If you have ever looked for diamond jewelry online, especially engagement rings, you might have come across terminologies like carat weight, color, clarity, cut, and the acronym "CTW." The abbreviation can be applied in many other contexts, but it refers to the "Total Carat Weight in diamonds or gemstones."
What Does CTW Mean?
The carat total weight is the metric used to determine diamonds' cumulative or total weight in a particular diamond piece. In most cases, the total weight carat can be abbreviated as CTTW, spaced as CT TW in some engagement rings. TW represents the "total weight" of all diamonds in specific jewelry. CT is the abbreviation for "carat," a common unit used to determine the weight of precious stones such as diamonds.
The Difference Between Carat Total Weight (CTW) and Carat (CT)?
Most people, especially first-time diamond buyers, confuse total carat weight and carat weight and tend to use the terms interchangeably. Although they are related, they are completely different numbers.
The diamond carat weight measures how much a specific or a single diamond weighs. One metric carat has an exact weight of 0.2 grams or 200 milligrams. It shows the independent weights of the center stone and that of the loose diamond. In contrast, the total carat weight shows the total mass of all diamonds in a certain jewel. It is the sum of all carat weights of diamonds in a piece of jewelry.
If a diamond contains only one center stone, the carat weight will be equal to the total carat weight. What about a diamond with the center stone and other ring features, like the lotus basket pave engagement ring? If the center stone has 1 carat round and the small round diamond ring features have 0.25 carats, the CTW will be the carat weight of the center stone plus that of the ring features, that is 1 + 0.25 =1.25 carats.
Conclusion
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