September 2026 Retail Snapshot
What does 1 CTW of lab-grown diamond studs actually cost in Canada?
Seven verified observations, from Canadian and Canada-serving retailers, for round lab-grown diamond stud earrings at approximately 1.00 CTW total weight. One like-for-like shopping question. Very different prices and specifications.
Original Carat Theory research · Methodology disclosed belowIn September 2026, we observed pricing for seven verified, comparable ~1 CTW round lab-grown diamond stud offerings from Canadian and Canada-serving retailers. The median observed price in this sample was $1,224 CAD. Carat Theory's comparable product was priced at $740 CAD - $484, or 39.5%, below the observed median, the lowest price in the sample.
Across our selected seven-product Canadian retailer sample
The Lumière Stud 1 CT
In Canadian dollars
The lowest price in the sample
The Price Landscape
Seven retailers, one price scale
All seven observations, positioned by their real price in Canadian dollars - not evenly spaced.
Carat Theory is the lowest point in the sample. The dashed line marks the median observed price ($1,224 CAD) across the seven retailers.
What Was Compared
What the Price Doesn't Tell You
A comparable carat weight does not mean an identical product. Every observed specification is shown directly below.
Carat Theory
14K gold
E-F / VVS2
IGI - third-party, per stone
Setting: Four-prong basket. Backing: Screw-back. Promotion: None observed.
View source →Michael Hill
10K gold
E / VVS1
Not disclosed on evaluated page
Setting: Prong / claw. Backing: Screwback butterfly. Promotion: Sitewide clearance active (CAD $699 shown); list price used here, see note 10.
View source →Brilliant Earth
14K gold
Access-limited / Access-limited
Access-limited (deeper spec section did not load)
Setting: Four-prong (claw). Backing: Not disclosed. Promotion: None observed.
View source →Pure Diamond
14K gold
D-E / VVS2-VS1
Not disclosed on evaluated page
Setting: Four-prong. Backing: Not disclosed. Promotion: None observed.
View source →Angara
14K gold
F-G / VS
In-house Certificate of Authenticity, not third-party
Setting: Four-prong basket. Backing: Push back. Promotion: 10% off - regular $1,079.
View source →VRAI
14K gold
G-J / SI+
Not disclosed on evaluated page
Setting: Signature four-prong. Backing: Push back. Promotion: None observed.
View source →Pandora Canada
14K gold
G-J / VS+
Not disclosed on evaluated page
Setting: Four-prong. Backing: Not disclosed. Promotion: None observed.
View source →Research Notes
What to keep in mind
Prices change
This is a dated snapshot, not a live feed. Every price carries its own observation date in the source ledger below - prices change without notice, always check the source before buying.
Promotion treatment
The current, displayed price at the time of observation is used for every retailer. Where a promotion was active (Angara, 10% off), the regular price was also recorded. The observed median is identical whether Angara's current or regular price is used.
Product specifications differ
A comparable carat weight does not make two products identical. Colour, clarity, karat, setting, and certification status genuinely vary between retailers and are disclosed in the cards above, not smoothed over to produce an "equivalent" price.
This is not a claim about the whole market
This is a manually curated sample of specific retailers and products, not a statistically representative market survey. The median observed price describes this sample, not "the Canadian market" as a whole.
Retailers excluded from this comparison
Luxury Diamonds - Shape (round) not disclosed anywhere in first-party product data after a thorough check. Vena Nova - Selected option resolved to a 2.00 CTW pair (1 ct per stud), not 1.00 CTW total. Diamonds Factory Canada - Retailer site blocked automated and browser-based access on every attempt . All three are retained in the research for traceability but excluded from the quantitative calculation. The full detail behind each exclusion appears in the methodology below.
The 14K Controlled View
Does the result hold under a tighter control?
Michael Hill is removed here because the selected comparison product is 10K gold. This does not mean the remaining six products are identical to each other - see the cards above.
All Verified Observations (N=7)
14K Gold Controlled Set (N=6)
Controlling for gold karat changes the magnitude slightly but does not materially change the result: the median shifts from $1,224 to $1,182, and Carat Theory ($740) remains the lowest price either way.
Methodology
How this research was conducted
Same category
Round lab-grown diamond stud earrings
Approximately 1 CTW
Total pair weight, not per-ear weight
Canadian relevance
Canadian or Canada-serving retailers
Real observed price
Price shown to the shopper on the observation date
Who conducted this research
This research was conducted by Carat Theory. Carat Theory's own price is drawn from our live site; competitor prices were independently observed on each retailer's own site, on the dates stated below and in the source ledger.
