Brilliant Earth Review : Is Legit or Scam? 2024

Brilliant Earth is a diamond and jewellery retailer passionate about providing uniquely beautiful, ethically sourced fine jewellery. “Uniquely beautiful diamonds and jewellery” is what you want from any diamond and jewellery store; but does Brilliant Earth actually offer products meeting that description? Also, almost every jeweller claims to provide ethically sourced jewellery; what makes Brilliant Earth different? In the first place, is Brilliant Earth genuine?

Yes, Brilliant Earth is a legit jewellery store. It is not a scam because they will never steal your money or bank details. And you will receive any jewellery you ordered from the store.

But does Brilliant Earth offer quality jewellery or fake?

This Brilliant Earth review will examine Brilliant Earth in order to provide the information that will help you answer these questions and more.

Brilliant Earth review at a glance

• The website is www.brilliantearth.com
• It is a diamond and jewelry company started in 2015
• Is widely known for their “social responsible” philosophy exhibited in ethical sourcing, giving back to mining communities, and more
• Offers a variety of products that includes engagement rings, wedding rings, diamonds, gemstones and jewelry
• Offers the biggest collection of lab created diamonds in the industry
• Operates 7 showrooms in locations within the US, and ships merchandise all over the world
• Offers fast delivery
• Accept returns of some items, with a return window of 30 days from date of shipment
• Offers free shipping and returns (albeit to US, Canadian, UK, and Australian orders)
• Offers complimentary ring resizing (also to US, Canadian, UK, and Australian orders)
• Customer support is available via live chat, e-mail (support@brilliantearth.com), and telephone (+1 800-691-0952)

What is Brilliant Earth? – Background

Brilliant Earth is a jewellery store that was started in 2005. Like most set-ups, Brilliant Earth was started after a failure to find the desired item. Beth Gerstein could not find an engagement ring that represented her high conflict-free values; in came Eric Grossberg who shared those values, and had even completed research on the subject.

The two teamed up, and Brilliant Earth was birthed, with a mission to not only provide quality diamonds and jewellery, but also to cultivate a more transparent, sustainable, and compassionate jewellery industry.

In other words, there should be no compromise between quality and conscience. In their about 14 years of existence, Brilliant Earth says has championed socially responsible jewellery business operation, that they easily stand out as the leader in ethically sourced fine jewellery.

Brilliant Earth has retail outlets and showrooms in 7 cities in the US – San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Washington DC, and Boston. Also, the 7 locations are appointment-only showrooms; that is, you’ll have to book an appointment to visit.  

If you want in-store shopping, you’ll have to be resident close to these outlets or be ready to do some travelling if you’re to buy from Brilliant Earth. Also, unlike some online jewellery retailers, Brilliant Earth does not partner with local jewellers to increase their physical reach. Thus, Brilliant Earth does not come out as the best brand for in-store shopping.

Is Brilliant Earth Legit and Safe?

Brilliant Earth is a legit and also safe jewellery store. You’ll be sharing your personal data as well as transaction (especially credit card) detail when you buy from an online jeweller. Thus, you’ll want a safe store that will safeguard this sensitive data and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

Brilliant Earth also does very well in this regard. The company uses technical security measures which include SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology. SSL creates a private connection between buyer (your devices) and the seller (Brilliant Earth’s servers) ensuring that whatever information is transmitted is shielded from third parties; the data is also encrypted before being sent through the channels, ensuring that even if captured, it cannot be decoded and read. That said; it’s safe to say that Brilliant Earth is safe.

Stores Like Brilliant Earth:

Below are some of the online stores like Brilliant Earth

• BlueNIle.com
• JamesAllen.com
• Fashionnova.com

Brilliant Earth Philosophy

Ethical Sourcing

Brilliant Earth is the industry leader for ethically earth diamonds. In fact, ethical sourcing is one area where Brilliant Earth stands out. According to the company, whereas the other diamond and jewellery retailers provide “conflict-free” diamonds, Brilliant Earth provides “beyond conflict-free” diamonds.

If you’re wondering what the difference is; they explain that the Kimberly process which most jewellers follow narrowly defines conflict-free diamonds as “diamonds that finance rebel movements against organized movements”.

However, besides financing rebel movements, diamond mining is plagued by a host of other ethical abuses.  Because the definition of “conflict diamond” is too narrow, there are situations where diamonds are technical “conflict free”, but tainted with these ethical abuses such as violence, human right abuses, environmental degradation, and other issues.

