Blue Nile Review: Everything You Need to Know Before Buying

Finding the perfect diamond engagement ring can often feel overwhelming with so many places to begin your search. One popular destination for many shoppers is Blue Nile. Known for their wide selection of high quality diamonds, is Blue Nile really the right choice for you? In this review, we’ll cover everything you need to know before buying, and our honest opinion. By the end of this, you’ll be equipped to make the right decision if whether Blue Nile is right for you or not.

Let’s jump right in!

Buyer’s Note: In September of 2022, Blue Nile was acquired by James Allen’s parent company, Signet Jewellers.

Short Answer
Blue Nile offers some amazing and high quality diamond engagement rings, but with a higher price tag. This is due to the fact that Blue Nile’s jewelry is handcrafted by skilled artisans in Seattle.

Feature	Blue Nile
Year Founded	1999
Selection	Over 200,000 natural and lab grown diamonds
Customer Support	24/7 support via live chat, phone, and email
Locations	Over 20 showrooms across America
Pricing	10-15% more expensive than comparable retailers
Return Policy	30-day return policy
Warranty Policy	Lifetime warranty on manufacturing defects with complimentary cleaning & inspections
Upgrade Policy	Lifetime upgrades for 100% of the diamond value as long as new purchase is double the price of original diamond
Buyback Policy	Buyback available via Mondiamo-Circa based on market value and cash offer

Table of Contents
• What is Blue Nile? • Selection • Quality • Pricing • Shopping Experience • What Are The Downsides? • Bottom Line Recommendation • Frequently Asked Questions

What is Blue Nile?

Let’s quickly take a look at Blue Nile’s origins.

Founded in 1999 in Seattle, Blue Nile is an online jewelry store for wedding bands, engagement rings, and diamond jewelry.

Unlike many other online jewelry retailers, Blue Nile puts more focus on transparency and education on their website.

You’ll find an education section on their site packed with information to help shoppers make better decisions.

You can expect to find articles about the 4 C’s, various birthstones, how to find your ring size, and more.

From past experience, there’s really only two main ways an online jewelry retailer can stand out from the competition:

1. Having a unique product or feature (virtual try-on, 24/7 customer service, etc.), and/or,

2. Offering jewelry and engagement rings for less

We’ll dive into the unique features and pricing of Blue Nile diamonds in the upcoming sections, but we find that transparency and education aren’t necessarily a ‘WOW’ factor.

Especially when you consider the other resources online (like LifeLineWedding.com) that offer shoppers transparency and education for MANY diamond retailers, and is not specific to a single store like Blue Nile.

So this begs the question… what does Blue Nile really have to offer?

Selection

When taking a look at what Blue Nile has to offer, let’s begin with their selection of diamond engagement rings.

At the time of this article, Blue Nile offers 228,951 natural diamonds and 13,973 lab grown diamonds on their website.

To take things a step further, those diamonds can be placed on 1,361 different engagement ring settings.

In other words, there are a LOT of different engagement ring combinations you can create.

Quality

Now that we know how many diamond engagement rings Blue Nile offers, let’s find out the quality of those diamonds.

All Blue Nile engagement rings are handcrafted by skilled artisans in Seattle.

The quality of a diamond is determined by the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, color, and carat weight).

When shopping for high quality diamonds, we strongly recommend understanding how the 4 C’s affect quality and ultimately, the price of the diamond.

Lucky for you, we’ve already made a simple and easy-to-follow guide to better understand the 4 C’s here.

But can we trust the person or group that verifies the cut, clarity, color, and carat weight of a diamond?

The answer is yes!

All of Blue Nile’s diamonds are certified by the Gemologist Institute of America (GIA), which is one of the most accurate and respected labs in the entire diamond industry.

Related: GIA vs IGI: What’s the difference?

This means when you look at the documentation and characteristics of each diamond at Blue Nile, you can be confident in knowing that the diamond is fairly graded without any bias.

So we’ve established that the quality of Blue Nile’s diamonds are appropriately graded by a reputable institution…

But are the engagement ring settings made of high quality materials?

It depends on what metal settings you choose.

Naturally, a 14k and 18k gold setting will have different features because of the material’s characteristics. The same applies to rose gold or platinum.

The metal settings will be standard across all engagement rings you find from any retailers. In other words, a 14k white gold setting from James Allen will be the exact same to a 14k white gold setting from Blue Nile.

Related: James Allen vs Blue Nile: Which One is Right For You?

The main differentiator will be the craftsmanship behind each engagement ring setting.

This really depends on what setting you choose to go with. In our experience, we loved the craftsmanship and details on the setting.

But we’ve heard from others that the “prongs were blobby” and the “band width was too thin and started to get warped after two years”.

Our recommendation here is to book a virtual appointment with a personal jeweller from Blue Nile to explore options and ask questions regarding how you’d like your engagement ring to look like.

Pricing

We understand how important the price can be to many shoppers. So let’s dive right into it!

In this section, we’ll look at the prices of Blue Nile diamonds compared to other popular online diamond retailers.

