Commercial relationships

Affiliate Disclosure

On retailer links, and the independence behind them.

Updated October 1, 2026Commissions disclosed
In briefSome retailer links on a scorecard may earn us a commission, and each is marked “We may earn a commission.” Should you follow one and make a purchase, the retailer may pay The Carat Standard a commission, at no cost to you. Price, retailers, links, and commissions have no bearing on a score, the order of The Collection, or the words we choose for a stone.
01

Where to buy this exact diamond

A scorecard may name the retailers whose own product page shows the same laboratory report number, and link to that page. Each link is confirmed by hand against the report number, and withdrawn once it no longer holds. These are not live inventory; the retailer’s page remains the final word on the report number and on availability.

  • Prices move often, and the same diamond may be offered quite differently from one house to the next. Visitors with a free account may see the price each retailer showed when we last checked, with that date; the retailer’s own page remains the final word on the current price.
  • Retailers appear in alphabetical order, or, when a signed-in visitor compares prices, from the lowest recorded price. None pays to appear, to be placed first, or to be linked at all, and a commission never decides which retailers are shown or in what order.
  • A listing is never a source of report data. It contributes only the retailer, the link, and whether the stone was still offered. Every characteristic we read comes from the issuing laboratory’s official record.
02

Links that may earn a commission

  • Such a link is marked “We may earn a commission” beneath the retailer’s name.
  • Should you follow one and make a purchase, the retailer may pay us a commission. The price you pay is the same.
  • It leads to the very page we confirmed, either directly or by way of the affiliate network’s redirect. It carries a referral code and an anonymous reference to the scorecard, never the report number and never anything about you.
  • Every other retailer link is a plain link, and we earn nothing from it.
03

Independence of scores and rankings

The Carat Standard Score is drawn from the grading report alone. Price, retailer, availability, and any commercial consideration have no part in the score, the order of The Collection, or the language of a reading. The Loupe does not see retailer listings and does not recommend a retailer.

04

Questions

Should anything resemble paid placement, we would like to hear of it at hello@thecaratstandard.com. Retailers may write to the same address to correct or withdraw a listing, and such requests are attended to promptly. Our Editorial Standards describe how each reading is prepared.