Did you know... a carat — not carrot — is a unit used to measure the weight of a precious stone. “Carat” is derived from “carob.” The carob tree produces seeds that are uniquely uniform in size and weight, which made it useful for olden-time traders when weighing gemstones on scales.
One carat is equal to 0.2 gram and five carats equals 1 gram. While a carat was used to measure precious stones such as diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald, today it is commonly used in the sale of semi-precious stones as well (for an example of a semi-precious stone, see the beautiful rhodolite garnet pictured above).
This is different from a karat, which is a measure of the purity of gold.
Carats measure stones, Karats measure gold.
- 24k gold is also called pure gold or 100 percent gold. This means that all 24 parts in the gold are pure, without traces of other metals. It is known to be 99.9 percent pure and takes on a distinct bright yellow color. There is no higher form of gold than 24K, so beware of anyone claiming to sell 25K or 26K gold.
- Learn more about gold purity in the Gold Purity Guide here.