Review: Don’t buy any of these Helzberg Radiant Star solitaire diamond engagement rings before you read this article. I show you certified, better, less expensive alternatives.
Helzberg 145-facet Radiant Star diamonds aren’t nearly as impressive as they want you to believe. See this article on why more facets don’t mean more brilliance… or anything except that … they have … more facets.
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Use these color and clarity scales for reference
Color scale:
Clarity scale:
See the Helzberg solitaire diamond rings referenced in this review here.
Radiant Star 2-Carat Round Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring for $17,000 vs a better ring for $14,000
See the Helzberg $17,000 offer here. Note that you can’t see any specific diamonds at Helzberg. Whereas, for any James Allen diamond ring, you can examine your exact diamond in great detail, from every angle.
But at Helzberg? You’ll see only an artist’s rendition. That’s a huge red flag for me. I wouldn’t buy at any price. But the terrible thing is: the Helzberg prices are FAR HIGHER in almost every case. And always higher, in every case that I have seen or heard of. It seems to me (not that I can know for sure) that Helzberg is taking advantage of ignorant buyers, whether deliberately or not.
- 2-Carat
- J-Color (That’s fairly yellow. See the chart at top of page.)
- I1-Clarity (That’s quite full of flaws. See the chart at the top of page.)
- No stated Cut Quality (Huge red flag in my opinion. You could have a very large, but very dull diamond. Always sad.)
- Certifying Lab: No stated certifying lab that I can find. (This is a huge red flag in my opinion. Do not buy at any price. I just feel ill when I think that someone could have paid $17K for a diamond without a certification. Please don’t.)
Better quality diamond ring from James Allen at $14,000 (Find a very similar one using the steps in the image caption, below.)
- 2-Carat
- I-Color (Much better color.)
- VS1-Clarity (Much better clarity.)
- IGI-Certified Excellent Cut Quality (An excellent cut is most important of all.)
- Certifying Lab: IGI.
1) Select a setting at this link.
2) Execute this one-click diamond inventory search.
3) Choose a diamond from the results and save TONS of money while getting a BETTER diamond.
Radiant Star 3/8-Carat Round Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring for $2,000 vs better ring for $890
See the Helzberg offer here.
- 3/8-Carat
- I-Color is minimum color grade. (See the chart at top of page.)
- I1-Clarity (That’s very occluded, as you can see by looking at the chart at the top of this page.)
- No stated Cut Quality
- Certifying lab: They claim the GIA graded it, in the fine print. But I have my doubts, since the GIA grades only Round Brilliant diamonds. Remember, the Radiant Star has a lot of extra facets. It has 145 facets. That’s many more than the Round Brilliant Cut’s 57 or 58 facets. So, personally I think it’s a misprint, a typo. I don’t believe the GIA graded it. Another reason? No cut quality is stated.
I just hate that diamonds of that low of a quality are marketed to people on the low end of the buying scale. Usually these are people who don’t know much about diamonds. They’re working people. Or students. And anyway, most people no matter how educated they are don’t know a lot about diamonds, especially when young and buying them for the first time.
It seems to me that it’s a very low quality, overpriced diamond marketed to the inexperienced. You can easily get a BETTER diamond ring for less than half the sale price of the Helzberg offer. Any day of the week. Just use my search link below. (Click the image, or the link in the caption to the image.)
Better quality diamond ring from James Allen at $980 (Find a very similar ring+setting deal using the steps in the image caption, below.)
- 3.8-Carat
- G-Color (Much better than the Helzberg.)
- VS1-Clarity (Much better than the Helzberg.)
- Excellent Cut Quality (Again, much better. And this is THE most important quality.)
- Certifying lab: IGI
1) Select a setting at this link.
2) Execute this one-click diamond inventory search.
3) Choose a diamond from the results and save TONS of money while getting a BETTER diamond.
Radiant Star 1-Carat Round Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring for $5000 vs better ring for $4,860
See the Helzberg offer here.
