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In this article, a model is developed for the quantitative and calibration-free determination of the diameter and concentration of colloidal metal nanoparticles synthesized by laser ablation in water. The model is valid under the assumption that all the ablated material is converted into nanoparticles. This is proved by Mie theory under dipole approximation and the Beer–Lambert law using experimentally determined ablated crater volumes, size distributions and photoabsorbances. The novelty of the model is shown through the possibility of determining the diameter and concentration of nanoparticles by using only the volume (or mass) of the ablated crater and the UV–Vis photoabsorbance spectrum. It allows fast, accurate and simple quantitative analysis of colloidal metal nanoparticles without the use of electron microscopy, mass spectrometry or relevant experimental techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]