Addressing a diamond as having 4 grains signifies it is a one carat diamond. The word Carat originates from the word carob. A Carob is a plant (a bean in fact) that grows on trees that prosper in the Mediterranean. In old times had a diamond weighed similarly to a carob bean, its weight was one carob i.e. 1 carat.

Nevertheless in the far east, a place where Carob trees didn’t prosper, rice was the mean to measure the weight of a given diamond. Under that system, had a diamond weighed the same quantity as four grains of rice, then four grains signified 1 carat the way we know it now. Most of the diamond purchases are for diamonds whom weight is about a third of a carat.

Knowing what I just told you, avoid buying diamonds that were arranged or mounted. In case there are at least two diamonds joined in the same piece, the label attached to the jewelry will give the CTW i.e. Carat Total Weight of each diamond in the piece. Hence you should ask the jeweler for exact carat weight of the biggest diamond in the piece to fully understand what you are purchasing.

There is plenty of work that is made before a diamond is offered for sale to the general public. For every 1,000,000 diamonds that are taken out of the mines just one will be located whose quality is of one caret diamond. In order to locate a 2 caret diamond nearly 5,000,000 diamonds have be mined!

At least 200 tons of ore have to be mined to locate one little diamond. But that’s not enough: less than 20% of the diamonds that are mined are good for jewelry use.

Hence, the next time you enter your local jewelry store request your seller to see the one carat diamonds.  I hope you will consider these diamonds with greater appreciation, since it is really one of a million.