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Yea just got mine from brilliant earth-no real issue and saved more than 50% from going to a real store.
Buy from Costco. High quality with low markups, and a generous return policy. Tons of selection on their website
That return policy could come in handy
Rising Star
I did it through USAA a decade and a half ago and it was a good experience. Diamond grading is pretty set if it’s GIA or AGS.
FWIW, I should have listened to my wife and got her CZ.
Rising Star
My wife refers to her ring as a trip to Australia, aka how she would have rather spent that money
James Allen
Saved a ton getting the engagement ring and bands from James Allen.
I think I got a Lab Grown (fakey) on James Allen and then brought it to a local place to be set in a ring we picked out. The hard sell on real diamonds is hilarious. Laugh in their faces.
Pro
CZ ≠ Lab Grown, but literally no one knows nor cares aside from you, the recipient, and nosy friends.
We went to a jeweler, he laid out ~12 loose stones and asked us which ones looked best.
We'd pick one, and he'd push it off to the side and tell us what type of stone it was. Our top 4 happened to be CZ. After those the stone type varied, but the difference was completely indistinguishable. If anything, the CZs looked better. Idk why he sold us down, but I'm guessing there's more markup on the settings than the stones.
Also went with James Allen. Did a lot of research and shopping on rare carat and went into brilliant earth retail location to see what different sizes looked like in person. Was planning on purchasing via brilliant earth (purchase online, ship to their store for pick up) but James Allen just had way more inventory, and it updated more often. Found a great deal on a diamond in my range so pulled the trigger. Also liked that I was able to customize a setting/band on James Allen and it only took a couple weeks. BE was several months for that IIRC. Pro tip - get it insured right away, and have it shipped to a friend/family member if you live with your SO. James Allen also does free resize within 1 year and partners with Jared the Galleria of Jewelry so you can just bring it to one of their locations for a resize rather than worry about shipping 2 ways.
Awesome this is helpful thanks for the reply.
Pro
Yup, blue nile
Blue Nike
Pro
Costco has some great pricing
+1 for Costco. Got a beautiful engagement ring from here.
James Allen!
I did ritani and absolutely no regrets. Have since bought several other jewelry pieces from them and James Allen, phenomenal
Second Ritani
I think I’m the 4th person to recommend James Allen! My SO and I got a gorgeous lab grown diamond there. Looks like a 12k diamond (1.4 ct, very high up in the other Cs, and the most sparkly cut), but it was $4k
Go to Etsy — I know I was surprised too but they have gorgeous engagement rings and you can design and customize them yourself too. I’m in the process of designing my fiancées band and the choices are endless.
Bill Nye
Pro
Rarecaret.
I bought a ring online from Robbins Brothers and have found both their service and quality to be really good. Probably cheaper at other online retailers, but having both in store and online made me feel comfortable in case I needed to do any resizing or returns.
Yeah bought an engagement ring from blue Nile, best decision I ever made. Great quality and great price
In person at a reputable dealer is best! That’s what I did and they will give you reputable stones for reasonable prices if they are good!
I got one from Brilliant Earth - if you care about not getting a Blood Diamond etc.
Not getting a blood diamond is a nice bonus but my real care is value, quality, and ease of purchase.