Ratti to Carat Converter

Two kinds of ratti

Ratti began as the weight of a single seed of the gunja plant, used by jewellers across South Asia long before modern scales. Today two versions are in common use, and they are not the same size.

• Standard gem ratti: 1 ratti equals 0.91 carat. This is the version widely used by gem sellers.
• Sunari ratti: about 0.61 carat. This smaller unit comes from the goldsmiths' system of tola, masha and ratti.

Why sellers differ

Because the sunari ratti is smaller, the same stone sounds heavier when it is measured with it. A 4.55 carat Neelam is 5 standard ratti, but nearly 7.5 sunari ratti. Neither number is wrong, but a buyer comparing prices by ratti can easily be misled if the two shops are counting differently. When an astrologer recommends a weight, it is worth asking which ratti they mean.

Which one we use

Every listing on Real Gems shows the weight in carats first, measured on a carat scale, and then in standard gem ratti at 0.91 carat. We never use the sunari ratti on our stone pages. The converter below handles both, so you can compare our weights with figures quoted elsewhere. For more on weighing, see how we check our stones.