Rare Carat Review

In the world of online diamond shopping, Rare Carat has made a name for itself as an affordable and straightforward platform. In this Rare Carat review, we’ll explore their diamonds, engagement rings, and overall jewelry offerings to assess whether they deliver on value and quality. Rare Carat aims to provide buyers with access to a wide range of virtual diamonds from multiple vendors, making the experience both diverse and budget-friendly. Whether you're looking for an engagement ring or other jewelry pieces, this review will give you a clearer understanding of what Rare Carat has to offer.

History of Rare Carat

Rare Carat began its journey as an affiliate website, originally functioning as a diamond search aggregator for third-party vendors. This business model allowed them to offer a variety of diamonds and jewelry from different retailers, positioning themselves as a comparison tool for budget-conscious shoppers. Over time, Rare Carat transitioned into a more direct e-commerce platform, while still maintaining their original mission of helping customers find diamonds at competitive prices.

Today, they work with multiple vendors but operate as an independent marketplace where all diamonds remain virtual—meaning they don’t physically hold inventory. Instead, they rely on vendors to fulfill orders, which keeps costs lower. Rare Carat has embraced this "cheap and cheerful" ethos by offering a simplified, affordable shopping experience for customers who may be less concerned with seeing diamonds in person before purchase and more focused on getting a good deal. Their goal is to make diamond buying as transparent and stress-free as possible, while catering to a price-sensitive audience.

Rare Carat Diamonds and Website Experience

Rare Carat offers a wide selection of diamonds, both natural and lab-grown, and their website’s search engine is one of its standout features. It allows you to easily narrow down options based on specific diamond characteristics such as carat weight, clarity, color, and cut. This streamlined search functionality is highly useful for those who want to find a diamond that fits their exact specifications, and it helps you filter through their extensive inventory with ease.

However, despite this convenient search tool, there are some key drawbacks, particularly with the visual representation of diamonds. Since all of the diamonds on Rare Carat are virtual—meaning the company doesn’t physically hold inventory—the photography quality is inconsistent across vendors. This makes it difficult to accurately compare diamonds, as the lack of standardized imaging can leave customers unsure of what they're really purchasing. When buying something as visually critical as a diamond, this inconsistency is a major hurdle.

Most of the lab-grown diamonds, such as those you can view here, are created using the CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) process. While this is a cheaper method of growing diamonds, it does come with some drawbacks. Unlike HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) diamonds, which are subjected to high pressure on all sides during growth, CVD diamonds tend to develop strain and striation in the carbon lattice. If significant enough, this can lead to slight haziness in the diamond material. While these issues might not always be visible to the naked eye, they can affect a diamond’s brilliance and overall light performance, which is a concern for buyers looking for top-tier quality.

Rare Carat also offers their own "Rare Carat Ideal" range, which is marketed as their signature collection. However, these diamonds are chosen based solely on specifications like cut, clarity, and proportions—without any light performance images or detailed analysis. This lack of visual data is a major problem. Specs alone are not enough to determine whether a diamond truly performs well. Reports typically provide rounded and averaged measurements for a few key factors, but these don’t capture the nuances of a diamond’s light return and sparkle. Two diamonds with similar specs can look drastically different depending on small variances in facet angles and symmetry. Without light performance imagery, it's difficult to assess how a diamond will actually appear once set, making it risky to rely solely on specs.

For natural diamonds, the buying experience can be even more frustrating. Many natural diamonds don’t come with any images, and in some cases, the video previews fail to load. This makes it almost impossible to evaluate these diamonds visually before purchase, leaving customers essentially buying blind. While Rare Carat’s prices may be attractive, the lack of visual aids means you're taking a gamble on the diamond's appearance. For something as important as an engagement ring or fine jewelry, this uncertainty makes it hard to confidently recommend Rare Carat for natural diamonds.

Rare Carat Settings

When it comes to engagement ring settings, I was more impressed with Rare Carat’s offerings compared to their diamonds. For example, their Norah Solitaire setting really stood out, and you can explore it here. The images are of high quality, and you can even view the ring on a model’s hand, which helps give a much clearer sense of scale and appearance. This feature is a significant improvement over the way their diamonds are displayed and really enhances the buying experience when selecting a setting.

The variety of ring settings is decent, and the imagery provided gives a good sense of what you're purchasing. The overall shopping experience for settings is enjoyable and straightforward. However, the same can’t be said for the diamonds themselves. The diamonds tend to be fairly average in terms of quality and performance, and the lack of reliable visuals for them makes it hard to pair an impressive setting with a truly exceptional stone. Unless you're specifically looking for low-priced or average-quality diamonds, it’s best to approach their offerings with caution. It can feel like searching for a “gem” among a lot of lackluster options, and that makes the overall process more challenging than it should be.

Conclusion

While Rare Carat offers competitive prices and a solid search engine, the overall buying experience is a mixed bag. Their settings, particularly with detailed images and finger views, provide a positive experience, but their diamonds—especially lab-grown ones produced via CVD and natural diamonds lacking clear imagery—leave much to be desired. Without consistent visuals and proper light performance data, it’s difficult to confidently choose a high-quality diamond.