"Light carat" ?

[Noony]

I'm a newbie so please excuse me if this has been asked already or seems like a stupid question. If a half carat is between .43 - .50, 3/4ths is .69 - .75 and one carat between .93 - 1.00 then what group does a .858 carat diamond fall in? My diamond is this size and I was just curious.

 

[Niel]

Where are these numbers coming from? A 1 ct stone is 1 ct. A .85 ct stone is considered .85.

It's misleading to call something a rounded up ctw.

I would say a diamond is whatever carat it is

 

[lapelirroja]

I think some mall stores do this sort of rounding if you read the fine print.

Here is an example from Kay. http://www.kay.com/en/kaystore/enga...k-white-gold-ring/100006/100006.100008.100015

The certified stones we recommend purchasing on this site all are measured/graded for their exact carat weights and other characteristics.

Edited to add: Diamonds falling just under the major carat weights are great buys as they do not come with the large premiums that come with each jump in the numbers.

 

[John P]

Traders sometimes use the term light-carat for diamonds in the 0.90-0.99ct range and light-half for 0.46-0.49ct. A retailer might call and ask me: "I'm looking for a light-carat near G-VS, what do you have?" It's not a term I use with consumers, but it does exist in the diamond trade lexicon.

 

[rubybeth]

I would not describe a .85 as a light carat. A light carat, to my mind, would be very close to a full carat, like .95 or greater. If you are getting nosy questions about the size, I'd give them the millimeter measurements, like "It's about 6mm" or something. They can figure it out.

 

[John P]

what group does a .858 carat diamond fall in?

0.80-0.89 is a bit of no-man's land. Here is why: Pointers (diamonds under 1.00ct) fall into different pricing categories. There are pricing bumps at 0.50, 0.70 and 0.90. Thus, when a dealer asks what's available in "half" the supplier looks for 0.50ct, but it's not unusual to also present options up to 0.69ct because they fall into that basic pricing rubric. In the same way, when a dealer asks "what do you have in "three-quarters?" a supplier will often present options from 0.70-0.89, since they're all in-range before the next published price-jump.

So, while 0.85 is not a "light-carat" it seems disingenuous to label it as "three-quarters." In any specific case I would refer to an 0.858 carat diamond as "85-points."

 

[Mayk]

Traders sometimes use the term light-carat for diamonds in the 0.90-0.99ct range and light-half for 0.46-0.49ct. A retailer might call and ask me: "I'm looking for a light-carat near G-VS, what do you have?" It's not a term I use with consumers, but it does exist in the diamond trade lexicon.

Learned something new today!

 

[Noony]

I agree rubybeth. I just labeled my thread "light carat" based on the terminology I've heard used.
I wouldn't consider my diamond a full carat but it's further away from 3/4ths than .90 for example.
I'm not good at judging sizes by sight but I might assume my .85 carat diamond looks a little larger than someone else's exact 3/4th carat.

John, thanks. I think I will just refer to my diamond as an 85 point one for close family and friends who are genuinely curious about the size.

 

[Noony]

Just for reference, here's a pic of my Whiteflash ACA .858 I color diamond and 18 karat gold "keystone" semi bezel setting.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

It's a beautiful ring, just perfect. I would say it's "85 points" or if you want a fraction the closest is "7/8ths of a carat".

 

[John P]

You might let it speak for itself. A diamond's cut quality influences size perception. Diamonds which remain bright edge-to-edge in many lighting conditions will appear larger than heavier diamonds which don't.


(Photo credit: Garry Holloway)

It may be fun, when asked, to let people guess about yours. I have a 76 pointer in my wedding band which people regularly estimate to be 1.00ct, even diamond professionals.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Back in the 1990's a store manager for a very large national jewelry chain told me that by calling the home office and ordering 1/2 carat range rounds at the higher end (0.52-0.57 ct) (set in solitaire engagement rings) he would out-sell every other store in the mall because his "larger" half carats sold for the same price as the light half carats. The consumer got more for their money. The exact diamond weights were stamped inside the shank of the ring. Personally I am against size "ranges" used by retailers on solitaire diamond rings. It's not a fair or equitable situation. As John stated, the trade does use terms that the consumer may not know.

 

[Dancing Fire]

I refer my wife's .85ct ACA as a "HEAVY" 3/4 ct..