Ever wondered what the difference between carat and karat when buying jewellery. Many individuals would have ignored understanding the difference between carat and karat, though, one must admit that it is of some relevance.
Both the words are used as unit of measurement in jewellery. However, both are pronounced in same way even when they are spelled differently.
Both the terms are very different when it comes to measurement in jewellery. Now, let us understand what is karat and carat and what is the difference between them.
Karat
Karat is a type of measurement used in measuring gold purity and 24 karat is the purest form of gold. Gold which is a soft metal is mixed with other metals, like copper or silver, to form an alloy such as 22 karat and 18 karat so that it can be used to make jewellery.
In India, 22 karat is more preferred when it comes to jewellery and 24 karat when buying coins and bars. Whereas in other countries, 18 karat gold is available. Gold which falls below 10 karat is not considered as gold.
In counties like United States karat is written as "K." In other countries, "karat" is also written as a "C."
Carat
A carat is a unit of mass used for measuring weight for diamonds or other gemstones. While, one carat is equal to 200 milligrams, which implies that carat is one-fifth of a gram or 200 mg.
It is important to note that small weighing diamonds are ususally expressed in terms of points, not carats, where 100 points = 1 carat.
Say for example, a carat if divided into 100 points. If a diamond is half a carat, then it is called a 50 pointer.
Usually, diamonds are engraved in 18k gold as it is hardened by adding other metals.
Carats usually are denoted as "Ct". We can say that a ring is having a 1 Ct.
However, in many countries "karat and "carat" are used almost used interchangeably.
Source : goodreturns.com, Sneha
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