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, managing relationships.

The Season 2 finale is a big picture, high level, surprisingly emotional conversation as Carter shares what’s made him the Shipley award-winning leader and business owner he is today. It’s the CarterCast, the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun.

Filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

[Premiere Date: Monday, September 30, 2024]

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 like going to Antwerp surrounded by armed guards and seeing briefcases handcuffed to people’s wrists? How do you know who to trust in this wild, crazy world? They say it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, and that’s what we’re exploring today: the journey of a diamond from the soil to the showroom. It’s the CarterCast, the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. Filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

[Premiere Date: Monday, July 22, 2024]

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 we play clips of Carter’s predictions from the previous episode right to his face, forcing him to respond. Was he right? Was he wrong? It’s Lab Grown Diamonds 2. Too Vast, Too Spurious. Let’s charge headfirst into controversy, on the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

[Premiere Date: Monday, February 19, 2024]

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 some rings with her to show-off during this episode, so you might want to eventually check out the video version to see the sparkly show-and-tell for yourself. Either way, you’re in for a treat, because this show has never been smarter. Step into the high fashion world of designer jewelry on the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

[Premiere Date: Monday, September 25, 2023]

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 explainer? You’re in luck. This is the definitive start-to-finish tutorial for how to buy an engagement ring, on the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

[Premiere Date: Monday, July 17, 2023]

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 wrote 10 of them down and asked Carter for the answers. It's another fun episode with lots of great diamond tips and tricks, so let's get this new year started bright and blingy with the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

[Premiere Date: Monday, January 2, 2023]

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 answers. It's a fun, rapid-fire episode with lots of great engagement ring tips and tricks, so let's shake off the rust and dive back into the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, recorded on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

[Premiere Date: Monday, October 10, 2022]

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? Lots of questions and strong thoughts in a powerful episode that is sure to cause a ruckus. It’s the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at Jack Lewis Jewelers in Bloomington, IL.

Jump to whichever part sounds most interesting to you:

00:34 – Most Controversial Topic Ever

01:10 – Defining Terms: “Laboratory Grown”

02:30 – Fake is Insulting

03:33 – What is a Laboratory Grown Diamond?

04:39 – The History of Lab Grown Stones

05:42 – The Tech Behind How They’re “Grown”

06:49 – FUN FACT!

08:22 – They Are NOT “The Same” as a Natural Diamond

10:14 – How a Synth-Detect Machine Can Tell the Difference

12:07 – Does a Lab-Grown Diamond Need a Grading Report?

15:45 – The Struggle to Price Lab-Grown Diamonds

17:13 – Could Lab-Grown Diamonds End Up Being Worth Zero?

18:10 – An Overly-Cynical Rant About Why These Exist

19:34 – The Importance of Competitive Natural Diamond Options

20:30 – Sustainability? Why Lab-Grown Diamonds are NOT “Green”

23:51 – Why Jack Lewis Jewelers Doesn’t Sell Lab-Grown Diamonds

25:33 – What the Price Should Be

26:39 – Carter’s Advice if You’re Considering a Lab-Grown Diamond

28:56 – The Symbolic Case for Natural Diamonds

31:55 – The Final Facet

To listen to the audio-only version of this episode, search for the CarterCast on your favorite podcast player and subscribe (Apple iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, iHeart, TuneIn, and more).

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MUSIC

"Get Tough" by Nu Alkemist (Licensed via SoundStripe)

CREDITS:

Star & Executive Producer - John Carter (Owner & CEO, Jack Lewis Jewelers)

Host & Executive Producer - Joshua Shull (Owner, JoshuaOneNine)

Producer & Editor - Nick Fetty (Content Creator, JoshuaOneNine)