CarterCast

Hear ye, hear ye, it’s a monumental occasion: on October 22, 2024, Carter turns 50. Yes, he’s officially entering his George Clooney handsome gentleman era, aging with flavor like fine bourbon in a barrel. So we’re using this round milestone as an opportunity to zoom out and reflect back on 50 years of wisdom. What has Carter learned in 50 years? What’s it like running a jewelry store? Life lessons, best advice, biggest challenges,...

We’ve done lots of shows about diamonds, covering almost every facet (heh) of them from the 4Cs to buying them online to lab growns, but we haven’t talked much about how we get our diamonds. How does your local jeweler acquire the diamonds that you see in the case? What’s that process, start to finish? How might international conflicts such as wars, tariffs, and geopolitics have an impact? And what’s it...

Today, we're revisiting a topic from a previous show, because a sequel is always better than the original. Wait, right? It’s been about 2.5 years since we last talked about…*gasp*… lab grown diamonds. Given the ever-changing landscape of that controversial, salacious, contentious, quarrelsome topic, we decided to check back in and see how things are going in the land of LGD’s. We bring out charts, and w...

After much cajoling, bribery, and lofty promises, we’ve finally convinced our first guest to join us on the show. And it’s none other than the Queen of Style herself, Jack Lewis Jewelers VP and co-owner, Missy Ranney…aka, LegitiMissy. We wanted to explore the world of designer engagement rings, and there’s no one better, probably in the whole country, to navigate us through the latest and hottest trends than Missy. She did bring so...

Buying an engagement ring is something you (probably) only do once, and since you’ve never done it before, it’s not really something you’re expected to know how to do. Sure you could Google it. But that’s what we’re here for: to be the resource that helps you navigate this once-in-a-lifetime process of buying an engagement ring. Where do you start? Then what? And then what? Wouldn’t it be super helpful if you had a step-by-step exp...

It's early 2023 at the time of this premiere! So if you're listening to this in the distant future, hello from the past. Hope things are going well. In this episode, we revisit the Google machine for another Search AutoFill show, this time about Diamonds. So when you go to Google and start typing, "Do Diamonds...", what AutoFill options does Google start to populate? Those are allegedly the questions you care about most, so we wrot...

After a long hiatus, the show returns in a new studio with new lights, new mics, new decor, and a google of new topics. That's because we're doing a classic Search AutoFill episode about Engagement Rings. When you go to Google and start typing, "Do Engagement Rings...", what AutoFill options does Google start to populate? Those are apparently the questions people are asking, so we picked our favorite 10 and asked Carter for the ans...

Bravely dive into one of the most controversial topics in the jewelry world: lab-grown, synthetic, man-made, artificial diamonds. What are we supposed to call these stones anyway? And how similar are they really to natural diamonds? And are they really more sustainable? How much should you really still be paying for something you can make a million of? Plus, Jack Lewis Jewelers doesn’t currently sell them, so why not?...

Diamonds and designs often steal the engagement ring show, which means we don’t often hear about the metal. What’s your ring made of, anyway? Gold, platinum, titanium? There are pros and cons to consider, and this episode points you in the right direction. Jewelry metal matters, so put on the leather pants, fluff-out your mullet, plant yourself front row center, and throw up the horns for a five-octave conversation ab...

Tempted to buy a diamond online? We get it. After all, isn’t it cheaper, with a bigger selection, where you can go at your own pace without being pressured and intimidated by an icky salesperson who wants to exploit your ignorance and swindle you into a bad decision? That’s the narrative. But is any of that really true? Actually, some of it, yes. But some of it, no. Come on inside as we do our best to help you make sense of whether...

Do you like documentation? Are you militant about millimeters? Do you prefer paperwork that displays metrics out to the thousandth decimal? Then you’ll love this episode on Grading Reports, because nothing says I love you like math. Truth is though, when it comes to diamonds, you deserve to have confidence in exactly what you’re buying. We kick off Season 2 with a surprisingly entertaining conversation on grading reports, what they...

Float around the Internet for 5 minutes, and you’ll be bashed with snarky posts, sarcastic memes, and cynical threads about diamonds. The most popular attack? That diamonds are worthless. It’s all a scam. They have no real value. It’s all just marketing hype. But…is any of that really true? In our Season 1 finale, Carter and Josh have a blunt and sometimes surprising conversation about the value of diamonds and whether the whole th...

After discussing which gemstones to avoid as the center stone in your engagement ring if you don’t want a diamond, we shift into positive gear and spread the good news about which gemstones you should choose. As with the ones to avoid, most of it centers around hardness and toughness factors, but we also tell jokes and come up with the greatest jewelry pickup line of all time. It’s our rundown of the Top 3 gemstones to choose if yo...

We love diamonds around here, but…we also realize that, for various reasons, not everyone wants a diamond in their engagement ring. Maybe you are that person. And that’s perfectly fine. But if you’re gonna go with an alternative gemstone, there are some that we strongly suggest you skip. If you don’t, you’re gonna have a bad time. In this episode, we rundown the Top 3 gemstones to avoid if you don’t want a diamond. It’s the pre-pro...

Today we conclude our conversation on the 4C’s as Carter goes into thrilling detail about Carat and Cut. When you think Carat, do you think size? If so, you'd be wrong. Find out why. Mostly though, this episode is about Cut because Carter believes Cut is by far the single most important of the 4C's, and that you always should prioritize Cut when spending your money. Josh makes him defend that position, so take a listen and see if h...

Today we dive into the 4C’s as Carter tries to sell Josh a diamond. Even if you don’t know a thing about diamonds, you’ve probably heard of the 4C’s, or at least seen them come up when you Googled diamonds for the first time. But what are they? And are they really that important? In part 1 of our conversation, Carter talks about the first 2 C’s: Color and Clarity, the extent to which each one matters, and why smart shoppers know th...

The pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make diamond engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast. Live from Jack Lewis Jewelers in beautiful Bloomington, IL, the star of the show is Jack Lewis Jewelers CEO John Carter, and along with host Joshua Shull, the series premiere gives you lots of typical first episode things like introductions, upcoming episode previews, and harsh awkward jo...