That said; the “beyond conflict-free” diamonds take all of these issues into consideration; and the diamonds in this category will have origins that do not involve:

• financing of rebel movements
• degradation of the environment
• violating human rights
• the throwing away of responsible labor practice (fair wages, safe working conditions, etc)

Brilliant Earth is able to provide these “beyond conflict free” diamonds by understanding their supply chain; they carefully select suppliers who demonstrate adherence to their high standards of sourcing, and they create and employ processes to track the origins of their diamonds.

The diamonds available in Brilliant are sourced from Canada, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa; and the mines that these stones come from are committed to the highest possible environmental and human rights standards.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Brilliant Earth being socially responsible goes beyond ethical sourcing; the company also has a strong policy of giving back to diamond mining communities. Brilliant Earth’s giving includes:

• Improving livelihood
• Preventing abuse
• Protecting the environment
• Empowering communities

For example, Brilliant Earth donates 5% of net profits to mining communities, not limited to the communities in which they operate. One of such example of “giving back” is the Brilliant Mobile School initiative – A primary school program that brought primary education to children (aged 7 – 14) in a rural diamond mining community in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who may have otherwise accompanied their parents to the Lungudi mines

Brilliant Earth also support and donate to programs dedicated to improving human rights and environmental practices in the diamond and jewelry industry. For example, the company supported the Center for Research and Development in their efforts to monitor mines, report abuses, and advocate for local communities. The company has also helped in land restoration efforts to make former mining areas suitable for agricultural and other uses. It was to that effect that the company partnered with One Sky (an environmental non-profit organization) as well as the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone. There have also been community empowering efforts which include: building community centers for local mining communities, funding youth leadership training, and providing essential medical aid.

That said; it can be seen that Brilliant Earth appeals to the conscientious or socially responsible diamond shopper.

Features

The Website

The online store can be found at www.brilliantearth.com. The website is available in English Language. It’s a very intuitive site that has everything in the right places. You’ll be able to go to the product categories, select a product into the shopping cart, and complete checkout without hassles.

Also, for each item you select, you’ll have detailed descriptions, which include grading reports and product images. If you need additional images of an item, you can request this. The video technology which has revolutionized product viewing in the diamond industry is also employed by Brilliant Earth. You’ll find almost all the diamonds available with 360⁰ video viewer, in which the stones can be viewed in zoomed slow motion video. You’ll be able to see the stone from every angle, just as when physically examining it in an in-store purchase.

Eco-friendly Diamonds

Because of Brilliant Earth’s passion for ethical sourcing, they offer eco-friendly diamonds such as lab created and recycled diamonds. It’s been documented that mining devastates the environment, so these diamonds are obtained without mining (read: devastating the environment).

Lab Created Diamonds – As their name suggests, these diamonds are grown in the labs. Since they are obtained without mining, there is no devastation of the ecosystem. Thus, they are eco-friendly, and meet even the widest definitions of conflict-free diamonds. However, even very skilled gemologist cannot tell the difference between the natural diamonds and the lab created diamonds. These diamonds have the same physical, chemical, and optical characteristics as the mined natural diamonds; they exhibit the same fire, sparkle and scintillation. What is more, the eco-friendly lab created diamonds are less expensive than their mined natural counterparts.

Recycled Diamonds – As their name suggests, these diamonds are gotten from previous stones that were originally mined. However, they are eco-friendly because no new mining is required for Brilliant Earth to make the stones available. Also, it’s not recycling in the true sense of the word. The recycled diamonds are simply harvested from vintage rings, and from returns (especially those from customers who need a diamond upgrade).

Packaging

You don’t want your symbol of love to come to you in a package that is anything less. Thus, “packaging” has become an important consideration when looking at diamond and jewelry stores.

Protecting the environment is an essential element of the philosophy of Brilliant Earth, so they have adopted a “green” eco-friendly packaging. Their items come in a unique wooden boxes handcrafted in New Zealand. Mind you, these packaging boxes are not green-focused unattractive boxes; rather they are exquisite beautiful boxes. In the wooden brown box which can be snapped open like every other packaging in the industry, you’ll find the ring nestling in white velvet. Thus, the packaging of Brilliant Earth has everything you’ll find in the packaging employed by other jewelers, plus the advantage of being eco-friendly.

