Rapaport Price
A weekly benchmark list of high asking prices for polished diamonds, used across the diamond trade as a pricing reference.
The Rapaport Price List is the diamond trade's common yardstick. Published every Friday since 1978 and delivered to members through the RapNet platform, it sets out Rapaport's opinion of high cash asking prices for polished diamonds, broken down by shape, size band, colour and clarity. Almost no one pays the printed figure outright. Instead the whole trade quotes a percentage off it, so a stone might sell at 25 percent below Rap, and that single number lets two dealers on opposite sides of the world compare the same diamond.
How the Rapaport list is built
The list is organised as grids, one per shape group, with rounds on their own sheet and fancy shapes such as pear, oval and princess on another. Down one axis run the clarity grades from IF to I3, across the other run the colour grades from D to M, and the whole grid is repeated for each weight band, for example 0.90 to 0.99 carat or 1.00 to 1.49 carat. Each cell holds a price stated in hundreds of US dollars per carat.
To read a price you multiply. If the grid shows 90 for a 1 carat G VS1 round, that is 9,000 dollars per carat, so a full carat stone is 9,000 dollars at full Rap. A 1.20 carat stone at the same grade would be 1.20 times 9,000, or 10,800 dollars, before any discount is applied.
Why the trade quotes a discount to Rap
The list represents an asking benchmark, not a clearing price, so dealers express real value as a percentage below or, rarely, above it. A quote of Rap minus 30 means thirty percent off the list price for that grade. Better cut, better make, strong fluorescence, or a lab certificate that the market trusts less can all move that discount up or down.
Because everyone speaks in the same shorthand, a buyer can compare offers on different stones by comparing their discounts rather than their raw prices. That is why traceability and grading matter so much: the discount only means something if both parties agree on the shape, size, colour and clarity being priced.
- Prices are quoted per carat in hundreds of US dollars.
- Real deals are expressed as a percentage discount to Rap.
- A new list is issued weekly, usually every Friday.
- RapNet is the online marketplace where members access it.
Using Rap in a jewellery business
For a retailer or manufacturer, the Rapaport list is the reference rate that diamond costs are pinned to, much as the gold rate anchors metal cost. Storing diamond rates as structured records by shape, size, colour and clarity, then referencing them per product, mirrors how the list itself is organised and keeps stone pricing consistent when the market moves.
When Rap moves, and it can jump several percent in a single week during volatile periods, every affected piece needs its diamond value refreshed. A rules driven pricing system recalculates those pieces in bulk rather than leaving staff to edit each item by hand, so the storefront never shows a stale figure.
- Rapaport publishes a weekly high asking price list for polished diamonds.
- Prices are per carat, quoted in hundreds of US dollars per grid cell.
- The trade prices stones as a percentage discount to Rap.
- It covers rounds and fancy shapes across colour, clarity and size bands.
- It works as the diamond equivalent of a benchmark rate for pricing.
Rapaport Price, in short.
Does Rapaport set the price I pay for a diamond?
No. Rapaport states a high asking benchmark. The actual trade price is almost always a percentage below it, and that discount depends on the stone's make, certificate and demand for the grade.
How often does the Rapaport price change?
A new list is published weekly, generally on Fridays. In active markets the numbers for popular sizes and grades can shift by a few percent week to week.
What does Rap minus 20 mean?
It means the stone is offered at 20 percent below the Rapaport list price for its shape, size, colour and clarity. A lower discount, such as Rap minus 10, means a higher price closer to the benchmark.
How do I turn a grid number into a price?
Multiply the grid figure by 100 to get dollars per carat, then multiply by the stone's carat weight. A grid value of 85 on a 1.10 carat stone is 8,500 per carat, so 9,350 dollars at full Rap before any discount.
Related terms
See rapaport price inside a real jewellery system.
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