Blue Nile vs James Allen

Our first diamond has the following features:

• Color: D

• Cut: Very Good

• Clarity: VVS2

• Carat: 1.00

• Shape: Round

• Type: Natural Diamond

Blue Nile

Price: $6,989 [Click here to view]

James Allen

Price: $6,810 [Click here to view]

James Allen offers the more affordable diamond the same features compared to Blue Nile.

Related: The Truth Behind James Allen: Know This Before You Buy

Blue Nile vs Brilliant Earth

For our second diamond, we’ll compare the following diamond from Blue Nile and Brilliant Earth.

• Color: G

• Cut: Very Good

• Clarity: VVS1

• Carat: 1.30

• Shape: Emerald

• Type: Natural Diamond

Blue Nile

Price: $10,084 [Click here to view]

Brilliant Earth

Price: $9,010 [Click here to view]

Brilliant Earth offers the more affordable diamond compared to Blue Nile.

Blue Nile vs Clean Origin

For our last and final diamond price comparison, we’ll compare the prices between Blue Nile and Clean Origin.

Our diamond will have the following features:

• Color: D

• Cut: Ideal

• Clarity: VS2

• Carat: 0.90

• Shape: Round

• Type: Lab Grown Diamond

Blue Nile

Price: $1,306 [Click here to view]

Clean Origin

Price: $599 [Click here to view]

For lab created diamonds, Clean Origin offers the more affordable alternative compared to Blue Nile.

Related: Clean Origin Review: Are They Trustworthy?

You might be wondering why is Blue Nile more expensive?

The answer is for two reasons:

1. All their engagement rings are handcrafted by skilled artisans in Seattle, and

2. Blue Nile has physical showrooms which cost more money to run than just a website (we’ll talk more about this in the next section)

Shopping Experience

Alright so Blue Nile is the more expensive option amongst competitors.

So what makes Blue Nile worth it?

The answer lies in their shopping experience.

Unlike James Allen and Clean Origin, Blue Nile has multiple physical showrooms for shoppers to visit and learn more about diamonds and engagement rings.

Related: Looking for a James Allen store location? Here’s where to find them.

There are over 20 different showrooms to visit across the country. You can find the full list here.

These showrooms offer visitors a Diamond Experience Program, where people can experience the brilliance of their signature Astor diamonds in person.

Aside from this program, everything else is rather standard for a jewelry showroom.

You’ll find knowledgeable and experienced customer support reps, and you’ll have the opportunity to view and try on multiple engagement ring styles.

You can also build your own custom engagement ring directly in the showroom to be eventually shipped free-of-charge to the showroom or directly to you.

On the digital side, Blue Nile offers virtual appointments for shoppers to ask questions and get advice from one of their professional jewellers.

Another great feature they offer is 24/7 customer support and the ability to reach out to them via WhatsApp.

What Are The Downsides?

Blue Nile has a few downsides that we feel are worth mentioning.

For starters, their return policy is only 30 days.

We typically find that the “high” feeling of having an engagement ring after a proposal blinds most people from realizing the flaws in their right, and lasts more than 30 days.

Most couples may begin to realize a better ring would have suited them after the 45-60 day mark. But a 30 day return policy isn’t bad either — we just wish it was longer.

For example, Clean Origin offers a 100-day return policy.

And the second downside is the price.

As we’ve mentioned before in the pricing section, Blue Nile has multiple physical showrooms that need to pay for rent, maintenance, utilities, and more. As a result, these expenses are factored into the price for diamond engagement rings and will cost more.

Bottom Line Recommendation

What’s a Blue Nile review without a recommendation?

To sum it all up,

• Blue Nile offers 228,951 natural diamonds and 13,973 lab grown diamonds

• They focus more on transparency and education

• Their loose diamonds are all GIA certified

• Their engagement rings are handcrafted by skilled artisans in Seattle

• They have over 20 locations across The United States

• They are 10-15% more expensive than competitors

Our bottom line recommendation is that Blue Nile offers some amazing and high quality diamond engagement rings, but with a higher price tag.

Check Current Price

If you’re someone that is willing to pay a premium knowing that your ring is handcrafted in Seattle, then Blue Nile is an excellent choice for your engagement ring.

Or perhaps you value an in person experience more than a virtual one. In that case, Blue Nile would be excellent for you to walk in and experience their brilliant diamonds.

Or perhaps you’re someone that appreciates a company like Blue Nile that makes education and transparency a priority for shoppers to make an educated decision.

But if none of those categories appeal to you, then perhaps Blue Nile may not be the best fit for you or your loved ones.

You can find affordable and high quality diamond rings online at other places like James Allen or Clean Origin.

Related: James Allen vs Clean Origin: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Or if you really enjoy an in person shopping experience and don’t have a budget in mind, then perhaps Tiffany & Co. may be a better alternative.

Related: Best Tiffany Engagement Rings Under $5000

At the end of the day, shopping at Blue Nile is a convenient and informative experience — but it may not be for everyone.

We recommend thinking about what is important to you.

Is it the price tag, the 24/7 customer service, the large variety of loose diamonds, an in person shopping experience? Or perhaps you need a return policy longer than 30 days.

Knowing what is important for you will help you in finding the perfect engagement ring for you and your loved one.

Frequently Asked Questions