Clean Origin vs Brilliant Earth: This Might Surprise You

Don’t you hate it when there’s too many options and you can’t seem to make a decision? Don’t worry – us too! We’ve heard great things about Clean Origin and Brilliant Earth when it comes to their lab created diamonds. But which sustainable jewelry retailer is really better? That’s what we’ll cover in this buyer’s guide. So enough talking, let’s jump right into it!

Bottom Line Recommendation
You can’t go wrong choosing between Clean Origin or Brilliant Earth. Both are great options and it comes down to what you really want out of your diamond. If you want an affordable lab diamond with a great online shopping experience, we’d recommend Clean Origin. Or if you want the option to pick between a lab and natural diamond with great customer support, we’d recommend Brilliant Earth.

	Clean Origin	Brilliant Earth
Year Founded	2017	2005
Website	Very comprehensive, intuitive, & easy to use	Very comprehensive, intuitive, & easy to use
Customer Support	Virtual appointments, call, live chat, text, email, or regular mail. Chat hours are Mon-Sat 8:30am-12am EST, and Sun 9am-12am EST	24/7 support via live chat, phone, and email
Selection	Over 65,000 lab diamonds	80,000 lab grown diamonds and 91,000 natural diamonds
Price	More affordable	More expensive
Return Policy	Industry-best 100 day return policy and 100 day free resizing	30 day return policy and 60 day free resizing
Warranty Policy	Free inspections, repairs, replacements, and substitutions for manufacturing defects. A $50 temporary deposit is applied to cover for shipping and evaluation for defects. This fee is refunded for all warrantied repairs. Repairs done by a third-party jeweller will void the warranty	Lifetime warranty with free prong tightening, re-polishing, rhodium plating, & cleaning services at an additional cost
Shipping Policy	Free FedEx overnight shipping for orders in the US	1-5 business days
Upgrade Policy	N/A	Free lifetime diamond upgrades if new piece is 2x price of old ring’s trade-in value (if natural diamond), or 1.5x if lab diamond
Jump to Site	Visit Clean Origin	Visit Brilliant Earth

Here’s what we’ll cover in this guide
• Pricing • Selection • Diamond Quality • Customer Service • Shopping Experience • Clean Origin on Reddit • Brilliant Earth on Reddit • Return Policy • Warranty Policy • Shipping Policy • Upgrade Policy

Clean Origin Overview

“Sustainability” in the diamond industry used to be a word never heard before.

Until Clean Origin make lab created diamonds popular.

These lab grown diamonds took the diamond jewelry industry by storm – offering ethical and sustainable alternatives to traditional mined diamonds.

Read also: James Allen vs Clean Origin: Head-to-Head Comparison

Not to mention that lab diamonds generally cost about 30% less than mined diamonds!

Despite being a young company (founded in 2017), Clean Origin is now one of the leading retailers in lab grown diamond jewelry, with quite possibly one of the largest collection of conflict free diamonds to choose from.

Read also: Clean Origin Review: Are They Trustworthy?

Whether you choose a timeless solitaire look or a more unique design, a lab grown diamond from Clean Origin pulls in the crowd.

Plus, you can always feel good knowing your purchase helped support an environmentally friendly and socially responsible future.

Read also: Clean Origin vs Blue Nile: Which Diamond Retailer Is Better?

Brilliant Earth Overview

Everyone knows engagement rings are a symbol of love and commitment. And no one understands that better than Brilliant Earth.

With their stunning selection of both natural and lab diamonds, they offer couples multiple different ways to find the perfect diamond engagement ring that suits their unique style.

Or take it a step further and find matching wedding rings to pair beautifully with your engagement ring.

With all their loose diamonds being ethically-sourced, their selection reassures couples with a clear conscience in their purchases.

Pricing

To make sure we get an accurate comparison of pricing between Clean Origin vs Brilliant Earth, we’ll compare a diamond from each retailer with the same characteristics.

The characteristics are the following:

• Cut: Ideal

• Clarity: VVS2

• Color: F

• Carat weight: 1.00 ct

• Shape: Round

Let’s take a look at what we can find:

In the image above, we have a lab diamond from Brilliant Earth retailing for $1,600.

And in this image above, we have a lab diamond from Clean Origin for $1,240.

That’s a $360 difference for two similar lab diamonds from each retailer.

Read also: The Dark Side of Clean Origin: Unveiling Complaints

Selection

In this part, we’ll take a look at how many lab and natural diamonds each retailer has.

At the time of this writing, Clean Origin has over 65,000 lab diamonds (and no natural diamonds).

On the other hand, Brilliant Earth has a much larger selection with over 80,000 lab grown diamonds and 91,000 natural diamonds.

