 milligrams which is less | | | | flat will have too little brilliance and can look cloudy. |
| than a ¼ of an ounce. A carat can also be | | | | Carat weight is important, but there’s no |
| broken up into 100 points. So ¾ of a carat is | | | | point to sacrificing other qualities that make a |
| also 75 points. | | | | diamond special so you can say you have a |
| The heavier in carat weight a diamond is, the | | | | two-carat stone. A beautiful one-carat diamond, |
| rarer it becomes. Prices of diamond increase | | | | with outstanding brilliance and scintillation is going to |
| exponentially with the weight of the diamond, so | | | | be the better choice, from both a personal |
| a one-carat diamond will cost much more than | | | | standpoint and an investment standpoint. |
| two ½-carat diamonds, given that other | | | | A smaller diamond can always be enhanced with |
| qualities, such as color and clarity, are equal. | | | | baguettes, trillians or smaller same-shape stones |
| The cutting of a diamond can impact the size of | | | | on either size. As we stated earlier, two smaller |
| it, so depending on how their cut, two one-carat | | | | stones won’t cost as much as an |
| diamonds can look unequal. If a stone is cut | | | | equally-weighted single stone, so you can increase |
| flatter, then it will appear bigger, while a deeper | | | | the importance of the ring you’re buying |
| cut stone will be smaller, but may have more | | | | without doubling your cost. |