This 1.7 total carat weight diamond ring at Costco has a 1-carat center diamond and 0.7 carats of halo and pave diamonds. But did you know you can get an almost identical ring, with 1.73 total carat weight, for $6,480? Or even for as little at $4,250?
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Costco’s offer for $7,000
It’s Costco item number 856371.
You can see it live at Costco, unless and until it’s sold out.
James Allen offers a ring with the same diamond specs for $6,480
How to get the James Allen deal
Getting the deal at Costco is easy. You just add it to your cart and buy it.
James Allen sells diamond rings that you build yourself, so it’s very slightly different. It’s easy to get this deal:
1. Select this platinum halo setting for $2,810.
2. 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.)
4. Combine a diamond you like with the setting you chose, and buy your ring. (Hurry because every diamond is unique. Anyone could buy it before you do.)
The Costco diamond ring’s specs, explained
Diamond Certificate
There’s no diamond certificate noted on the product page. Usually at Costco, it’s noted front and center. The fact that they don’t list one here? That’s a deal breaker for me, personally, with any diamond in this price range.
People new to shopping for diamonds (and that’s almost everyone shopping for diamonds, so never worry about asking questions) have asked me,
“Didn’t they just forget to note the diamond certificate on the page? Surely there is one?”
In my opinion, it’s highly unlikely that’s an accident. That they meant to note it but overlooked it. Diamond certificates / grading reports are a big selling point.
Shape
It’s a Round Brilliant Cut.
Carats
The center stone is 1 carat. The total carat weight is 1.70 carats. So the halo and pave diamonds surrounding the center, and down the shanks, total 0.70 carats.
Clarity
It’s VS2 clarity.
Also, remember we can’t look at the diamond directly, at Costco. (You can at James Allen examine any diamond before buying, via their super zoom 3D imagine.)
Color
The color is “I”.
Cut Quality
I’m not seeing the cut quality stated or described on the product page specs.
It concerns me. I’ll tell you why: cut quality is maybe the most important score on any diamond grading report or certificate.
Did Costco just forget to mention it?
Is the cut quality grade from the IGI pretty far down the scale? Did the IGI somehow not grade the cut quality? We just don’t know. I’m not finding any hard information about cut quality on the product page.
Plus, we can’t examine the diamond ourselves with 3D imaging. (You can examine your diamond at James Allen. But Costco doesn’t have the technology.)
The James Allen diamond ring’s specs explained
The James Allen diamond has the same Clarity and Color specs as the Costco diamond has. James Allen even used the same 3rd-party diamond grading lab: the IGI.
Carats
The James Allen center diamond is 1 carat, same as the Costco diamond.
The James Allen total carat weight, including the pave and halo diamonds, is 1.73 carats. That’s almost exactly the same as Costco’s 1.70 carats.
The James Allen diamond has one more spec specified: Cut Quality. Let’s look at that:
Cut Quality
The cut quality of this James Allen diamond is “Excellent”.
That’s hugely important information. It means you can absolutely count on this diamond to sparkle tremendously.
About the Costco diamond, once again, we just don’t know. They didn’t tell us the cut quality, that I could find anywhere on that product page. (And it certainly wasn’t in the usual place, the easy-to-find specs list.
Conclusion: This Costco diamond isn’t worth it. James Allen definitely has the better deal. It’s less by at least $520 (earth-mined), and up to $2,750 less (lab-created)
In my opinion, this Costco diamond ring isn’t the best deal at all. The James Allen offer wins out.
- All the specs we have to compare are exactly the same. (But remember, Costco didn’t tell us the cut quality of their center diamond.)
- The James Allen deal is less expensive by $520.
- We have a key piece of info about the James Allen diamond, which we don’t have about the Costco diamond — the cut quality
Congrats, you just saved at least $520.
Or if you chose the lab created diamond search at James Allen, you saved $2,750!
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.