Read also: Clean Origin vs Tiffany: You Won’t Believe The Answer

Diamond Quality

Both Brilliant Earth and Clean Origin offer some of the finest quality of diamonds we’ve seen.

Read also: What Are The 4C’s Of Diamond Rings And Why You Should Care

But when it come to lab diamond jewelry, Clean Origin specializes in this and has the quality perfected.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for natural diamonds, Brilliant Earth would naturally be the winner here since Clean Origin doesn’t offer natural diamonds.

Although when it comes to natural diamonds, if you’re looking for a place that has the same great quality diamonds as Brilliant Earth but at a fraction of the price, we’d recommend James Allen.

Read also: Brilliant Earth vs James Allen: What’s The Better Diamond Retailer?

Customer Service

We’d say customer service plays a huge role in how likely a couple is to pick their engagement ring from a certain retailer.

A bad customer service team is enough for couples to take their business elsewhere.

Thankfully, Clean Origin and Brilliant Earth both offer spectacular customer service, and they make it easy for people to get in touch with them.

Clean Origin offers virtual appointments, call, live chat, text, email, or regular mail.

The only downside is that customer support is not 24/7. Chat hours are Mon-Sat 8:30am-12am EST, and Sun 9am-12am EST.

On the other hand, Brilliant Earth has 37 locations spread across the United States where you can walk in during and receive 1-to-1 support.

If you choose to shop online at Brilliant Earth for your engagement ring, you can get in contact with Brilliant Earth’s customer service team 24/7 via phone, live chat, or email.

It’s also important to keep in mind that Clean Origin has no physical showrooms, and Brilliant Earth has 37 showrooms across the United States.

So if you prefer to shop online, Clean Origin and Brilliant Earth both have you covered. But if you prefer to shop in-store, you’d only be able to do so at Brilliant Earth.

Read also: How Many Carats Should Your Diamond Engagement Ring Be?

Shopping Experience

As we’ve in the prior section, Clean Origin has no physical showrooms at the moment.

If you prefer to shop for jewelry online, you can’t go wrong with Clean Origin or Brilliant Earth.

But for our readers that prefer to shop online, Brilliant Earth might be a slightly better option since they offer more diamonds and 24/7 customer support.

And if you prefer to shop in-person for your diamond rings, well… Brilliant Earth would still be the best option for you because Clean Origin doesn’t have any physical showrooms.

Clean Origin on Reddit

Brilliant Earth on Reddit

This is where things get a bit tricky for Brilliant Earth.

While most things look good on paper for them, many of the reviews we’ve found on Reddit weren’t exactly the best.

And these aren’t old posts. Both of these comments were made within the last year.

Maybe it turns out 24/7 customer service looks good in theory, until you actually come across an issue and really need them to help.

We can’t speak for all experiences at Brilliant Earth but this is definitely something to consider.

Return Policy

Brilliant Earth offers a no-questions-asked 30 day return policy and 60 day free resizing.

On the other hand, this is where Clean Origin really shines. They offer an industry-best 100 day return policy and 100 day free resizing.

Warranty Policy

Brilliant Earth offers free lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects on all their fine jewelry.

However, if you’re looking for extra services like re-polishing and cleaning services, those are an additional cost with their Extended Protection Plan.

Clean Origin offers free inspections, repairs, replacements, and substitutions for manufacturing defects.

A $50 temporary deposit is applied to cover for shipping and evaluation for defects.

This fee is refunded for all warrantied repairs and repairs done by a third-party jeweller will void the warranty.

Read also: Everything You Need To Know About The Clean Origin Warranty

Shipping Policy

Brilliant Earth offers free FedEx shipping for orders in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Deliveries in the US can take between 1-5 business days.

Clean Origin offers free FedEx overnight shipping for orders in the US. In other words, 1 business day!

Upgrade Policy

Brilliant Earth offers free lifetime diamond upgrades and will give you the trade-in value of your engagement ring to use towards a new piece.

The new piece must be at least 2x your old engagement ring’s trade-in value, and it must be a mined diamond.

If your old engagement ring has a lab grown center stone, then the new piece must be at least 1.5x your old engagement ring’s trade in value.

On the other hand, there is no information found on Clean Origin’s website regarding an upgrade policy at the moment.

Final Verdict
You can’t go wrong choosing between Clean Origin or Brilliant Earth. Both are great options and it comes down to what you really want out of your diamond. If you want an affordable lab diamond with a great online shopping experience, we’d recommend Clean Origin. Or if you want the option to pick between a lab and natural diamond with great customer support, we’d recommend Brilliant Earth.