When acquiring a piece of fine jewelry or high jewelry, the carats of the gold and the gemstones that make it up should always be taken into account. Any piece of jewelry is always associated with the expression “18 Kt gold”, and in the case of diamonds and gems, it is always said “this diamond is X carats”. The belief that the more carats a jewel has, the better it is, is widespread, but do we really know what a carat is in jewelry?
The origin of the word carat comes from the ancient Greek term “karat”, which is the name of the carob seed used in antiquity to weigh precious stones and jewels due to its uniform size and weight. This unit served to indicate the amount of precious metal a jewel contained, i.e., gold. Later, the Arabs adopted this unit of measurement, adapting its name to quirat, which was then adapted into Spanish as quilate or kilate.
What does carat mean in jewelry?
The word carat has two different definitions and uses in jewelry.
- Carat as a unit of mass: It is used to weigh gems and pearls; its abbreviation is ct. This is the unit of measurement primarily used to define the weight of diamonds and is equivalent to 0.20 grams. In the scale included below, you can clearly see how the weight of a diamond influences its size.
- When choosing a diamond, the 4 Cs must always be taken into account; among them, weight is a very important value, as well as its cut, color, and clarity. At MUMIT, we are specialists in diamonds, offering a personalized advisory service to facilitate the choice of the perfect diamond.
- Carat as a unit of purity: In this case, the carat is used to measure the purity of the gold that forms the jewel; its abbreviation is Kt. The gold used in jewelry is always obtained through its alloy with other metals, which is why it is very important to consider its purity when acquiring a jewel. There is pure gold, 24 Kt, meaning it has not been mixed with other metals. This type of gold is not usually used in jewelry because it is more malleable and its color is much more intense.
In jewelry, gold is mixed with other metals to achieve the perfect balance between hardness, aesthetics, and quality; this is 18 Kt gold. 18-carat gold, also known as sterling gold, is gold in which 18 parts out of 24 are pure gold, making it the highest quality and most valuable gold in jewelry. All MUMIT jewelry is made of 18 Kt gold.
There are three types of gold in jewelry: white gold, rose gold, and 18 Kt yellow gold. Yellow gold is the closest to pure gold in its natural state; rose gold is an alloy with copper and other metals that give it that beautiful pink/reddish hue; and white gold is obtained through an alloy with palladium and other metals. At MUMIT, we work with all three types of gold; in fact, all our designs are available in 18 Kt white, rose, and yellow gold.
Lately, the use of 9 Kt gold, also known as “low gold,” has become popular in low-quality jewelry, which we discuss in the post what is the difference between jewelry and costume jewelry. This type of gold means that only 9 parts out of 24 are gold, resulting in a metal with a faded and unattractive color, reducing its useful life. Over time, this type of gold usually loses its color, revealing a metal very similar to that used in costume jewelry, whose price and quality are much lower than 18 Kt gold.
At MUMIT, you will always find quality jewelry pieces. We are jewelry manufacturers specializing in diamonds, so all our pieces are made of 18 Kt gold, rigorously complying with the highest quality standards in the market.
