You’re not really going to spend all that money on a designer ring are you? You know there’s better alternatives that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, right? You do realize you can find engagement and wedding rings with better cut, color, and carats for a fraction of the price, right?
In case you’ve been living under a rock (that’s a diamond joke), designer brands like Tiffany & Co. (sometimes called Tiffany Co. or Tiffany) are notorious for selling overpriced engagement rings to shoppers who don’t know any better.
Luckily for you, with some help from this article, you will know better.
| If you’re in a hurry, our best suggested alternative is James Allen |
Best Alternatives to Tiffany & Co.
In this article, we’ve curated some of the finest alternatives to Tiffany Co for your next diamond ring. In our opinion, there’s quite a lot of options but we’ve narrowed it down to the top three best alternatives on the market right now.
Let’s dive into each in more detail…
James Allen
Wherever we go, we’re huge advocates for James Allen. If you’ve done some research and/or are familiar with the overall diamond market, then you probably already know that James Allen is a household name for bridal jewelry. In our experience, the best alternatives to Tiffanys jewellery is James Allen.
Related: The Truth Behind James Allen – Know This Before You Buy
Bestseller
Pros
- Affordable prices
- Large selection of diamonds
- High range of customizability
- Diamond Display Technology
- 40x magnification on images
- 24/7 customer support
- Free shipping worldwide
- 1 year free resizing
- Lifetime upgrade
Cons
- Delayed shipping
- No free international return shipping
- No reservations
Price
Let’s start with the main reasons James Allen blows Tiffany out the water. Since James Allen is an online shop (there’s two physical showrooms but shoppers are still encouraged to purchase online), this means there’s no rent, utilities, and physical maintenance to pay for.
Read also: James Allen vs Tiffany: The Answer May Surprise You
This in return means James Allen can carry lower markups on their diamonds, earrings, bracelets, etc.
For almost every reason that Tiffany sells jewelry for a higher price (as mentioned previously), James Allen can sell jewelry for a significantly cheaper price by doing the opposite of a brick and mortar store.
At James Allen, you can expect to find responsibly sourced diamonds and other ethically sourced materials at a fraction of the price as several designers.
Read also: How To Use James Allen’s Virtual Ring Try On Feature
Like we’ve mentioned before, if two diamonds are identical (cut, carat, clarity, and color is equal), it only makes sense to go for the stone with the lower markup despite the brand.
“But Life Line Wedding, if you purchase from a reputable brand even if it costs more, doesn’t that mean you’ll always get support in case something goes wrong?”
That’s a great (and common) question which we’ll cover in this next part.
Post-purchase care
In this age of online shopping, purchasing an engagement ring online doesn’t mean you forego the benefits of a brick and mortar store like Tiffany. In fact, you’re likely to get more benefits — even after you purchase your diamond ring.
Read also: The Dark Side of James Allen: Unveiling Complaints
At James Allen, even after purchasing your jewelry, you can expect the following:
24/7 Customer support
Lifetime warranty
Free shipping worldwide
Hassle-free returns
1 Year free resizing
Lifetime upgrade
Right off the bat, Tiffany does not offer 24/7 customer support the same way James Allen does. So if you have a question or an issue with your ring at 3am, well good luck waiting until the business hours for them to get back to you.
Okay so their pricing is better and their post-purchase care is better than Tiffany. How’s the quality on those stones? Let’s get into that next.
Quality
Now a cheaper engagement ring does not mean lower quality. In fact, James Allen is probably a global leader for quality jewellery.
By filtering to certain cuts, carats, color, clarity, and certifications for diamonds, they’re a great place to find your perfect piece with the same high end feel as Tiffany.
You can get very specific with the filters to find the stones that are perfect for you. Not to mention with the Diamond Display Technology, you can view diamonds in 360 degrees with 40x magnification.
Even taking it a step further, James Allen lets you virtually wear their diamond jewellery on your smartphone with their Virtual Ring Try-On tool using augmented reality.
So rest assured, you will find high quality diamonds in multiple styles at the comfort of your house.
You can check out our full review of James Allen here.
Clean Origin
Clean Origin is a bit of a unique online retailer given they’ve only been in the industry since 2017. But despite being so new to the world of jewelers, they operate as a high value brand and as a great alternative to Tiffany.
Environment
Right off the bat, Clean Origin prides itself on offering shoppers with lab-created diamond jewelry. And for every purchase made, they plant a tree.
