Review of Blue Nile

Last updated on April 24, 2023

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We are going to review Blue Nile in this article to answer some questions that people may have about the brand and online diamond purchasing in general. If you are still on the fence about choosing between a brick-and-mortar store over trying the online experience perhaps we can help you make the final decision.

Purpose of the Review

In taking a closer look at Blue Nile we intend to help you answer a few important questions in your search for the best place to buy a diamond. These include:

Why Blue Nile Is Worth Consideration

Ultimately you may not opt to buy your diamond from Blue Nile but you may be glad you at least considered them as the experience may have helped you find a better deal on the right gemstone elsewhere.

Help you Decide How to Shop for a Diamond

The traditional ways of buying diamonds do offer a more romantic sense to the whole process but are to some just plain antiquated and not worth the extra work. Online sales are growing in all commercial sectors and most definitely in the diamond market.

This review will aim to help you decide if you should complete your search in brick-and-mortar locations or if you are best suited to the online experience.

Helping You Comparison Shop

We live in a world of options which means should you find the product you like somewhere you can very likely find the same or almost identical item in another place for a cheaper price. In fact I can almost guarantee you would be able to find an item you like at Zales or Tiffany and then find something similar or even slightly better, cheaper at Blue Nile or another online store.

Wholesale prices on diamonds are consistent thanks to a very restrictive diamond industry who make sure that supply of diamonds matches up with the demand. The difference in price of diamonds that are similar from two different companies come from the markups they add to the price.

You will pay a premium for example to be able to say you bought a diamond from Tiffany as opposed to online from Blue Nile. Often it can cost 20% - 40% more on average for diamonds at Tiffany. Sometimes you might even save upwards of 60% shopping online and forgoing the name association.

Is Blue Nile Less Expensive?

When it comes to the diamond sellers industry Blue Nile is one of the cheapest in terms of price for comparable diamonds. They do not have brick-and-mortar storefront costs and they can deal in greater volume than a single store. Only other online-only stores can truly compete with Blue Nile's lower prices.

Now this may make some people think of Blue Nile as the cheapskate option in the market but again we must reiterate there is no real difference in the quality of the diamonds Blue Niles sells and those sold by Tiffany or another major seller.

Companies like Blue Nile have huge inventories and they specialize in having options for all potential budgets. As an example as of April 10^th 2023 they had 3733 diamonds available on their website between $301 - $400. In contrast their highest priced diamond was a round, 12.52 carat, Ideal cut, colorless stone selling for $1,152,895.

If your confidence in a business is based on it being premium pricing on everything that is entirely fine this is your preference. However, to discount a company such as Blue Nile because it tries to offer reasonable prices to those with lower budgets only serves to hurt your own wallet.

What Is Blue Nile?

Founded in 1999, Blue Nile is the world's largest online diamond reseller. Their headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington and they became a publicly traded company in 2004 almost two decades ago.

It was back in 2017 that current owners Bain Capital and Bow Street LLC took charge of the already successful company. When it comes to big names in the industry it may not be one that first jumps to mind but it is a big player in diamond sales as the likes of Cartier, Tiffany & Co. and James Allen.

When it comes to quality Blue Nile does not leave anything on the table; they are more than a match for the big names who command extremely high premiums for their diamonds. If you think going for a more expensive price elsewhere will get you a better quality gem you will find yourself mistaken as they stand by their products.

Blue Nile and other online companies understand the most important rule to help the consumer and that is to help them know what they are looking for. The average jewelers carry such limited inventory that they can only advise based on what they have in stock at any given time.

These large online companies have thousands of diamonds of all shapes, colors, cut, quality and sizes. You may not immediately know what you want but you can quickly find out the answer with the help of a company such as Blue Nile.

Blue Nile vs. Tiffany

In order to make it clear the difference between online shopping with Blue Nile and online shopping at Tiffany I have created two example rings which are pretty much identical so in theory should be worth roughly the same amount in terms of materials.

The table above illustrates how similar the two rings are and then the disparity of cost between the two. As you can see the Blue Nile diamond is fractionally heavier than the diamond in the Tiffany ring which in itself does not create that much difference in price.

In terms of color they are next to each other on the scale which means with a G rating the Blue Nile diamond is more colored which is less appealing but only marginally. When it comes to clarity the very very slightly included (VVSI) rating of the Blue Nile is better than the very slightly included (VSI) rating of the Tiffany.

Both diamonds are the same shape and are considered the best quality cuts available. Blue Nile calls this Astor but Tiffany refers to it as excellent. This all adds up to the Blue Nile being slightly large, having better clarity and a less pleasing color but only slightly but when fitted with a Solitaire 18K setting it costs almost $8000 less than the Tiffany version.

The lesson here is that you do truly pay a premium for the Tiffany name but of course do not just take our word for it try this out for yourself. Build a ring on the Tiffany site that you like and then use Blue Nile to try and create something similar. If you do not find Blue Nile cheaper by a considerable margin I would be astonished.

Blue Nile vs. Zales

We ran another comparison between Blue Nile and a different company finding a pre-made Zales ring and then building something similar on the Blue Nile website. The results are as follows:

Again we created two rings that were almost identical save for a few minor differences. The clarity of the Blue Nile is slightly better than the Zales although the color is rated slightly lower. They have the same setting material and style, have the same diamond weight and are both top quality cuts yet the Zales is almost double the price of the Blue Nile.

Diamond Certificates vs. Grading Reports

This is an important distinction that needs to be considered when choosing a diamond especially in online purchases. You will see the terms diamond certificate and grading report and you might think they are the same thing but this is not always the case.

A grading report is performed by one of the three main independent grading labs. These are the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the American Gemological Society (AGS) and the International Gemological Institute (IGI).

These reports are highly detailed official documents that explain the specifications of an individual diamond. As they are a third party they have no reason to inflate the quality of a diamond so they are unbiased.

Now a diamond certificate is not issued by these independent graders; they are issued by the retailers themselves to attest to the weight and shape of the diamond. So what we are saying is that the certificate such as it is, is issued by the person selling the diamond.

In truth the term certificate may be misused to refer to the grading report so if you receive a detailed report from one of the above labs then fantastic. If however you receive a simple certificate with no indication of affiliation to one of the labs this information is of little use to you.

The whole point is then that when you buy a diamond you should make sure you get to see the grading report as performed by one of these third-party labs. Incidentally most of Blue Nile's diamonds have this report available to view online to attest to the quality of the Diamond. Zales from what we can tell does not do this.

How Do Blue Nile Compare to SuperJeweler and Szul?

You may have heard of the discount jewelers SuperJeweler and Szul who have a real grip on the lower end of the diamond selling markets. They offer budget diamond and setting options which are hard to beat.

There is a reason that these two companies can sell for such low prices and that is simply about quality. At the risk of making them sound snobby because compared to many others Blue Nile is far from that, but frankly they do not do low quality in terms of diamonds.

Blue Nile will not carry a diamond of I2 clarity or lower. All of their diamonds are above this level so because SuperJeweler and Szul will sell diamonds of that lower quality you can’t really compare the companies.

If you were to find a diamond of requisite quality with one of these budget sites to match Blue Nile you would probably find that they are comparable in price or Blue Nile may even be slightly cheaper.

Lower quality diamonds are less likely to have grading reports so this is also a consideration when you are looking to save a little money. If you are going to be spending a lot on a diamond do not even consider one that does not have a grading report.

What Is Blue Nile's Selection Like?

As of April 12^th 2023 Blue Nile listed no fewer than 208,698 diamonds for sale ranging from $295 all the way up to over $1.5 million. Comparatively their chief rival in the market James Allen does have over 100,000 more within a similar range although their most expensive diamond is over $2 million.

It is of course a revolving door as the more diamonds they sell, the more the company is constantly replenishing and their inventory is gradually growing. You could not possibly view them all but using their search sliders you can narrow down your options to find the perfect diamond for your needs.

So How Does Blue Nile Keep Prices Down?

We illustrated earlier how much more some stores charge for essentially the same diamonds. Obviously each diamond is unique but they can be rated the same so should in theory cost the same. What is Blue Nile's secret to being able to sell top quality diamonds for less than competitors?

Well it's no mystery frankly because the website doesn’t actually own the majority of the inventory it posts on the website. Don’t worry it's not a bait and switch scam, they actually partner with diamond suppliers and feature the suppliers' inventory on their website.

So it is often the case that they are playing middleman to wholesale diamond suppliers. This allows them to sell in high volume without having their own money tied up in inventory. They are a contracted seller who use their very well put together website and system to sell the diamonds.

This may concern some people because they may wonder who the actual seller is but for all intents and purposes Blue Nile is still the seller. Once an order is made Blue Nile purchases the diamond from the seller and sells it on to you. This means your contract is with them, not some unnamed diamond merchant.

They Have Exclusive Suppliers

Over years of experience and proven results there are in fact some big diamond industry players who are contracted solely with Blue Nile and will only use them to sell their diamonds. The reason this is a positive thing is that it helps keep costs down even more. A stable business relationship tends to create less risk and better pricing.

No Brick-and-Mortar Stores

The other notable advantage Blue Nile has over many of their competitors with a physical store presence is that they do not have to pay high rents and utilities or any other such business overheads.

This saves them a great deal of money as they do not have to hire salespeople and of course they do not need vast warehouses to store their product because most of it is stored elsewhere by the actual owners of the diamonds.

Does Blue Nile Have Any Drawbacks?

Not wanting to sound like the founder and president of the Blue Nile appreciation society it must be said they have a great deal going for them. Their prices are massively competitive, the diamond quality is of the highest degree and their general business is world class.

It Takes Time

All that to be said, no company is perfect and although 99% of the time they will nail the whole process from start to finish there are potential issues that may give you pause for thought.

As mentioned the business model does often require them buying your diamond after you order it. Now their logistics are world class and they work quickly but if they are going to be building an engagement ring for you there are a lot of moving parts to juggle in that process.

They will endeavor to get you your new diamond or ring as soon as possible but thus can still take a while. There are obviously quicker options to get your purchase in your hands much faster but they will be more expensive.

Building the ring takes extra time as well so unlike companies that have pre-made options in their inventory you will be waiting longer. Basically if you plan to propose soon you may want to go with a more immediate plan.

You Don’t Get to Hold It or See It in Person Until It Arrives

Blue Nile offers fantastic pictures of the diamonds they sell but do not have the 3D imaging of a James Allen or the actual physical diamond you can look at from a brick-and-mortar store. There is a certain element of trust required in this process.

If you absolutely want to hold that diamond in your hand and see it in person before you part with your hard earned cash then Blue Nile or any online option for that matter is not for you. If you can trust the pictures and grading reports supplied however you can usually get a fantastic diamond for an equally fabulous price.

Remember Blue Nile have been in business for a while now and although you can't please everyone they still have a great reputation in the industry so they are way past the potential scam phase of a new business.

They trade ethically and back up their products with adequate proof of quality.

Final Thoughts

With over 20 years in the online diamond sales business Blue Nile have proven their worth when it comes to top quality products at the most reasonable prices possible. Their business model has allowed them to keep prices low and brought more people into the diamond owning fold that ordinarily could have entered.

Are they the best in the industry? That is questionable but they certainly stack up against the competition. Big names will always dominate such as Cartier and Tiffany but often with them you are paying for the name.

Blue Nile is unassuming and does not require its customers to pay extra for the privilege of having a diamond from their inventory. This is not to disparage those who take pride in their Tiffany engagement ring or necklaces; they are well made pieces from highly regarded craftspeople.

There are few airs and graces with Blue Nile; they just offer great diamonds for lower prices. If you still do not believe it we always urge you to do the comparisons yourself. It is easy to find out the comparative price of a Blue Nile product in comparison to any other dealer out there.

Good luck with your hunt for that perfect diamond and even if you do not use Blue Nile we hope this review has been instructive and helpful.

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