by
Carl Hampton
10/09/2006
Your mother wants a 24 karat gold ring,
your brother would like a pair of 5 carat
princess cut diamond earrings. Did you know
there was a difference between karats and
carats?
Carat is the term used for the measurement
of gemstones and Karats is the term used for
the weight of gold. The first part is easy,
the higher the carat or karat, the higher
the portion of the gold or gem you are
getting with means the more you pay.
Gold is really simple to understand, the
higher the Karat value the more gold you
get. If you purchase a 24 karat ring it will
have more gold content than a 14 karat gold
ring. However you should think about the use
of the item before buying. If it is
something that will get a lot of wear and
tear maybe you should be thinking of buying
a 14 karat item where the gold is a usually
mixed with other metals to create hardness.
As for gems and diamonds, they can be mined
naturally, created in a laboratory, or
imitated. The stones that are created in a
laboratory look almost identical to those
that are natural. T he naturally mined
stones can come treated or untreated. If the
mined stone is treated, it can affect the
appearance and some treatments are permanent
and could require special care. The main
difference between the laboratory and
natural stone is that the laboratory created
stones are normally a lot less expensive.
Diamonds have their own set of vocabulary.
In the diamond world there are the 4 C's:
cut, color, clarity, and carat. The
“cut” would seem obvious but it also
refers to the size, angle, and polish. The
“color” is sometimes on a scale that is
graded and these can be confusing. Clarity
is very simple to understand, it refers to
whether the stone is flawed or not. If you
can see scratches on the inside or outside
then it's clarity is not that good. Finally
we get to what we know the most about and that's
the carat value of the gem. Carats is the
weight of the stone and can be described in
either decimal or fractional parts.
Your mother knew best and she didn't lie to
you when she told you to shop around for the
best deal. You should always compare prices,
quality and ultimately customer service
(i.e. warranty, insurance, etc.). The retail
mark up price on Gold and Diamonds is never
less than 400% so never buy at the marked
price. Offer half the marked price, be nice
but walk away if you don't get what you
want, most of the time they will come down
to where you want them. Inquire about the
refund and return policy before you purchase
anything. When ordering on line, print out
everything. You can also check the status of
a company with the Better Business Bureau.
Have an opinion or a question you would like
me to answer, then write me!
http://www.CarlHampton.com
