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When purchasing jewelry, you'll likely come across the term "carat" — a key factor in a gemstone's value, as higher carat weights often mean higher prices.
A carat (ct) is a unit of mass used to measure the physical weight of gemstones, particularly diamonds.
The term carat originates from the Arabic word "qīrāṭ" and the Greek "keration," both referring to carob beans, historically used as a standard for small weights.
The modern metric carat, adopted in 1907, equals 200 mg and is divided into 100 points. Historically, subdivisions and varied mass values existed across regions.
Meanwhile, karat, derived from the same root, measures gold purity, with one karat representing 1/24th pure gold in an alloy.
For instance, 14-karat gold is 14 parts gold and 10 parts other metals, while pure gold is 24 karats.