Is it safe to buy a
Blue Nile engagement ring online?  If you’re a smart shopper and have been doing your online research on engagement rings, you can’t have looked for too long before coming across Blue Nile.  It was founded in 1999 and bills itself as the leading online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry.  But, do they live up to the  hype?

You have to get over the hurdle of the fact that you are buying an engagement ring sight unseen.  So, you really need to be able to trust who you are buying from.  There are two things that make Blue Nile pretty trustworthy.  The first is that they offer a 30 day return policy.  If you aren’t happy with the ring, just send it back.  As long as it’s not damaged or showing signs of wear, they will take it back.  The second thing is that they have received good ratings from other companies.  They have been  named Forbes Favorite Jeweler every year since 2000.  Positive articles have been written about Blue Nile in the New York Times, Kiplinger, The Economist, Business Week and Fortune magazines.

Price is of course something that you want to factor into your decision.  Luckily Blue Nile can offer lower prices than you would find in your local mall or shopping center.  Since Blue Nile doesn’t own any retail stores, they have low overhead.  They have an office in Seattle and a warehouse outside of town.  They don’t have to pay salaries and benefits to a sales force.  Also, they buy diamonds in huge quantities.  Blue Nile buys around $170 million worth of diamonds a year, which is more than just about anyone else in the jewelry business.  One study showed that Blue Nile offered its rings for 35 percent less than a comparable ring at a retail store in the mall.  Sometimes, their purchasing power is so great that they can offer a ring at a price that is less than what a smaller jeweler would pay at wholesale.

Since Blue Nile buys in such large quantities, they have a huge inventory of diamonds.  Looking for a big stone?  They’ve got it.  Want something more modest?  They’ve got plenty of stones like that too.  If you want a diamond cut that is something besides a round brilliant, you’re in luck.  Princess cuts, emerald, asscher, marquis, radiant, pear, cushion… They have them in stock ready to ship to you.

Another thing that Blue Nile has going for it is the fact that when you’re browsing their website, there’s no pressure.  There are some retail stores that use high pressure tactics to try to make a sale.  At these stores, there’s no such thing as casually browsing or taking time to do your research.  At Blue Nile, you can take hours, days or weeks to make a decision when browsing their site.  No salesperson is ever going to pressure you to buy.

The whole buying process at Blue Nile is completely transparent.  You can change the shape of the diamond, its color, cut and clarity and see how the price will change.  Not sure if you can afford a platinum band instead of a white gold one?  With a few clicks of your mouse, you can see how that changes your bottom line.  In a retail store, you’d have to settle for what they had in stock (which of course would be nowhere near Blue Nile’s inventory) and you’d have to wait for the salesperson to search by hand through their inventory.  This is time consuming enough at one store.  Imagine how long it would take if you had to go from store to store, because no one had what you were looking for.

When you buy an engagement ring from Blue Nile, it comes in a lacquered wooden box.  Free FedEx shipping is included with every order.  If you spend less than $500, it ships with two day shipping.  Over $500 and you get free Priority Overnight shipping.  They ship to APO/FPO by free USPS priority mail and international orders ship by free FedEx International priority.

So, taking all of these things into consideration, is Blue Nile a safe bet?  Maybe the best answer comes from their customers.  Blue Nile now sells more engagement rings than Tiffanys, which was formerly the gold standard.  If you visit their site, you can read 70, count em 70 pages of satisfied customer testimonials.  Smart engagement ring shoppers know they can get a high quality ring at a low price by shopping at Blue Nile.

Click here to visit Blue Nile’s website.

An alternative to shopping at a local jewelry store is looking for engagement rings online. Of course, if you are going to buy something this expensive online, you have to make sure you are buying from a reliable retailer. We’ve reviewed the many online jewelers out there and selected the two that stand out from the rest.

Blue Nile

(Click here to go to the Blue Nile website.)
Blue Nile is Forbes magazine’s pick as “Forbes Favorite” jeweler. This means that it is on the top of Forbes list of their “Best of the Web” picks.

Blue Nile has a large inventory of diamonds, with over 35,000 to choose from. All of their diamonds come with a grading report from GIA or AGSL. They only carry stones with colors ranging from D-J and clarity from IF-SI2.

You can customize your ring through their easy to use search tool. You first start out by selecting the shape and price range you are looking for. You then can narrow down your selection by specifying the cut, color, clarity and carats you are looking for. They also offer financing.

They will ship your ring insured FedEx Priority Overnight for free. The ring comes inside a nice looking lacquered wooden ring box and a gift card is included.

Blue Nile offers a 30 day return policy which allows you to return any diamond or ring that you have bought (without custom engraving) for a full refund or exchange.

Amazon.com

(Click here to go to Amazon’s Wedding and Engagement store.)

Amazon also has a large selection of diamonds. Many of their stones have GIA or AGS reports, but you should check to make sure the one you are looking at has one.

You start your search by selecting the shape of the stone, the carat size, the metal for the band and then the setting. You then can narrow down your choices by selecting color, clarity and cut.

Amazon will ship your ring for free, however it will cost you more to have it shipped overnight. The ring comes inside a nice looking wooden box.

Amazon’s return policy offers a full refund within 30 days of purchase which makes looking for engagement rings online much easier.