The abbreviation “CTW” can often be seen on diamond jewelry labels, but many people don’t know what these letters mean. Let’s see what CTW stands for and look more closely at how important this abbreviation is.
What Does CTW Mean in Diamond Jewelry?
In the context of diamond jewelry, CTW stands for “carat total weight” (or “carats total weight”). The term refers to the sum of the weights of all diamonds mounted in a piece of jewelry.
As an example, suppose you have a ring with one center diamond that weighs 1 carat and two smaller diamonds of 0.5 carats each.
The total carat weight of this piece of jewelry will be the sum of the individual weights of its stones, or 2 carats.
In other words, the ring will have a CTW of 2 carats, and you may see it labeled as “2 CTW.”
Carat Weight Basics
So what exactly do all these carat numbers mean?
Carat is simply a unit of weight. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams (0.2 grams). Carats are further divided into points, and one point represents one hundredth of a carat; or, in other words, one carat contains 100 points.
Diamond carat is abbreviated “ct” (or “CT”)as in 1 ct; you can also see carat weight denoted by “cw” or “CW.” Another abbreviation used for the same thing is “dw” (or “DW”), which means “diamond weight.”
Diamonds of the same carat weight do not necessarily look the same size. How big a diamond will look also depends on the proportions of its cut and on the setting that the stone is mounted in.
Multiplying the carat weight of a diamond (or a group of diamonds) by 0.2 will give you the corresponding weight in grams. For example, a ring that is 3 CTW contains diamonds that collectively weigh 0.6 grams.
As an example, take a look at these diamond rings with side stones — if you click on any one of them and read its details, you will see that the carat weight of the diamonds in its specs are listed as “total carat”, i.e. including the center stone and the side stones.
A note of caution: Do not mistake gold karats for diamond carats. Gold karat is commonly used to measure how pure a gold alloy is, i.e., how much of it consists of gold and what proportion is made up of other metals.
In contrast, carats, as we already saw, tell you how much a diamond weighs.
Total Carat Weight (CTW) and Other Similar Abbreviations
Total carat weight is a term that often confuses customers as they mistakenly assume that it means the same as carat weight.
Remember: Carat Weight is used to refer to the weight of a single diamond.
Total Carat Weight, on the other hand, is used to mean the sum of the individual carat weights of all diamonds in a piece of jewelry.
Apart from CTW, there are other abbreviations used to denote the total carat weight of a piece of diamond jewelry.
You can sometimes see the abbreviation DTW (or “dtw”) stamped on rings or other jewelry with diamonds. DTW simply means “diamond total weight” – essentially the same meaning as that of CTW.
Another abbreviation that means the same thing is TW (or “tw”), which is short for “total weight.”
So, if you see markings such as 2 CTW, 2 DTW, or 2 TW, you should know that they all mean the same thing.
For example, if you are told that a ring has one diamond that is 1 ct and two smaller ones that are 0.5 ct each, then the piece will have a total carat weight of two carats and will be advertised as a ring of 2 CTW.
Alternatively, if a ring is labeled as being 1 CTW on its price tag, this means that the sum of the weights of all diamonds in it totals to 1 carat, but this information tells you nothing about the exact weight of any single stone.
If you look at each of these diamond rings and click on any one for details, you will see that its specifications list the weight of its diamonds as “total carat” — the same thing as CTW/DTW.
Related: If you are interested in diamond jewelry and loose diamonds, you can use this diamond search tool to research diamond prices by carat, color, clarity, and cut.
Why CTW Is Important
The CTW number can be very useful because it allows you to compare different pieces of jewelry and figure out not only which contains more diamond (in terms of weight) but also which is a better deal.
For example, if you divide the price for each piece of jewelry you are considering by its total carat weight, you will see which one is cheaper per carat.
An important caveat: Take the price per carat for a certain piece of jewelry with a grain of salt, as this number may vary for a number of reasons.
For example, a ring that features larger stones can cost more per carat than another that has smaller diamonds. This is because bigger diamonds are rarer and therefore more expensive.
Another reason for why two pieces of jewelry may have different prices per carat is the quality of their diamonds. A ring featuring stones of lesser clarity and a lower color grade will most likely cost less per carat than another ring with diamonds of the same size but of better quality.
So, before you choose among several pieces of diamond jewelry, make sure you understand the reasons behind the differences between their prices per carat – whether they are due to the size of the diamonds, their quality, or something else.
Important Carat Weight Questions to Ask When Buying Diamonds
If you are buying a piece of jewelry with diamonds and there is a center stone (the biggest diamond), you should specifically ask about the individual carat weight of that diamond.
The central stone is the most visible one and is usually of the highest quality compared with the smaller diamonds in the setting.
That’s why the central stone will often be the diamond with the most weight in the price of the ring, and knowing this diamond’s carat weight will allow you to figure out how good of a deal you are getting.
The next question you should ask is: What are the carat weights of the smaller diamonds in the ring (also called “diamond accents”)?
These stones are often of lower quality as they are not as visible as the central stone. Knowing the carat weights of the center stone and the diamond accents will allow you to compare different rings and choose the best price.
For example, a ring with 10 small stones and a CTW of 2 ct is not comparable to one that has the same CTW of 2 ct but has one big stone and two smaller ones. Usually, bigger diamonds cost disproportionately more than smaller stones of similar quality.
Also, the bigger stone in the second ring is likely to have better color, cut and clarity as a central stone than each of the 10 small stones in the first ring.
If that’s really the case, you shouldn’t be paying the same price for the first ring just because it has the same CTW (assuming all other characteristics of both rings, such as metals and settings, are comparable).
In sum, when you see the total carat weight on the label of a piece of jewelry you like, always ask for a breakdown of this value by single stones, if that information is not listed.
Check out these diamond ring settings and see how they are priced depending on what kinds of diamonds they contain and how big the stones are.
Diamond Carat Weight and Prices
When looking at diamond prices, you should keep in mind that bigger stones are much rarer to find than smaller ones of the same quality. That’s why, as stones in a given quality range go up in size, their prices rise by an even greater factor.
For instance, a 2 ct diamond is not twice as expensive as a 1 ct stone of the same quality, but the actual price can be more than three or four times higher.
To see prices for diamonds of different carat weight, check out this loose diamond search engine, in which you can search diamonds by carat, color, clarity, and cut.
Remember to compare diamonds with similar characteristics. Differences in carat weight between two stones mean nothing if their cut, color and clarity are dramatically different.
Where to Buy Diamond Jewelry?
We recommend James Allen (read review) because you can see a 360-degree video for any diamond before buying it.
Blue Nile is another reputable diamond retailer we recommend.