Shane Co vs. Blue Nile

[Maverick12689]

Hello, I am new to the forum but am currently in the market for an engagement ring for my girlfriend. After hours of research, I have narrowed it down to two vendors from which I want to order her ring from: Shane Co or Blue Nile. I really appreciate all of the information that Blue Nile supplied to me as a consumer and further read raving reviews about how great they are to their costumers. It also like the fact that Blue Nile shows allows the customer to choose different cut qualities and all Blue Nile diamonds come with a GIA certification. Unfortunately, I found a lovely setting at Shane Co that I know my girlfriend will love. I could not find a similar setting at Blue Nile.

What worries me about Shane Co is that they do not offer different quality cuts and claim that all of their cuts are high quality. I also don't like the fact that Shane Co does not provide a GIA certification with all of their diamonds. Should I be worried about these things or is Shane Co a trustworthy company and the GIA cert and cut quality should not be bothersome? Any and all advice would be very very helpful. Thanks for your time!

 

[smoothsailing]

While I can't answer your main question about Shane Co's diamonds, I did have a similar experience when shopping. I just bought a diamond from Blue Nile and a setting from Shane Co. I would consider this option if I were you (get the diamond online and get the setting at Shane).

Shane Co. is setting the Blue Nile diamond in the setting I bought as we speak and I will be picking it up on Saturday. Like you, I found the perfect setting at Shane Co., but I found that the pricing and choices at Blue Nile were above and beyond Shane Co's offerings.

After the diamond arrived, I looked at the inscription and inclusions myself so that I knew how to identify my own stone. After picking out the setting at Shane Co, I went back to the store with the diamond to drop it off. They looked at the diamond through a loupe, noted the inclusions and markings on their paperwork, and valued it in case of replacement (if they chip the diamond, they apparently replace it with one of equal quality from their inventory). They valued it way too low in my opinion and didn't even ask or look at what color or clarity it was, but I didn't care because I made sure to buy insurance on the diamond from Jeweler's Mutual before the diamond even arrived in the mail from Blue Nile. I doubt anything will happen to the diamond (knock on wood), but I would be filing an insurance claim if it does. Or I'm guessing that Shane Co. would more fairly match my diamond, as the sales girl did the valuation quite quickly.

I'm excited to pick up the ring this weekend and if all goes well it should be perfect! The diamond is amazing and the setting is perfect and just what I wanted. Don't settle! You can buy the two separately and get what you want.

 

[rubybeth]

What worries me about Shane Co is that they do not offer different quality cuts and claim that all of their cuts are high quality. I also don't like the fact that Shane Co does not provide a GIA certification with all of their diamonds. Should I be worried about these things or is Shane Co a trustworthy company and the GIA cert and cut quality should not be bothersome? Any and all advice would be very very helpful. Thanks for your time!

For an engagement ring, I'd definitely want a GIA or AGS certified diamond. Period. I wouldn't trust that 'all our cuts are good' nonsense, even if it's Tiffany or Cartier, I'd want to know the numbers.

What is the setting style you're looking at? And what's the diamond budget? I ask because, while it's possible to find good stones at Blue Nile, they just don't offer the level of service that someplace like Whiteflash, Good Old Gold, James Allen, or Brian Gavin Diamonds does, simply because their diamonds are not 'in house' and nobody looks at them before shipping to you, whereas the vendors I mentioned offer images of the actual diamond, plus ASET, Hearts & Arrows images, Idealscope, and can tell you that an SI1 or SI2 stone is 'eye clean' (i.e. no visible inclusions from a certain distance) to their standard. For example:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-104052896003

vs.

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?pt=setform#diamonds_pid=LD02163722

It's a drawing and a sample photo vs. actual diamond images.

