Jared offers this ring for $12K. It’s a 1.5-carat round brilliant solitaire diamond engagement ring. Don’t even consider it. You can get the same quality or better ring for much less.
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The Jared offer: $11,999.99
It’s model number 151165507 at Jared.
See it live at Jared’s product page.
James Allen offers a ring with the same or better diamond specs for $4,735 (earth-mined) or $2,375 (lab-created).
Earth-mined for $4,735:
Lab-created for $2,375:
Yet again, James Allen has the better deals. When you know how to use the search filters there (and it’s not hard, I’m showing you, right?), then you’ll save tons. And get a better diamond that is even certified by the GIA, IGI, or AGS.
How to get the James Allen deals
At James Allen, you build a ring yourself. But it’s not as hard as it may seem. In fact it’s easy.
At least, it’s easy if you know how or have someone walking you through it for the first time. Here’s how to get these deals (or very similar deals) at James Allen:
1. Select this 14K white gold setting.
2. For an earth-mined diamond matching the high-priced offer, go to my pre-set James Allen diamond search results and select a diamond from the first 2 or 3 diamonds in the list.
(James Allen diamonds are unique, so I can’t of course send you straight to a specific diamond. It would sell out quickly.
Also, of course the inventory is always changing, so you may see slightly different prices when you search.)
3. For even greater savings, click the “Lab-Created Diamonds” filter. (Use my pre-set Lab-Created Diamonds search results.)
The specs on the diamonds in this price compare, quickly explained
Diamond Certificate
I recommend not buying a diamond without a certificate from GIA, IGI, or AGS. It’s unclear what lab certifies the diamonds available for the high-priced ring.
On the other hand, both of the James Allen diamonds have certificates from the IGI. That means you can count on the specs you see in the certificates.
Shape
All three diamond rings in this contest have Princess-Cut shaped diamonds.
Carats
All three diamonds have 1-1/2-carat (1.5-carat) solitaire diamonds.
Clarity
The high-priced diamond is of SI2-Clarity. That can be a decent clarity grade. But in truth, it all depends on where, in the diamond, the inclusions (flaws) are located. If they’re front and top, near the “table” (the top facet), that’s obviously not good. If they are deeper in the diamond, or obscured by a prong, that’s better.
But you need to be able to see the diamond. At James Allen, you can look at any given diamond, and I mean the exact diamond, using their 3D imaging technology. Jared has nothing like that.
Another issue, in my opinion, with the high priced diamond is: we don’t know who graded it. So we don’t know if they were accurate. Or biased. Or whatever.
With the James Allen diamonds, we know the IGI graded and certified it. So we can “take that to the bank,” so to speak. We can have a high level of trust that the gemologist was competent, unbiased, and paid well enough to do the work well.
The James Allen earth-created diamond I chose to compare with is also SI2-Clarity.
The lab-created diamond from James Allen in this comparison of SI1-Clarity.
And once more, at James Allen, you can inspect the very diamonds you’re shopping for at James Allen. You can see them via 3D imaging.
Which means you can know that you’re not choosing a diamond that has its appearance ruined by a very unlucky location of an inclusion (flaw). (Always inspect a diamond before you buy it.)
Color
The color of the high priced diamond is J-Color. That’s getting pretty yellow, for such a high priced diamond especially.
The color of the earth-created diamond from James Allen in this price compare is also J-Color. However, it costs less than half what the Jared diamond costs! So, if your budget really was $12K, you could easily adjust the filters at James Allen. You could adjust the filters in your search. So that you get a better color, and even a better clarity, for your $12K if that’s how much you want to spend.
(But if you want to spend only $5K, then at least you saved $7K by not paying Jared’s apparently inflated price.
Cut Quality
Jared doesn’t even pretend to state the Cut Quality of their high priced diamond. It’s not in the specs. It does not seem to be on any certificate that they make available on the product page. Are they hiding something? Or just forgot to mention Cut Quality, which is probably THE most important quality of a round brilliant diamond?
Cut Quality determines the most important thing about a diamond — how well it sparkles. Poor cut quality means a dull and lifeless diamond.
Good Cut Quality — even with bad color and bad clarity — means you’ll have a diamond that sparkles very well.
So why doesn’t Jared include that info on this diamond? Beats me. I can’t fathom it.
The Cut Quality of the diamonds offered by James Allen? Excellent cut. And also Ideal cut. These diamonds are incredible, in terms of brilliance, fire, and sparkle. How do I know? A gemologist of the IGI has said so. That’s what cut quality determines.
Conclusion: This Jared 1.5-carat diamond is not a good deal. James Allen definitely has better deals, as shown in the hard numbers and screen shots on this page.
That’s my opinion. But it’s backed up by hard numbers.
This one, in my view, was egregious. You shouldn’t even consider this diamond ring at Jared. Instead, get a better ring for less. It’s easy:
The James Allen offers win again.
It’s easy to get great deals on better diamond jewelry — for less money! Here’s how:
- Scroll up to the section on “How to Get the James Allen Deals.”
- Follow the easy directions there.
- Feel 100% confident that you bought the best diamond for the money
How to search this site to save up to tens of thousands of dollars at trusted diamond retailers, vs most any Costco, Kay, Jared, or Zales ring you’re considering
Search and save. You could save enough for a new compact car. Or a honeymoon. Or several expensive dinner dates. Or that guitar you’ve been wanting.
Read this very short note on how easy it is.
