Leslie just asked what is the difference between carats and karats? Is it the same thing but with different spellings?

Carat is a weight designation. A one carat weight is 0.20 of a gram. Carat weight is the usual measurement of weight for gemstones.

Karat is usually a percentage designation for gold. Pure gold is 24 karats. If you divide 14 karats by 24 karats you get .583 which is the percentage of gold in 14 karats. 18 karats would be 75% and so on.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii