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Click, click, click… you’ve now created your ideal engagement ring. You’ve chosen the metal, band, and diamond to make the perfect ring for your soon-to-be fiancé. James Allen tries to simplify the ring buying process by educating shoppers on what really matters when ordering a ring.
Shoppers can examine any stone in James Allen’s inventory 360° so you know what the diamond looks like. James Allen is able to offer a larger selection of diamonds at better values than the typical brick-and-mortar stores since it is online.
The downside? Very few people know about James Allen, so unless you’re doing your research (which it looks like you are!), you probably won’t hear about them since they don’t do tons of national advertising.
We’ve chosen James Allen as our top pick for the best online engagement retailer and have some personal experience to share with you too!
Article Overview
- Pros & Cons
- Key Features
- Price & Coupon
- Our Experience
- User Reviews
- How To Design The Perfect Ring
- Why I Should Buy Online
James Allen
Pros
- Real pictures of each diamond allow you a 360 degree view of diamond and magnified 20x
- Less expensive than a brick and mortar jeweler
- Narrow diamond choices down by setting specifications
- Excellent Design Your Own feature
- Live chat, email and 24/7 phone support
- Fantastic customer service that is non-commissioned, so they do not practice aggressive sales tactics
- 30-day returns
- 1 free ring sizing within 60 days
- Lifetime warranty
- Stunning shipping packaging
Cons
- Resizing and cleaning can take 2-3 weeks
More Pros
- Has a collection of lab-created diamonds
- A+ BBB rating
- Huge inventory, more than 500,000 loose diamonds to choose from
- CanadaMark diamonds are ethical and high quality
- TrueHearts diamonds are perfect
- Price Match Guarantee
- Collection of alternative rings (like Titanium)
Key Features
- Representatives go through six weeks of in-depth jewelry and diamond training before speaking with their first customer.
- All diamonds are conflict-free, meaning they were obtained legally and not sold to fund conflicts or civil wars.
- Price Match Guarantee lets you get the best price. If you’ve found a comparable diamond for less, contact James Allen for a reduced price. Diamonds must have the same characteristics, be available for purchase and have a GIA grading report.
- Sliders help narrow down your diamond choice by determining the level of 4C’s you want:
What Are CanadaMark Diamonds?
James Allen is the exclusive online retailer for CanadaMark diamonds. Canada Mark diamonds are certified organic and free of any treatments used to enhance a diamond’s appearance artificially. These diamonds meet the highest standards when discussing color, clarity, symmetry, and finish.
CanadaMark diamonds are mined in Canada and are guaranteed to be ethical. We encourage considering these diamonds when searching for the perfect engagement ring.
What Is Hearts & Arrows True Hearts?
Each diamond in the TrueHearts collection is a perfect diamond. The diamond has an arrow pattern when viewed from above. If viewed from the pavilion side, the diamond displays 8 hearts. These patterns are visible at a glance and offer perfect optical symmetry.
Each TrueHearts diamond has a photo on the James Allen website, so you can see the perfection with your own eyes. Each diamond in the collection is an ideal cut, with superb color, dazzling clarity, incomparable symmetry, and exquisite shape. These are all perfect characteristics for a diamond and display the gemstone’s brilliance and beauty.
If you are looking for a perfect diamond, find a TrueHearts diamond on the James Allen website.
Pricing
Prices are typically 30-50% less through James Allen than if you went to a brick-and-mortar jeweler. So if you’re budgeting to spend $5,000 on an engagement ring you can get a better quality diamond or larger diamond if you purchase a ring from James Allen instead of going to Kay’s or Jared, for example.
Coupon
Our link above applies discounts if available.
Our Experience With James Allen
My husband purchased my engagement ring from James Allen and we were happy with the experience, so we purchased our wedding bands through James Allen as well. Below is his testimonial of his buying experience with this online engagement ring website:
James Allen made it really simple for me to buy an engagement ring. They had a handy section that explained the 4C’s and what to look for in an engagement ring. They made the process easy. The sliders on their site were nice and made it possible for me to narrow down the diamond specifications I was looking for. There were also pictures for me to get a good view and look for any kind of imperfections. The only bad thing was that there were so many diamonds it was difficult to know which ones are good when you’re an inexperienced buyer. But there are people who can help you and I trusted them as much as I’d trust someone in a store. I spoke with a woman over their live chat and it took no time at all for me to be connected with her. I asked for her opinion on the diamonds I was looking at and she was helpful and answered all my questions about how it would be set. When I chose the band it had a picture of a pear-shaped diamond so I could see how it looked on a hand. It took less than two weeks to put the ring together and ship it. The ring came in nice, sturdy packaging. The only downside was that it was difficult to keep it a secret even more because it was being shipped to the house. So instead of going to a store and buying it there, I had to figure out a way for Kimberly not to see the package when it arrived at home. But that’s not James Allen’s fault. Overall the process was really easy and the price was definitely cheaper than anything in stores for what I was getting and the ring turned out beautiful. – Pat A.
Customer Testimonials
Below are some testimonials from other customers that we’ve found online.
Positive Reviews
A vast majority of the reviews I had read for James Allen were very favorable. I did a lot of homework before we made such a big investment. Once we ordered the ring, there was nothing left to do but wait. So i read even more reviews during this time …and got nervous!! There weren’t many negative reviews, but it concerned me anyway. The ring arrived 18 days later and it is beautiful!! I am a fan of James Allen, the online customer service was wonderful, my diamond is stunning. – Robin D., Yelp 10/11/2017
Just recently engaged and so happy my fiancé found James Allen! What a beautiful ring… Great quality… Just stunning… And from what I understand great service! The presentation had a wow factor as well… Well done and thank you! Loving my ring! – Liana, WeddingWire
Negative Reviews
Since they won’t let me post a review online (and now I’m convinced they hire people to post good reviews for them). I received the french cut pave ring as an engagement ring in platinum from my fiancé. Within a few weeks it had bent, like oval shaped. And I’m a secretary so it’s not like I’m operating heavy machinery. The reason JA told me it happened was because of how thin the band is and the notching for the pave weakens the structure. Most of the bend came out when they resized it but was told it will most likely happen again. It seems pretty but the band is definitely cheap feeling. For something that cost my fiancé so much I probably won’t wear it for fear of bending it again or worse my diamond falling out. I will be purchasing our wedding bands elsewhere. So to all future men ring shopping, do yourself a favor and pick another band. Oh and the free resizing is only within the first 30 days of receiving the ring which IMO is a crock of shit (what guy doesn’t like to plan a nice proposal?!). I give them two stars only because my center diamond is very beautiful but the rest can’t make up for it. May 2017. I continued to wear the ring and started losing the little diamonds in the pave setting. JA quoted me a price to ship to them with insurance but couldn’t guarantee that it would be covered to fix and that I would incur an extra charge to have it repaired. I took the ring to a local place instead. – Heather T., Yelp 9/16/2017
TERRIBLE customer service! Refused to believe us and 2 other jewelers that the rings (engagement and wedding) were 2 different sizes. They forced the larger ring into the smaller ring and chipped my diamond! Now despite an appraisal they deny the chip is there 🙁 Have to ship the rings back and start all over. – Gina, WeddingWire
James Allen Video
Check out this video to get an idea of how to design your own engagement ring on the James Allen website and what the process is like.
Why Buy Online?
Buying an engagement ring online may sound silly. You don’t get to “see” the ring before you buy it and sometimes, that’s how the ring “speaks” to you. However, with James Allen, you’re covered. If you aren’t pleased you can return it within 30 days.
Buying an engagement ring online saves you money and allows you to personalize the ring even more since you get to pick out the band and the stone. It also takes some of the salesperson pressure so you can get comfortable with your decision before you commit vs. falling prey to the hard sell tactics often associated with retail.
As an added bonus, you get to brag to your fiancé about how you designed the ring just for them! It’s a unique piece of art custom-made for your loved one. If you want to see other jewelers available checkout our online engagement ring comparison article.
Are you worried about buying an engagement ring online?
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Great article thanks Kimberly! I am scraping my pennies together so I can pop the question to my girlfriend. Was going to over the valentine’s holiday weekend but couldn’t get my act together in time, ha! Anyways, what is the turn around time typically for James Allen rings so I can plan my proposal accordingly? With them being custom didn’t know if it took awhile or what I should expect. Thanks!
Oh my golly, how exciting! Congratulations ahead of time! This is such a fun time in your life so make sure to take the time to truly enjoy it! When my fiance ordered my engagement ring it took about 2 weeks after he ordered it for it to show up at the door. It was about the same for our wedding bands as well. The ring goes through four phases: pre-production, diamond inspection, production and quality assurance. You can also see the progress of your ring online on your James Allen account. The time may vary on your ring depending on how complex or simple it is. Also keep in mind the time of year you order it. For example, before Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas are busy times for jewelers so timelines may be a bit longer.
Let me know if you have any other questions! We were so pleased with our experience with James Allen and would definitely recommend them! Best of luck with choosing a ring and the proposal!
Awesome, thanks so much @kimberlykurimski:disqus. I’ll be sure to factor in a few weeks into the planning then. And that’s very cool they have a way to track the progress online too! Appreciate you sharing your experience with James Allen.