What does Best by Budget do?+
Best by Budget is a free Carat Hunter tool that returns three diamond picks at distinct price tiers within your maximum budget. The picks are ranked by the Caratlytics score, an independent measure combining gemological quality, value relative to market, certification strength, and cross-retailer signals across more than 100 retailers.
How does Carat Hunter choose the three picks?+
Carat Hunter selects three diamonds at distinct price tiers within your budget, roughly the 50th, 75th, and 95th percentile of the eligible pool. The picks are ranked by the Caratlytics score. Before ranking, we strip statistical price outliers and require a graded certificate, complete measurements, and at minimum a Very Good cut. The result is a safe pick, a stronger pick, and a max-out pick from the same budget bracket.
What do Balanced, Quality, and Value lenses mean?+
Balanced is the default Caratlytics blend that weighs gemology, value, and certification together. Quality ranks by pure gemological score, ignoring market context. Value rewards stones with strong scores at lower prices within your budget. Switching lenses re-ranks the same eligible pool, so you see how each priority shifts the three picks.
Lab grown or natural, which is better at this budget?+
Neither is universally better. A lab grown diamond typically costs 5 to 10 times less than a natural diamond of equivalent gemological grade, so the same budget buys a noticeably larger or higher grade stone in the lab grown market. Natural diamonds carry historical scarcity and have traditionally held resale value better. Optically and physically, both are real diamonds with identical chemical composition. Carat Hunter ranks both on the same Caratlytics scale.
How is the savings figure calculated?+
When a diamond appears at more than one retailer, Carat Hunter shows the gap between the cheapest and most expensive seller of the same fingerprint. Below a 5 percent gap we suppress the savings line because the difference is noise. We never list retailers individually for pricing comparisons; the savings figure represents the cross-retailer spread we observed.
Do you sell diamonds or earn commissions?+
No. Carat Hunter is an independent diamond search and ranking platform. We aggregate and score listings from more than 100 retailers. We do not sell diamonds and earn no commissions on retailer purchases. The Caratlytics ranking is computed from inventory data, not retailer relationships.
How fresh is your data?+
Inventory across the more than 100 indexed retailers refreshes on rolling schedules through the day. Prices, availability, and stock status change frequently between refresh cycles. Always verify details with the retailer before purchase.
What if no diamonds match my budget?+
If too few diamonds match your spec, Carat Hunter automatically relaxes the search in stages: cut floor first, then colour range, then clarity range. A banner above the picks shows what was relaxed. If even the relaxed search returns nothing, you are offered the closest single available stone and a suggested budget bump.
Why is an Excellent cut required for round diamonds?+
For round brilliants, cut quality is the single biggest driver of optical performance. A lower cut grade undermines every other quality dimension. Other shapes accept Very Good and above because cut grading is less standardised outside the round brilliant.
How accurate is the Caratlytics score?+
The Caratlytics score is an opinion model, not a grading certificate. It reflects Carat Hunter analysis of inventory data: quality (gemology), value (price relative to market), certification (lab strength), and market (cross-retailer signals). The score is internally consistent across stones, so two diamonds scored 85 are comparable. It is recomputed every 10 minutes.