A CARAT'S WEIGHT IN VARIOUS LOCALITIES
The
weight of a carat is rated differently in various localities where the
diamond industry is important. On an average, the carat does not
differ in value much from the fifth of a gram of the metric system (200
milligrams), or about three and one sixth English grains.
The fractions of the carat used in weighing precious stones are 1/2, 1/3, 1/8 and
so on down to one sixty-fourth; this fraction of a carat of 205
milligrams is equal to 3.203 milligrams. The fourth part of a carat is
known as a grain; not a Troy weight grain, however, but a " pearl grain
"; although this is rarely used as a unit. In France 144 carats equal
one ounce. Efforts are continually being made to reconcile these
variations of weight in the use of the term " carat," and also to
substitute the gram of the metric system for the carat, and it is hoped
that eventually the weighing °f precious stones may be universally
standardised.
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