Temporary Settings

There’s nothing like a surprise proposal; however, if you want your partner to choose the setting she loves, it’ll let the cat out of the bag and spoil the surprise. Thus, keeping the announcement a surprise, and having your partner make her choice of setting shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.

However, Brilliant Earth solves this conundrum with their “temporary setting” offer. Once you have zeroed in on a diamond, you can have Brilliant Earth mount it on a “classic 18K White Gold 2mm Comfort Fit to form a solitaire engagement ring”. You can then use the ring for your proposal. After the proposal, you can return the temporary setting; and then you and your partner can proceed to pick the desired setting.

You’ll have 60 days (from the day of purchase) to return the temporary setting. This will be enough time to arrange your proposal, and return the temporary setting. Also, the service comes at a cost of $75. Upon purchase of the temporary engagement ring (diamond + temporary setting), a $75 refurbishment fee is deducted from the purchase price of the temporary setting, and the remaining balance will be credited towards the purchase of the new settings.

Free Lifetime Diamond Upgrade

If you have a Brilliant Earth loose diamond but want a bigger stone from the company, you need not cough out the full money for the new stone. With the “Free Lifetime Diamond Upgrade”, you can simply exchange the former (smaller) stone for the bigger one. You’ll get credit equivalent to the original purchase price, and all you’ll need to pay is the price difference.

However, the new stone must be at least 50% greater value. Also, all loose diamonds being upgraded must be accompanied with original certifications; they must also be undamaged, and in saleable conditions, as many of these will form the bulk of recycled diamonds put up for sale.

Lastly, as is suggested by its name, the lifetime diamond upgrade offer is for only diamonds.  It does not apply to gemstones, or jewelry. However, amongst the diamonds only natural diamonds are eligible for upgrade. That is, the offer does not apply to the lab created diamonds.

Free Lifetime Manufacturing Warranty

The ideal retailer will stand by its products. With their free lifetime manufacturing warranty, Brilliant Earth stands by the quality and craftsmanship of their diamonds and jewelry. If at any time during its use, a Brilliant Earth product is deemed to have a manufacturing fault; you may contact the company, and they repair the warrantied damage, or replace the item without charge.

The only items not covered by this warranty are the vintage products; and it is because the warranty is a “manufacturing” warranty, but vintage products are not manufactured by Brilliant Earth. However, since it’s a manufacturing warranty, it excludes coverage for wear and tear, loss of gemstone, or theft. There should be no worries there, as these issues are typically not covered in manufacturing warranties; however, you might worry that the Brilliant Earth manufacturing Warranty also excludes damage due to a failure to obtain repairs necessary to preserve the integrity of the jewelry.

It should be said that manufacturing warranties are usually sources of disputes between customers and retailers. This happens when the customers deem the issue with their item a manufacturing defect and expect the jeweler to effect repairs free of charge, but the retailer claims the issue is not a manufacturing defect (and hence not covered by the warranty), and quotes a price for the repairs.

It is our opinion that this last item (excluding damage due to failure to obtain certain repairs) can give the company room for classing too many issues as not under the warranty. For example, the issue could be a clear manufacturing issue, but it’ll be said that the issue is one that occurred because necessary repairs were not done. That said, while a lifetime manufacturing warranty is wonderful, the warranty is suspect with that clause (excluding damage due to failure to obtain certain “necessary” repair works).

Another thing of note is that you’ll have to have $50 to exercise the warranty. Before the shipment of the defective item to Brilliant Earth, $50 will be taken from your account. However, after evaluation, if the damage is covered by the warranty, the company will: refund you the money, effect all necessary repairs, and ship the item to you free of charge. However, if the damage is deemed not covered by the warranty, the company will quote you a price for the repairs. Upon approval, the deposit will be applied for the repairs, but if not approved the deposit is applied to shipping the item back to you.

Extended Service Plans

This service is for common wear and tear issues, as well as other issues not covered by the complimentary manufacturing warranty. It’s a 3 year service plan where Brilliant Earth will provide complimentary inspection and cleaning of your new jewelry; and if there’s any damage needing repair, with the “extended service plan”, you’ll only have to pay discounted rates. 

Product Offering

Product Range

When it comes to buying jewelry online, you’ll want a one-stop jewelry retailer, where you can get everything you need. This saves you the time and effort of checking multiple store. Even for stores that seriously narrow their product offering to particular niche; you’ll want the store to provide a wide variety of items within that niche.