- 1-Carat
- Color? They just say “White.” That’s terrible information. (At Helzberg, you can’t choose your diamond. They make the rings from a pool of diamonds of from H to I color. Contrast that to a James Allen shopping experience, in which you can choose your exact diamond and know exactly what you’re getting.)
- I1-Clarity (That’s awful clarity. See the chart at the top of this page.)
- No stated Cut Quality (That’s a huge red flag. I wouldn’t buy it for any price.)
- Certifying lab: They claim the GIA graded these diamonds. I don’t believe it, because: 1) There is no color grade given. 2) The GIA grades only Round Brilliant (57 to 58 facets), not a Helzberg-specific cut of 145 facets. 3) There is no cut quality given.
Better quality diamond ring from James Allen at $4,860 (Find a very similar ring+setting deal using the steps in the image caption, below.)
- 1-Carat
- H-Color
- VS2-Clarity is
- IGI-Certified Excellent Cut Quality
1) Select a setting at this link.
2) Execute this one-click diamond inventory search.
3) Choose a diamond from the results and save TONS of money while getting a BETTER diamond.
Radiant Star 1.25-Carat Round Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring for $6,500 vs better ring for $4,790
See the Helzberg offer here.
- 1.25-Carat
- Color: No stated color grade! They just say “White.” That’s terrible information. There should be a grade, of course.
- I1-Clarity
- No stated Cut Quality
- Grading lab: No stated grading lab such as the IGI, GIA, etc. It’s a mystery. Huge red flag.
Better quality diamond ring from James Allen at $4,790 (Find a very similar ring+setting deal using the steps in the image caption, below.)
- 1.25-Carat
- H-Color is better than Helzberg
- SI2-Clarity is better than Helzberg
- Excellent Cut Quality
- Certifying lab: IGI
1) Select a setting at this link.
2) Execute this one-click diamond inventory search.
3) Choose a diamond from the results and save TONS of money while getting a BETTER diamond.
Radiant Star 1-1/2-Carat (1.5-Carat) Round Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring for $7,999 vs better ring for $3,970 (Both are Lab-Grown diamonds.)
See the Helzberg offer here.
- Lab-Created (Lab created diamonds are 100% authentic, 100% identical to earth-mined diamonds. But their price point is lower. So I will compare apples to apples in this comparison. The James Allen diamond below is also lab-created. And you will be blown away by the price!)
- 1.5-Carat
- I-Color
- VS2-Clarity
- No stated Cut Quality
- Certifying Lab: GCAL is claimed. I’m not entirely convinced, given that no cut quality is stated. But let’s suppose it is GCAL … the lab grading the James Allen diamond below is generally better respected.
Better quality diamond ring from James Allen (Find a very similar ring+setting deal using the steps in the image caption, below.)
- Lab-Created
- 1.5-Carat
- E-Color is
- SI2-Clarity is
- IGI-Certified Excellent Cut Quality
1) Select a setting at this link.
2) Execute this one-click diamond inventory search.
3) Choose a diamond from the results and save TONS of money while getting a BETTER diamond.
Radiant Star 1-Carat Round Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring for $4,499 vs better ring for $2,460 (Both have Lab-Grown diamonds).
See the Helzberg offer here.
- Lab-Created
- 1-Carat
- Color: No stated color grade! Wow. They just call it “White”. I can’t believe that GCAL just left it at “White.” It’s just nonsensical.
- VS2-Clarity
- No stated Cut Quality
- Certifying lab: GCAL, supposedly. I have my doubts, for the same reasons I lay out in comparisons higher up on this page.
Better quality diamond ring from James Allen for much less money. (Find a very similar ring+setting deal using the steps in the image caption, below.)
- Lab-Created
- 1-Carat
- G-Color is hugely better than the Helzberg offer
- VVS2-Clarity is hugely better than Helzberg offer
- Cut Quality: Ideal
- Certifying Lab: IGI
1) Select a setting at this link.
2) Execute this one-click diamond inventory search.
3) Choose a diamond from the results and save TONS of money while getting a BETTER diamond.