 

[marcy]

You can get quality settings and diamonds from either place. I'll be up front here that I am a Shane Company customer and admit you have to look through a lot of diamonds to get to the cream of the crop (by PS Standards) but I have found their service and upgrade policy to be worth it to me. I've bought 3 diamonds from them now; 2 AGS0 and 1 GIA EX. What I did when I bought my last 2 diamonds was search through their diamonds online and considered only the GIA EX and AGS0 stones they offered. You can go view the certificates online and decide which ones they have in stock worth considering. Then I contacted my local store about what diamonds they had in their store and went to see them. Once I got there I looked only at their Shane Classic stones all of which were beautiful diamonds but the ones other than GIA or AGS were not nice enough for my ering (not naked eye just what I saw in the loupe). I believe their overall quality of diamonds and gemstones is better than a mall jewelry store. Their sapphires and rubies are gorgeous. The reason I keep going back is because I love the fact they will fix anything wrong with my jewelry free with no questions asked. As for their upgrade policy, you have to spend a $1.00 more than you paid on the original loose stone (diamond or gemstone) which I've done several times now and they couldn't be nicer about it. Yes, you can find an AGS0 or GIA EX online at a cheaper price but I'll pay a bit more to have the ability to drop off and pick up my jewelry in person with free repairs and resizing and knowing I can easily upgrade my stones any time I want. If you buy the setting from the Shane Company and the diamond from elsewhere - they will charge you a setting fee based on carat weight but then their warranty covers loss of the original stone as long as you get it checked with them every 6 months.

I can't wait to see what you get.

 

[MayFlowers]

What I did when I bought my last 2 diamonds was search through their diamonds online and considered only the GIA EX and AGS0 stones they offered. You can go view the certificates online and decide which ones they have in stock worth considering.

This. If you want to keep the transaction in one place, you will need to search through their online inventory. They do list GIA numbers and occasionally you will find an AGS stone that isn't a Shane Classic. It takes a little more work because you have to check the report and then plug the numbers into the HCA and/or AGA tools. But, that can help you narrow the field down to a few stones you can have called in to your local store and then check them out with your eyes. I am a customer of Shane Co. and have had nothing but great experiences. Obviously they aren't going to give you the same level of expertise and advice you would get from say Whiteflash or BGD. But, if you know what you are looking for, you can get a great stone from them. Plus, you get the convenience of walking in to a store to get repairs, resizing, rhodium plating, etc. done.

You could also do like the PP's have said, get the stone from Blue Nile if you are more comfortable with that and then have the stone set at Shane Co. They charge $3 per point to set a diamond. So, if it's a one carat stone, you will pay $300 to set it at Shane Co. If you go with this option, I would definitely make sure you get insurance on the loose stone before getting it set.

 

[pmbspyder]

I would do the opposite. I would have the vendor you buy the stone from set it for you. You have a lot more to lose if shane co damages your stone than you do if bluenile damages your setting. If you have insurance it may not matter to you either way. Also, $3 per point is on the much more expensive side I've seen. WF sets for $100, and GOG sets for $1 per point. I did what you did because I found the perfect setting and stone at different places, and it was recommended to me to have the diamond vendor set it themselves. Good luck!

 

[smoothsailing]

You could also do like the PP's have said, get the stone from Blue Nile if you are more comfortable with that and then have the stone set at Shane Co. They charge $3 per point to set a diamond. So, if it's a one carat stone, you will pay $300 to set it at Shane Co. If you go with this option, I would definitely make sure you get insurance on the loose stone before getting it set.

I just got my Blue Nile stone set at Shane Co., and my store only charged $1 per point to set it.

 

[slg47]

can you post a link to the setting?

I think you can find a diamond that meets your needs at both vendors...I would definitely see what Shane Co. has in terms of diamonds that meet your specs and compare that with Blue Nile (or other online vendors)

 

[marcy]

Another thought about where to get something set. I would pick having the vendor I bought the ring from. Having the diamond mounted somewhere else would probably invalidate any warranty the ring has on it which means sizing, retippining, tightening stones, lost stones, etc are all now out of your pocket.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

can you post a link to the setting?

I think you can find a diamond that meets your needs at both vendors...I would definitely see what Shane Co. has in terms of diamonds that meet your specs and compare that with Blue Nile (or other online vendors)

Yes, you can compare. A couple of my friends both have diamond earrings from the Shane co and they both ended up compromising to get decent stones (one ended up going much smaller and the other ended up shelling out more $). Personally, I would stick with BN.

Good luck.