Brilliant Earth does well in this regards, as they offer a wide variety of products. Their product categories, and the items you’ll find in each category, are as follows:

• Engagement Rings

You can shop different engagement rings in Brilliant Earth. Like most jewelers, their biggest collection is the diamond engagement rings. To build your special ring; you can start by choosing a setting, and then you can select a diamond that you’ll mount on it. You may also start by choosing a diamond, and then you can select a setting that you’ll mount it on. Since, Brilliant Earth also offers lab created diamonds; you can also start building your engagement ring, by first picking a lab created diamond.

In this category, you can also shop Bridal Sets and custom engagement rings. The engagement rings are available in different styles that include Classic, Halo, Solitaire, Accents, Three Stone, and Vintage inspired

• Wedding Rings

You can shop men and women wedding rings, as well as anniversary rings. The women rings are available in different metals which include Platinum, White gold, Rose gold, and Yellow gold; the men’s rings are also available in all of those metals, including Palladium.

• Diamonds:

Natural Diamonds – The first group of products you’ll find in this category are the Natural Diamonds, which are the regular diamonds sourced from selected mine around the world. You’ll find natural diamonds in all the popular shapes: Round, Oval, Cushion, Princess, Pear, Emerald, Marquise, Asscher, Radiant, and Heart.

If you want fancy colored diamonds, Brilliant Earth also holds natural diamonds having a range of colors which includes yellow (orangy yellow, light yellow, greenish yellow, intense yellow), pink (faint pink, orangy pink),  etc.

Super Ideal Diamonds – If you want natural diamonds with excellent cut precision which would give the very best optical performance, Brilliant Earth has thousands of them in their “super ideal diamonds” section

Lab Created Diamonds – You can also shop from the eco-friendly lab-created diamonds section, for some exquisite stones.

Brilliant Earth also has these lab-created colored diamonds, so you can have these stones in different shades of yellow, pink, blue, and some other fancy colors.

• Gemstones:

Apart from the diamonds, Brilliant Earth also provides different gemstones such as Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Moissanite, Aquamarine, Morganite, and more

• Jewelry:

Brilliant Earth also offers the different types of jewelry – Rings, Earrings and Studs, Necklaces, and Bracelets. These products are available in natural diamond, lab diamond, and gemstones.

The above shows that Brilliant Earth is a brand that has the product; you can visit the store for your engagement and non-engagement jewelry.

Inventory Size

The ideal retail store will not stop at having a variety of products, but will also have a large inventory of each product. With a large inventory in each product section, your selection needs will be served; and when you have a large selection to choose from, you’ll be more likely to find something that matches your taste and preference.

This is one area where Brilliant Earth does not finish anywhere near the podium places. The company holds its own, but does not have the numbers that some other retailers in the industry can boast of.

For example, at the time of writing this review, Brilliant Earth had just over 60,000 loose natural diamonds. Of these, the Super Ideal collection had over 39,000 stones, while the colored diamonds were just 28. Also, in the lab-created diamonds section, there were just over 9,400 stones; and of these, 296 were fancy colored stones.

If you consider that the industry’s inventory leaders have around 200,000 loose diamonds, you’ll see that Brilliant Earth does not even have half the numbers of these leading (in terms of inventory size) jewelers. However, while Brilliant Earth has a relatively smaller inventory, their thousands of options will still be enough to satisfy many buyers.

Product Quality

The fine jewelry that Brilliant Earth promises is modified by “uniquely beautiful” and “ethically sourced”. Brilliant Earth aces the latter with their “beyond conflict free” philosophy, but what about the former? Does Brilliant Earth provide jewelry pieces that are uniquely beautiful, and most importantly timeless?

Brilliant Earth also does well in this regards. Their collection of Super Ideal Diamonds features cut precision that is on par with those of many jewelers in the industry. These and other diamonds in the store are handcraft by expert jeweler in the business, and these stones come with relevant grading reports, and ASET and Idealscope images.

It should be said that Brilliant Earth has some beautifully made settings, especially their vintage-inspired items. In fact, Brilliant Earth specializes in vintage-inspired designs; as such, their vintage pieces are some of the best settings you’ll find in the industry.

In terms of setting, Brilliant Earth does not offer stand-alone settings. Sometimes, customers have a stone already, or want a stone from another store, and will only be visiting a particular store for a setting. However, this is not possible with Brilliant Earth. The company does not provide stand-alone settings or semi-mounts. They explain that this is because their settings are made-to-order, where each one is handcrafted for a center stone with unique characteristics.