Read also: James Allen vs Clean Origin: Head-to-Head Comparison
Although Tiffany has mentioned their diamonds are also conflict-free and source their diamonds from countries that participate in the Kimberley Process, there’s currently no incentive like the plant a tree for every purchase incentive that Clean Origin has.
For many shoppers that care for the environment and want to be certain their jewelry is conflict-free, Clean Origin is a great alternative to Tiffany where you can feel confident knowing you’re purchasing conflict free diamonds and ethically sourced fine jewelry.
Design studio
Similar to many other online diamond jewelers, Clean Origin offers a design studio to customize your own ring with additional access to speak with a diamond expert.
They offer one of the widest varieties of diamond engagement rings including solitaire, halo, classic, and vintage.
In addition, they also have a large selection of diamond shapes which range from round to pear to marquise to heart shaped.
You can mix-and-match various versions of your perfect ring however your heart desires.
In the market for a ring? Take a look at our article for Engagement vs. Wedding rings to see if you really need both.
Zales
Zales is quite an interesting company. They’re not to be confused with your local Pandora store at a nearby mall but since they’re owned by the same parent company as James Allen, it’s only fair we included them in this list.
Price
It’s pretty clear by now that shopping online for jewelry like gemstones, bracelet, pendants is way better as compared to a physical brick and mortar store for factors like price. Without a doubt, Zales has take advantage of this fact and offers one of the lowest possible prices we’ve seen for jewelry.
Zales offers large discounts and sales (hence the name) on their wide selection of jewelry, specifically on their Zales Outlet website. To make things even more affordable, they offer a lease purchase program and a buy-now-pay-later program.
In Store Experience
Now I know we mentioned earlier that online shopping is the way to go, but if you really do need a physical store for any reason, Zales offers exactly that.
There’s approximately 29 locations in New York alone and tons more throughout the country. It’s important to note that Zales has a larger selection online that you can have delivered directly to you at no minimum cost, or via curb-side pickup at one of their retail locations.
When it comes to their in store experience, it pairs well with their digital experience where you can browse through catalogs of necklaces, gemstones, brilliant earth diamonds, pendants, with materials like gold, silver, and platinum, along with a diamond expert/consultant in-person.
So if you’re looking for a jewelry shop with a great offline and online presence, a large selection of rings and diamonds, and something that won’t break the bank, we highly suggest you check out Zales.
Why Tiffany & Co. Is Overpriced
Before we ask ourselves why Tiffany Co is overpriced, we have to look into their beginnings.
Founded in 1837 in good ol’ New York City, Tiffany pioneered the fine jewelry movement amongst all jewelry stores. They eventually became a household name where quality craftsmanship was at the forefront of their diamond jewelry.
Now that we have some background information, let’s fast forward to today. When you purchase fine jewelry from Tiffany, you’re likely paying for the physical brick and mortar store’s rent, electricity bill, utilities, general up-keeping, staff wages. And with the rising cost of inflation, those costs are getting even more expensive.
This means these costs are transferred to the consumer in the form of a high price tag on things like engagement rings, wedding bands, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and other luxury goods.
For a very long time, their rich history became their value proposition to justify their high price tag. However, we no longer live in the 20th century — we’re now in the digital era which means more competition for jewelry stores to offer consumers great customer service, high quality diamond jewelry, and various precious metals at an affordable price.
Online jewelry stores don’t need to pay for things like rent, electricity, utilities, and physical maintenances. What does that mean for their consumers? It means they get a much smaller price tag on the same beautiful engagement rings that they would find at a designer store like Tiffany.
Related: Best Engagement Rings Over $50000
With many online stores offering more customizability, 24/7 customer support, larger selections, and being able to view various high end jewelry from the comfort of your home, purchasing your next diamond jewelry online might make the most sense for many consumers.
After all, the quality and cut on a 1 carat VVS2 diamond won’t differ much from an online jewelry store versus one from Tiffany Co. So all things considered, it just makes more sense to shop online these days.
Final Thoughts
To sum it all up, in this day and age, there’s no reason why anyone should have to pay for such a large premium on designer rings.
With the amount of research and knowledge the average consumer has these days, the market has become a lot more competitive and stores are now offering more value for the same price (and sometimes less) than popular designer stores.
As always, for the best all-rounded diamond store, our top contender is James Allen. You can check out their full review here.
Taking care of your ring after you purchase one is just as important as buying one in the first place. Check out our guide to Cleaning Your Ring At Home Professionally.
