Everybody is nowadays buying stuff on the internet no matter what it is. Diamonds and engagement rings are no different. This part of my website is specifically dealing with online diamond store reviews.
If you want to buy diamonds online you will find innumerous websites offering their services. Most likely you are not buying diamonds and engagement rings on a regular basis and so you might not have a clue where to buy diamonds.
At most diamond online stores you will be able to legitimately buy diamonds or engagement rings but there are also some scams out there you need to avoid. But although most diamond online stores are not scams and this in and of itself is not such a big problem, the issue is much rather if you will be able to make a good purchase. And this will come down to the quality of the online store and the kind of services it offers. I have checked out most diamond online stores for you so you can know what to expect from every single online vendor.
What to look out for in a diamond online store
The most important aspect you should be looking out for is how much you get to see of the diamond you are about to buy. Buying diamonds online offers huge price advantages but these advantages would be quickly set off if you did not know what kind of diamond you will be getting. After all, you can see the diamonds you are about to buy in a conventional brick and mortar store.
For this reason it is important that you get to see as much of the diamond as possible. Just knowing about the cut, carat weight, clarity and color of the diamond is simply not enough. It will not give you an idea of what the diamond actually looks like. This issue is particularly important for clarity grades but also for example to check whether an oval diamond exhibits an bowtie effect or not.
A really good diamond online store should not provide some generic image or some animated image of a diamond. It should provide high definition photos of all its diamonds. And it should provide it from as many different angles as possible or better yet provide videos of its diamonds. This way you can be sure that the diamond store is not hiding anything from you.
You should easily be able to access a grading report and it should be a grading report by either GIA or AGS.
And there should be a customer service in place who can answer all of your questions instantaneously just as in an offline store.
James Allen is the only vendor which offers high definition 360 ° videos of all the diamonds in its inventory and also has an excellent customer service. Go see it for yourself now!
I highly encourage you to check out my post on the best places to buy an engagement ring online!
Advantages of buying diamonds online
The biggest advantage of buying diamonds online is that online stores do not have to hold their own inventory of diamonds. An online store can simply list a diamond of one of its suppliers and still provide you all the information that you need. Online stores also don’t have to pay for fancy showrooms and for their salesforce.
And this means heavily reduced costs which can then be passed on to you. And in fact when comparing online and offline prices you will see that offline vendors charge around 30% – 70% more for an absolutely comparable diamond with the same 4Cs parameters.
An online store can also offer you a much greater variety of diamonds that you would ever find in an offline store. For rare fancy colored diamonds this means that you get to have some choices which you would hardly have in a regular diamond store.
For regular white diamonds this might at first actually mean too many diamonds because of the phenomenon of the paradox of choice. If humans are faced with too many choices they do not know what to do and become insecure. However, good online shops have many filters to apply so that you can always narrow down your search in a significant way!
The really good online stores can offer you 20x magnified high definition videos of their diamonds. This way you get to see the diamonds even better than in a jewelry store where you would only have a 10x magnification loupe.
Another advantage is also that there is no salesperson standing around you trying to subtly pressurize you into buying a diamond. I used to be a salesperson in brick and mortar diamond store, so I should know what I am talking about 🙂
My online diamond store reviews:
James Allen – The current #1 diamond store
James Allen has revolutionized the online diamond industry. As the first company it has introduced magnified high definition 360 ° videos of ALL its diamonds! This means that you know in advance what you will be getting. Discover why James Allen is currently your number one choice for buying diamonds online!
Blue Nile – The old master who has lost its lead
Blue Nile was the first company to start out in the online diamond business. It is still the company with the largst selection of diamonds and the largest turnover. However, Blue Nile has lost its power and is losing increasing market shares because of customers who are not willing to buy diamonds blindly anymore. Read on to find out why buying a diamond at Blue Nile is not necessarily the best idea.
Brian Gavin – The diamond cutter with an obsession for the perfect diamond cut
Brian Gavin is a 5th generation diamond cutter originating from South Africa and the founder of Brian Gavin Diamonds. Being one of the guys who had a major influence in developing hearts and arrows diamonds, Brian Gavin fully committed himself to sellling only diamonds with the best cut imaginable. Read my in-depth review to find out why Brian Gavin in fact is able to live up to the promises he makes.
Whiteflash Diamonds – Diamond Cut perfection at its best
Whiteflash is the fiercest competitor of Brian Gavin and may easily be considered on par with Brian Gavin. Whiteflash offers Idealscope, ASET and hearts and arrows images for all of its inhouse diamonds. Their signature diamonds “A Cut Above” can be considered among the very best diamonds to be found!
iDiamonds – Setting the focus on cheap and affordable prices
iDiamonds is not the shop where you want to go to get a high performing diamond with the best light performance. But if you don’t like the hussle of sorting through diamonds and just want to have a good diamond for a great price iDiamonds is the place for you! Their diamonds look great and are trimmed towards getting you the best bang for your buck!
Classicengagementring.com – if you want to buy a seriously fancy Engagement ring
The Company name “Classic Engagement Ring” is completely misleading. In fact, classicengagmentring.com offers one of the most fancy ring metal colors and ring settings in the entire industry! Their designs are definitely worth checking out!
Thanks for your informative diamond store reviews. I enjoyed them a lot!
Regards,
Jeff
I am glad you like them, Jeffrey!