Price, Promotions, and Related Policies

Price

No matter how stunning a jewelry piece is, you won’t want to pay what you perceive as unreasonable for it. Thus, the ideal jewelry store should feature pieces that are reasonably priced.

The reasonableness of the prices of items listed in a store can be determined only by comparing them with prices in competing stores. When this is done, Brilliant Earth comes out as competitive, especially for their bigger stones. However, their smaller stones (especially those below 1 carat) tend to be higher in price than stones of the same specs in some of the leading diamond and jewelry stores.

Thus, if you’ll be getting small stones and want the best possible prices, Brilliant Earth might not be the ideal place. But if you want bigger stones, you’ll find that their prices are no different from those of the best-priced jewelers.

Also, one feature you’ll find in stores that focuses on competitive pricing (providing the best prices) is Price Matching. That is, the store will promise to match any lower price you find in another store, as long as the lower-priced stone (in the other store) has the same specs as the stone you’ll be getting in their store. However, Brilliant Earth does not price match

Promotions

Diamonds and related jewelry are high-end products that will require a significant investment. On the other hand, promotions are cost saving options that allow customers to get products for less than the listed price of the items. Thus, it’ll be good to have diamond and jewelry stores run a raft of promotions so that items can be made available at knocked down prices.

Brilliant Earth does not do well in this regard. During the research for this review, we didn’t find any price slashing coupon to apply; and it didn’t appear that Brilliant Earth ran any cost saving offer at any time.

The only thing like an offer that Brilliant Earth was offering at the time of writing is a complimentary Diamond Bezel bracelet for every purchase over $1,000.

Payment Methods

Paying for your orders should be convenient in the ideal online store; and this starts from having different payment options to choose from.

Brilliant Earth does somewhat okay in this regards. They support PayPal, Bank wire, ApplePay and the popular credit cards such as Visa, Master Card, American Express, and Discover Card. However, Bank Wire can be used for only orders over $500; and except the order is shipping to the US, the UK or Australia, a $35 processing fee is charged. Also, credit card payment is only available to customers shipping to the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Other international customers will have to make do with the other payment methods. This would be disappointing to a lot of customers because credit card payment is very popular owing to the convenience it offers.

Financing

If you’ll want a store where you can buy now and pay later; Brilliant Earth is one as they offer some financing plans.

There’s a 12 months no-interest plan via Wells Fargo Jewelry Advantage credit card. As long as the total payment is made within the 12 months promotional period, there’ll be no interest charges, and the total you’ll pay will be the item’s purchase price; but if the total payment is not completed within the 12 months period, you’ll be charged interest at the APR for purchases which is 28.99%. However, this financing plan is available to only US customers.

Another financing opportunity that Brilliant Earth offers is layaway payment, which allows you, after making an initial deposit, to make monthly payments on the purchase. The layaway plan is available to all orders, but you’ll have to contact customer care to request it.

Shipping

Online purchases will have to be shipped to the shipping address (the buyer’s door or another location selected by the buyer where he/ she will take possession of the package). Thus, shipping is an important consideration in online purchases. The most important shipping elements are: shipping destinations, shipping times, and shipping costs.

Shipping Destination

One of the first checks when considering using an online diamond and jewelry store is whether the retailer ships to your territory. This is important because the store serves your desired location, it’ll be difficult to receive delivery of the order.

In this regards, you’ll want a store that ships to many worldwide locations, so that your shipping location will more likely be served.

Brilliant Earth does very well in terms of shipping destinations. This is because the company ships merchandise all over the world.

Shipping Times

Not one diamond or jewelry shopper will want to wait forever to receive his/ her order. Therefore, the ideal online jewelry retailer should offer fast delivery. Since most items are made-to-order, production time are unique to each item. Shipping times are also determined by the location that the product will be travelling to. Thus, estimated delivery times are only displayed at checkout, when the order and the shipping address have been established.

However, Brilliant Earth promises fast production time and shipping to make sure that you’ll not have to wait for too long after placing an order to receive delivery of the items. For example, most shipping takes 2 – 5 business days; while shipping to very distant addresses may take just over two weeks. If you’ve checked reviews of other online diamond and jewelry retailers, you’ll find that the estimated delivery times of Brilliant Earth are relatively fast.

