How heavy is a karat?

Answer 1

a carat (abbreviated "ct.") and spelled with a "c" is a measure of weight used for gemstones. One carat is equal to 1/5 of a gram (200 milligrams). Stones are measured to the nearest hundredth of a carat. A hundredth of a carat is also called a point. Thus a 0.10 carat stone can be called either 10 points, or 1/10 of a carat. Small stones like 0.05, and 0.10 ct are most often referred to by point designations.

A one carat round diamond of average proportions is approximately 6.5mm in diameter. Note that this relationship of weight and size is different for each family of stones. For example ruby and sapphire are both heavier than diamond (technically, they have a higher specific gravity, so a 1 carat ruby or sapphire is smaller in size than a on carat diamond.

Note that karat with a "K" is a measure of the purity of a gold alloy.

Answer 2

A karat is a unit of measurement used to indicate the purity of gold. It is not a measure of weight, but rather a measure of the proportion of pure gold in an alloy. One karat is equal to 1/24 pure gold content, so a 24 karat gold piece is 100% pure gold.