Observation date
September 26, 2026. Every price carries its own observation date in the source ledger below.
The research question
What are Canadian shoppers currently being shown for a reasonably comparable pair of approximately 1.00 CTW round lab-grown diamond stud earrings, across Carat Theory and a defined set of Canadian or Canada-serving retailers? This is not "what is the average price of diamond studs in Canada," and it is not a claim about the Canadian market as a whole.
Product selection
Exact product URLs were manually curated to ensure a genuinely like-for-like comparison - same shape, same approximate total weight, same product category - rather than algorithmic discovery, which could match superficially similar but structurally different products. This method itself surfaced real findings: a default product configuration that did not match the intended basket (VRAI), and a price discrepancy that required reconciliation (Pandora) - both documented in the source ledger and corrected before publication.
Definition of "~1 CTW"
1.00 carat total weight, split across two round brilliant lab-grown diamonds (one stud pair), not a per-ear weight. This is precisely the ambiguity that had to be resolved for VRAI and Vena Nova - see note 05 in the research notes above.
Why Michael Hill remains in the broad basket
Michael Hill is a verified Canadian retailer with a genuinely comparable product in shape and total weight - the only disqualifying-adjacent difference is gold karat (10K rather than 14K), which is a real, disclosed quality difference, not grounds for exclusion. A temporary storewide clearance was showing CAD $699 for this SKU at the time of this observation; because the gold karat is already a disclosed, real quality difference rather than a discount comparison, the regular list price is used here rather than the temporary markdown, so the karat difference is never obscured by an unrelated promotional price on 10K gold being read as comparable to a 14K discount.
Why it is excluded from the 14K view
The 14K controlled view exists specifically to show whether the finding holds once the one differing karat is removed - including Michael Hill there would contradict the entire purpose of that check.
Why Vena Nova was excluded
Vena Nova's own embedded structured data shows the selected "1.00ct" option is a per-stone weight, not a per-pair total - the actual product is approximately 2.00 CTW total, not 1.00. Retained in the research, excluded from the quantitative calculation.
Why Luxury Diamonds was excluded
After a thorough check of structured data, image alt text, filenames, and the product description, diamond shape (round or otherwise) was disclosed nowhere on the page. Without shape confirmation, the product cannot be included in a comparison specifically scoped to round stones.
Why Diamonds Factory Canada was excluded
The retailer's site blocked both automated and live-browser access on every attempt, across multiple sessions. No attempt was made to bypass access controls; the product is marked "independent verification unavailable" rather than included on the basis of unconfirmed URL parameters.
Certification treatment
Certification status is disclosed separately for every retailer and does not exclude any observation from the median calculation - a median does not require identical specifications if it is accurately described. Only Carat Theory (IGI, independent third party) and Angara (a named in-house certificate) have a confirmed certification status on the evaluated page; the rest are marked "not disclosed" or "access-limited," never assumed.
Non-random sample limitation
This is a manually curated sample of specific retailers and products, not a statistically representative market survey. The median observed price describes this sample, not "the Canadian market" as a whole.
Update / snapshot policy
This is a dated snapshot, not a live feed. Historical observations are retained rather than overwritten at each future update - see the source ledger for the exact date behind every published figure.
Last updated: September 26, 2026
The Full Evidence
Research Ledger
7 observations · Updated September 26, 2026
Swipe to see all columns →
| Retailer | Observed price | Date | Source | Verification status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carat Theory | $740 CAD | 2026-09-26 | View product page | Verified |
| Michael Hill | $1,399 CAD | 2026-09-26 | View product page | Verified - access-limited on some fields |
| Brilliant Earth | $1,295 CAD | 2026-09-26 | View product page | Verified - access-limited on some fields |
| Pure Diamond | $1,140 CAD | 2026-09-26 | View product page | Verified |
| Angara | $971 CAD | 2026-09-26 | View product page | Verified |
| VRAI | $1,224 CAD | 2026-09-26 | View product page | Verified |
| Pandora Canada | $1,950 CAD | 2026-09-26 | View product page | Verified |
Independent Verification
Every Carat Theory diamond comes with an IGI certificate. Verify your stone's exact grade at verify.igi.org using the certificate number laser-inscribed on the girdle.
IGI (International Gemological Institute) is the world's largest independent gem certification laboratory and the global standard for lab-grown diamond grading.
The Reference Product
The Lumière Stud 1 CT
1.00 CTW · Round brilliant · 14K gold · IGI certified per stone
$740 CAD
View the Product