Shipping Costs

The total cost of acquiring anything online consists of the item purchase cost and its shipping costs. Thus, high shipping costs can add significantly to the total acquisition costs. As a result, the ideal online stores will offer shipping costs that are as low as possible.

Brilliant Earth does very well in this regards. The lowest possible shipping cost is zero (that is free shipping), and the company offers this. However, the free shipping offer applies only to orders shipping to the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Shipping to every other country will attract a shipping charge of $50.

That said, limiting the free shipping offer to four countries (US, Canada, UK, and Australia) is a little disappointing because: (i) diamonds and other products in the store are high-end products and complimentary shipping is not too much to ask for (ii) many of the competition ships free of charge to every location that is served.

Returns

There are situations where you’ll not be totally satisfied with your order; and instead of holding on to the unwanted item, you’ll want to return it to the retailer. Thus, the return policy of stores is an important consideration when looking at online stores. Brilliant Earth allows returns; and what follows is a review of their return policy.

Items that can be returned

Brilliant Earth orders that can be returned include all rings, loose diamonds, and all loose gemstone orders. This exclude all personalized items such as; made-to-order or custom items, items that have been engraved or resized, and items that have been previously exchanged.

All items to be returned must be in their original unworn conditions, and must be accompanied by all original documentations. A $250 replacement fee will be charged per diamond certificate not included with the returned item.

Return Window

Returned items are only accepted if the items are received by the retailer within a specified time period. Thus, you’ll want an extended time period so that you’ll not be pressed with time, or run the risk of having your unwanted items rejected by the retailer because of the item(s) getting back to their fulfillment center late.

In this regards, Brilliant Earth offers a return 30 days return window. However, it should be said that the 30 days window does not open on the delivery date, but before. For in-store pick up items, the 30 days return window starts counting the day the item was available for pick up in the selected store; and for items moved to shipping addresses, it starts counting the day the item was made available to ship.

That said; the window is relatively shorter than that of most other retailers in the business. While many of these other retail stores equally offer a “30 days” return window, it only starts counting on the day the customer takes possession of the item.

That said; if you must return a Brilliant Earth order, you’ll have to act fast after receiving delivery of the item, because your return window will already be closing.

Resizing

One of the main reasons for returns of rings is not-fitting sizes; since rings are sized products, it’s quite easy to order something that is either too small or too big. Thankfully, Brilliant Earth accepts returns of rings for resizing.

Also, in the case of resizing, the return window is extended to 60 days (which also starts counting the day the item ships). Thus, you’ll have enough time to try out the ring, and determine that you really have to resize it.

As long the request and return of the original item is within the 60 days window; resizing is complimentary (that is, free of charge). Resizing of items received by Brilliant Earth will attract a resizing fee. Also personalized rings (custom, modified or engraved rings) are subject to resizing fees. While, Vintage rings have only one complimentary resizing. However, Eternity rings cannot be resized.

While, the complimentary resizing is a good offer, it only applies to orders shipped to the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. It’s disappointing that Brilliant Earth’s complimentary resizing offer does not apply to international shipping outside those four countries because: (i) sizing issues is a universal problem (ii) many other jewelry retailers offer resizing services to all orders

Cost of Returns

You won’t want to receive items you are not totally pleased with only to be put off returning them because of the high cost of returns. Thus, you’ll want costs of returns to be as low as possible.

Brilliant Earth does relatively okay in this regards. The lowest possible cost is zero; and Brilliant Earth offers that with free return shipping. You’ll not be charged to ship an item back to the store; and if you want a replacement item, the company will also ship you the replacement item free of charge. 

Even for the complimentary resizing, shipping is free both ways (that is, free inward shipping when returning the wrong-sized ring to the company, as well as free outward shipping when the company is sending you the new right-sized ring).

However, just like the complimentary resizing offer, the free return shipping offer only applies to orders moving to the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Return Process

You don’t want to face a cumbersome return process when you have an unwanted item in your hands. The return process of Brilliant Earth is fairly easy. You’ll have to contact customer support to request a “Return Shipping Authorization Code” (RSAC) as well as a free return label (where applicable). After that, you’ll have to package your item appropriately, clearly write the RSAC on the outside of the return package, and then send the package to the recommended carrier or any other carrier of choice.

