Hey pricescopers!
I wanted to post my experience with a few online diamond/earring providers in the hopes that it would help someone else.
I still have not purchased earrings, but I have some time. My budget it fairly limited, about 1k.
Adiamor- Settings starting at $175. Customer service is fairly responsive. Their system is not designed to show diamond pairs. Either a GIA certificate is missing, the photo is stock, only pictures of one diamond, or some combination of those. Another thing that annoyed me, I actually made a purchase through them. A day later I was notified that the diamonds did not pass their inspection and my order would be cancelled. While I appreciate them not selling me diamonds that don't meet their standards, it would be better for customers if they only listed ones that pass their "standards". I was afraid any other purchase I made would also be cancelled, not a confident feeling.
With Clarity- Settings start at $200. Diamond selection is fairly limited and a lot of the listings look like they have broken pictures. There is no option to search by pairs, so you'd either need to contact their customer service or try to match on your own.
Yadav- By far the most expensive settings starting at $250. I contacted them asking if they could match or lower the price of their setting. They said no, which is their choice, but notified me of a deal where if I spend $5,000 I would save $100. Their diamonds seemed competitively priced, but the setting price mostly knocked them out of the competition.
Blue Nile- Lowest price settings- $160, diamonds seem to be slightly more expensive. I had a pair inspected. They put a courtesy hold on them for 48 hours so nobody else could buy them. That is a nice gesture, but means you have to call and place your order, so some of the convenience is lost. Ideally, their system would only allow you to purchase them, but that is asking too much I guess. I've had mixed experiences with their customer service. Some diamond pairs I saved in my wish list weren't showing up in searches. It took me 3 attempts with different customer service reps before someone could finally explain to me why. The first two thought I didn't know how to navigate the site, which wasn't the case. They offer free appraisals, which is an added bonus because others wanted to charge over $50 for an appraisal.
ID Jewelry- I contacted Yekuteil to see what he was offering. He showed me a pair of GIA certified diamonds that came in exactly at the top end of my budget. He was very kind and helpful throughout the process.
B2cjewelry- Good options, but not a lot of reviews. They only have a 1 year warranty, which makes me nervous. A few of the negative reviews mention stones/diamonds falling out of their jewelry and them refusing to take responsibility, which makes me nervous. Not sure if the risk is worth the reward.
James Allen and Brian Gavin- I was pretty much priced out of purchasing from either. If I went with them, the diamond weight would have been lower than my minimum.
Rare carat- A great resource in the event that you're considering a few options. They only list for a few of their "approved" websites, and the list isn't exactly exhaustive. They will review diamonds not included in their searches. Their gemologists can also recommend possible candidates for your search. This can be helpful in narrowing down your search in the inevitable event that you become overwhelmed.
I wanted to post my experience with a few online diamond/earring providers in the hopes that it would help someone else.
I still have not purchased earrings, but I have some time. My budget it fairly limited, about 1k.
Adiamor- Settings starting at $175. Customer service is fairly responsive. Their system is not designed to show diamond pairs. Either a GIA certificate is missing, the photo is stock, only pictures of one diamond, or some combination of those. Another thing that annoyed me, I actually made a purchase through them. A day later I was notified that the diamonds did not pass their inspection and my order would be cancelled. While I appreciate them not selling me diamonds that don't meet their standards, it would be better for customers if they only listed ones that pass their "standards". I was afraid any other purchase I made would also be cancelled, not a confident feeling.
With Clarity- Settings start at $200. Diamond selection is fairly limited and a lot of the listings look like they have broken pictures. There is no option to search by pairs, so you'd either need to contact their customer service or try to match on your own.
Yadav- By far the most expensive settings starting at $250. I contacted them asking if they could match or lower the price of their setting. They said no, which is their choice, but notified me of a deal where if I spend $5,000 I would save $100. Their diamonds seemed competitively priced, but the setting price mostly knocked them out of the competition.
Blue Nile- Lowest price settings- $160, diamonds seem to be slightly more expensive. I had a pair inspected. They put a courtesy hold on them for 48 hours so nobody else could buy them. That is a nice gesture, but means you have to call and place your order, so some of the convenience is lost. Ideally, their system would only allow you to purchase them, but that is asking too much I guess. I've had mixed experiences with their customer service. Some diamond pairs I saved in my wish list weren't showing up in searches. It took me 3 attempts with different customer service reps before someone could finally explain to me why. The first two thought I didn't know how to navigate the site, which wasn't the case. They offer free appraisals, which is an added bonus because others wanted to charge over $50 for an appraisal.
ID Jewelry- I contacted Yekuteil to see what he was offering. He showed me a pair of GIA certified diamonds that came in exactly at the top end of my budget. He was very kind and helpful throughout the process.
B2cjewelry- Good options, but not a lot of reviews. They only have a 1 year warranty, which makes me nervous. A few of the negative reviews mention stones/diamonds falling out of their jewelry and them refusing to take responsibility, which makes me nervous. Not sure if the risk is worth the reward.
James Allen and Brian Gavin- I was pretty much priced out of purchasing from either. If I went with them, the diamond weight would have been lower than my minimum.
Rare carat- A great resource in the event that you're considering a few options. They only list for a few of their "approved" websites, and the list isn't exactly exhaustive. They will review diamonds not included in their searches. Their gemologists can also recommend possible candidates for your search. This can be helpful in narrowing down your search in the inevitable event that you become overwhelmed.
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