Trust · independence
Editorial & Affiliate Standards
Standing note —We buy nothing, we accept no gifted product, and we earn a commission when a reader buys through our links.
How we make money
Affiliate commissions on the brands we cover. That is the entire model, and it funds the research. It does not decide a verdict, and where a partner programme has not been approved we show an empty space rather than a link.
Disclosure —some links on this page are affiliate links: when a partner programme is live we earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the price you pay and it never changes a verdict. We buy nothing, we accept no gifted product, and we are not affiliated with any brand we cover. Where a programme has not been approved yet, we say so instead of linking.
Commissions never buy a ranking
A higher commission cannot move a brand up a page, and no brand can pay for coverage, a placement or a verdict. When two options are close we say so and name what breaks the tie for different buyers. We do not manufacture a winner to sell a click.
No fabricated experience
Our writers are research and market-analysis desks. Nobody here claims bench experience, a gemological credential, or that they wore something for a month. We publish no invented owner interviews and no made-up customer quotes. Bylines describe what a person actually does — reads the specs, the reports and the price movement — and nothing they don't. Read them on the desk page.
No invented numbers
Prices, carat and gram weights, founding years and review scores come from documented sources with the date they were checked. If a number is not in our sources, the article does not state it — no rounding up, no plausible estimate presented as a fact, and no resale recovery rate invented because a page looks better with one.
Merchant claims stay quarantined
A brand's statement about its own trust, warranty, returns or sourcing is reported as that brand's statement, attributed in the sentence. We do not restate it as our assurance. Where a merchant's claims contradict its own policy pages, that contradiction is the story.
Press provenance
Every press citation in our brand files carries a provenance state: verified, brand-reported, brand-claimed, or not independently read. Thirty of the hundred and six entries currently on file are not verified — including one citation whose link pointed at the brand's own press page rather than the outlet's. We name an outlet only where we read the outlet's page ourselves. Anything else is attributed to the brand in the sentence, and never counted toward a “featured in” badge, tally or structured data.
Stones and grades
Any stone we feature is labelled natural, lab-grown, moissanite or treated — several catalogues we cover sell all four. Any grade we quote names the issuing laboratory in the same sentence, because grades are comparable only within one lab's own standards.
Corrections & freshness
Prices move and policies change, and we get things wrong sometimes. When we update an entry the date reflects a real change to the page — we do not stamp a fresh year on stale work. Spot an error? Tell us and we will fix it.
Independent of the brands
The Pennyweight is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by any brand, retailer or grading laboratory we cover. Brand names appear nominatively, to identify what we are discussing, and never in our own name, logo, tagline or domain. Where law or policy matters — disclosure rules, hallmarking, consumer returns — we give factual, general information, never legal advice, and point you to the current terms.
How a figure gets onto a page in the first place is documented on our methodology page.