Return Processing and Refunds

If you return an item to a retailer for a refund, you’ll not want to wait forever before being refunded. Thus, you’ll want a store that processes returns and issues refunds quickly.

Brilliant Earth ticks the box in this regards. All returned items will pass through quality checks, but the processing is over in approximately seven business days from the date of receipt of the item. If you’ve checked other online jewelers, you’ll find that seven days is one of the fastest returns processing time in the industry.

After return processing, refunds are swiftly issued. All refunds are issued via the original payment method; but where the original purchase was by bank wire or any other supported payment method requiring special processing, refunds will be via checks. Also, it’s a good thing that refunds are as cash to the original payment method and not as store credits; that way, customers will not be forced to use the funds for future purchases in Brilliant Earth, but can choose to go to another store.

Customer Support Service

Customers will always have questions or complaints. Thus, the ideal online jeweler should provide for handling customers’ questions or complaints.

Brilliant Earth has an FAQ page in their website that answers most of the questions that you’ll have about the company, and their products and service. The self-help articles of the FAQ are categorized into: the mission of Brilliant Earth, their products, and placing an order. Their mission category covers such topics as Brilliant Earth’s “beyond conflict free” philosophy, and how Brilliant Earth differs from other jewelers who offer conflict free diamonds. Their products category answers different questions relating to the product offering of the company; while the order placement category answers questions relating to prices, financing, payment methods, other charges, and more.

If you’ll want direct contact with a customer support rep of the company, Brilliant Earth supports email, live chat, and telephone. For the email service, the email address to send you submissions is: support@brilliantearth.com. You’ll have some waiting to do to get a response, and this can take up to 24 hours. For instant feedback, you may use the telephone service or live chat; the telephone number to call is +1 800-691-0952, while the live chat can be accessed from their website.

The support service is available everyday of the week; however, it is not available 24/7. You can only reach the company within 6:00 am – 7:00 pm (PT) on weekdays, and within 7:00 am – 7:00 pm (PT) in the weekends.

Pros:

• Pioneers socially responsible diamond and jewelry industry
• Offers a variety of products that includes engagement rings, wedding rings, diamonds, gemstones and jewelry
• Offers a large selection of eco-friendly lab created diamonds
• Ships merchandise all over the world
• Offers relatively fast delivery
• Offers free shipping (albeit for US, Canadian, UK, and Australian orders)
• Allows returns of loose diamonds, gemstones, and jewelry if made within 30 days of shipment
• Offers free returns and free ring resizing (albeit for US, Canadian, UK, and Australian orders)
• Offers a “temporary settings” feature
• Offers a free lifetime diamond upgrade
• Offers a life time manufacturing warranty
• Refunds processing is relatively fast (seven business days)
• A variety of channels for reaching customer support service (live chat, email, and telephone)

Cons:

• Limited retail outlets/ showrooms; thus, not the best brand for in-store shopping
• Does not provide stand-alone settings; so you cannot buy a stone from another store to mount on a setting from Brilliant Earth
• Has a relatively small inventory of loose diamonds
• Prices (especially for stones under one carat) are a little on the high side
• There are no cost saving offers
• Does not price match unlike many other retailers in the industry
• Payment via credit cards are only available for US, Canadian, UK and Australian orders
• Customer support service is not available 24/ 7

Conclusion

Brilliant Earth is a legitimate diamond and jewellery retailer store with a strong focus on ethical sourcing and giving back. In fact, everything about the company smacks of this philosophy, from their initiatives to their eco-friendly diamonds (lab-created and recycled diamonds) right to their eco-friendly packaging (artfully made wooden boxes). Thus, the company will be appealing to all conscientious and socially responsible shoppers.

However, conscience is not at the expense of quality. Brilliant Earth provides some beautiful jewellery, their diamonds are beautiful and have the relevant quality gradings, their Super Ideal Diamonds will rival any in the industry, and you’ll find some of the best designs among their vintage-inspired settings.

When it comes to service, Brilliant Earth also holds their own: delivery is worldwide and relatively fast; free shipping is offered; free returns is offered with a 30 days window; they stand by their product with a lifetime quality warranty; they offer temporary settings that allow your partner to choose her setting while still keeping your proposal a secret; there are financing options.

It’s almost smooth sailing except for some small knacks, such as their stock being limited, their prices being relatively high (especially diamonds under 1 carats), etc. On the whole, there is little reason why you shouldn’t shop your diamonds and other jewellery in Brilliant Earth.