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Having owned a fine jewelry store in Tucson for over a decade, I get asked many questions. None of them are dumb, I'm happy to educate. Gemstone and diamond jewelry buying is not easy, the smarter you are, the better decisions you will make. And frankly, I want you to make the best decisions possible, even if that means not acquiring anything. I've posted several new tools on my website to help you. For example, this explains the 4C's of diamonds.

I'm often asked, "is there a difference between karats and carats." This certainly can be confusing to consumers who do not use the terms on a regular basis.

The simple explanation is that one is a unit of pureness or fineness and the other is a unit of weight.

Karat is a the metric term used to define the measurement of purity or fineness of gold. A karat is divided into 24 measures, hence "24K" or 24 Karat gold is 100% pure gold.

Gold as a metal mined from the Earth is weak. A ring made of 24K gold is soft and could to easily be bent or crushed. This is why other metals, called alloys are added to the gold (while it is in liquid form) to give the metal enough strength to be used in fine jewelry. So 18K gold the gold is 75% pure gold and 25% alloy metals. These can be different mixtures of nickel, copper, zinc, silver, palladium, etc.

Most gold jewelry is 14K gold, meaning it is approximately 58% pure gold. Decades of testing and millions of consumers wearing their jewelry have proved 14K to be an excellent balance of metal strength and durability, color and precious metal value for consumer tastes.

Carat on the other hand, is the term used when measuring the weight of diamonds and gemstones. One carat (often depicted as 1.00ct) is 200 milligrams or in simpler terms one fifth of a gram. There are 453 grams in a pound. So if you happen weigh 150 pounds, that's over 340,000 carats!

Finally, carrot, according to Wikipedia (daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable, usually orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist. Carrots are a domesticated form of the wild carrot, Daucus carota, native to Europe and southwestern Asia. The plant probably originated in Persia and was originally cultivated for its leaves and seeds. The most commonly eaten part of the plant is the taproot, although the stems and leaves are eaten as well. The domestic carrot has been selectively bred for its greatly enlarged, more palatable, less woody-textured taproot.

Now, what questions do you have for me? It would be my pleasure to answer them and assist you with any diamond or jewelry needs. You can call me or simply schedule an appointment. And yes, I do accept trade-ins and buy old gold I'm a Private Jeweler and Tucson's full service jewelry store.