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Determining Carat Weight

by Dale Armstrong
Question:

I grind and polish my own stones from rough slab pieces. How do I determine the carat weight of a finished stone?

-Pamela in Plaistow, New Hampshire
Instructions
Answer:

Hi Pam, the easiest way to determine the carat or gram weight of a single stone is to use a small Digital Scale.

I personally own a small Digital Gemstone Scale and have been using it for about 10 years with no challenges.

Most scale choices have modes that will weigh in either carats, grams, ounces and pennyweight (dwt).
Dale Armstrong's Determining Carat Weight - , General Education, Tools, Selling, , Scale
Carat: Primarily used for gemstones. One carat equals 200 milligrams (0.2 grams). This is the standard measure for diamonds, sapphires, amethysts, lapis lazuli, and other precious/semi-precious stones.

Gram: Commonly used for weighing metals and larger semi-precious stones or cabochons. Jewelry pieces, especially those made of precious metals like gold or silver, are often measured in grams to describe metal content (e.g., a ring made with 5 grams of 18kt gold).

Pennyweight (dwt): An older unit mainly used in the precious metals industry, especially for gold and silver. One pennyweight equals 1.555 grams. It originated in England and was based on the weight of a penny coin, which is a fun historical tidbit!

Thanks for linking the Wikipedia article pennyweight is a fascinating measure with an interesting backstory! Are you weighing metals or stones for a project right now?

Here's another bit of information: when spelling, Karat is used with relation to the purity of metals, and Carat it refers to gemstone weight.

For more scales, please check out these choices on JewelryTools.com! Jewelry Scales

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong
Dale Armstrong's Determining Carat Weight - , General Education, Tools, Selling, , Scale
Dale Armstrong's Determining Carat Weight - , General Education, Tools, Selling, , Tiny scale

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  • Category: General Education
  • Technique(s): Tools, Selling, General Education

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