Are you curious about which company is superior, Clean Origin or Brilliant Earth? You’ve come to the right place! This comprehensive Learning Jewelry guide will provide you with valuable insights into:
- Which company offers the most satisfying shopping experience?
- Which one has the superior warranty?
- Where can you find the best value for your money?
- What do customers have to say in their reviews?
Clean Origin vs. Brilliant Earth
Shopping Experience
The shopping experience refers to what a jewelry store, whether online or physical, provides to its customers. This encompasses everything from the selection of products to the quality of grading reports to the availability of showroom options.
In short, the shopping experience encompasses all of the elements that a store brings to the table.
Clean Origin
Clean Origin may not be as well-known as Brilliant Earth, as it’s a relatively new player in the diamond industry. This specialty diamond retailer was established in 2017 and exclusively sells lab-grown diamonds.
Lab-created diamonds possess the same optical, physical, and chemical characteristics as natural diamonds. However, due to concerns about the ethics of mining, many people prefer lab-grown diamonds.
Clean Origin caters to this preference by exclusively offering lab-created diamonds and diamond jewelry. While some retailers sell loose lab-created diamonds, Clean Origin stands out by offering lab-created diamond jewelry and wedding bands.
When perusing the inventory, you may find that it’s more challenging to locate diamonds with precise grades. Additionally, Clean Origin tends to carry more significant carat weights than smaller ones.
While viewing a diamond on the Clean Origin website, you might have access to two 360-degree viewers. One of these viewers, the V30 diamond viewer, is excellent and offers several helpful features.
On the other hand, the other viewer can be more bothersome. While it’s still controllable, it has its downsides. If you watch it casually, it rotates too quickly, and when you try to rotate it manually, it becomes glitchy.
Moreover, this viewer has a flaw where it’s challenging to detect any inclusions, if there are any, because the light bounces off the diamond, creating blind spots. In my opinion, Clean Origin would benefit from sticking to just one viewer.
Brilliant Earth
Brilliant Earth is a well-known name in the jewelry industry, particularly for their slogan “Beyond Conflict-Free™.” This slogan reflects their commitment to sourcing diamonds that are not only free of conflict, but also free of other unethical practices related to diamond mining and sourcing.
While the Kimberley Process was established to prevent the use of diamonds to fund war, Brilliant Earth believes that it is not enough. To ensure that their diamonds are truly ethical, they offer a range of options, including natural diamonds with blockchain technology, recycled diamonds, diamonds with known origins, and lab-created diamonds.
One of the unique features of Brilliant Earth is their large selection of loose diamonds. They have over 105,000 natural diamonds of various shapes and grades, with approximately 24,000 1-carat diamonds. They also carry around 2,000 lab-created diamonds, with over 90% of them being over 1 carat.
One thing that sets Brilliant Earth apart is their GIA Origin Reports, which confirm the country of origin for their diamonds. While many retailers offer GIA reports, Brilliant Earth’s origin reports provide additional transparency about where their diamonds come from. Their lab-created diamonds may be certified by IGI, GIA, or HRD.
When filtering through their catalog, it’s worth noting that while about 23,000 1-carat diamonds have GIA reports, only 800 have GIA Origin Reports and only 1,100 are blockchain-enabled. This means that the other 21,000 or so have regular GIA reports.
Compared to other online retailers like James Allen or Blue Nile, Brilliant Earth’s commitment to ethical sourcing and transparency sets them apart.
Brilliant Earth provides an overview of all their diamonds that includes information about the country of origin. However, while the diamonds with GIA Origin Reports offer concrete proof of their origin, those with regular GIA reports do not.
For the remaining 2,000 diamonds, proof of origin can be obtained from sources outside of Brilliant Earth. Additionally, not all of their diamonds have 360˚ video, but the ones that do are clear and controllable. While some may prefer this viewer to Clean Origin’s, it’s worth noting that Clean Origin offers 360˚ viewing on all their diamonds.
If you’re not satisfied with your diamond engagement ring from Brilliant Earth, you have 30 days to return it without any questions asked.
Customer Service
Service is often a key factor in determining customer loyalty, and many companies lose customers due to poor service. Fortunately, both Clean Origin and Brilliant Earth offer unbiased advice to their customers. Unlike mega jewelry retailers, they don’t work on commission or have sales goals to meet, so their advice is free from bias.
Clean Origin
Clean Origin’s customer service can be contacted through email, phone, or live chat on their website. Their service hours are from 8 am to midnight EST, Monday through Friday, and from 10 am to 7 pm on Saturdays and from 10 am to midnight on Sundays. Although their availability is not 24/7, they offer the option to book an appointment with their diamond experts if required.
While their hours are satisfactory, the closing time of 7 pm on Saturdays may seem a bit early. In my opinion, it would make more sense to switch the hours of Sunday and Monday to better accommodate the availability of the average jewelry customer.
Obtaining a consensus from Clean Origin’s reviews about their service level is somewhat challenging as they are not a well-known brand, and not everyone has been in the market for engagement rings during the pandemic. Trustpilot would be the best platform to gain insight into customer opinions. The majority of reviews are positive, but some negative feedback can also be found.
A few customers have reported flaws in their ring settings and diamonds becoming loose. However, these complaints are infrequent, and most customers are pleased with their overall experience.
With just one showroom located in Dallas, TX, Clean Origin’s customers mostly shop online. They provide free FedEx overnight shipping or free 2-day shipping. Additionally, all lab or non-lab loose diamond returns are free.
Brilliant Earth
Brilliant Earth’s customer service is available round the clock through their online chat, email, or phone. They also have 33 showrooms located across the United States where you can visit them.
Warranty
Many people may not consider getting a warranty for their engagement or wedding rings, but I highly recommend it. Engagement rings typically consist of natural metals that can be susceptible to damage.
Gold is a commonly used metal for rings, but it is soft and can easily get scratched, nicked, or even fade over time. This has nothing to do with the quality of craftsmanship but is due to the natural wear and tear of the materials.
Clean Origin
Clean Origin provides a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty on all their lab diamond jewelry, which means that they will cover any design flaws or production issues. However, customers will be responsible for maintenance expenses like rhodium plating, retipping prongs, and tightening stones. Additionally, Clean Origin offers one free resizing within 100 days of purchase.
Brilliant Earth also offers a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty that covers defects and design flaws, but they have an optional Extended Service Plan (ESP) that customers can purchase. The ESP price is based on the item purchased and covers routine maintenance, but it only lasts for 3 years. If customers wish to renew the plan, they must contact the company separately.
However, information about the ESP is limited on the website, and it cannot be added online. Customers who do not opt for the ESP still get a 60-day free resizing.
Price and Value
For many people, the cost of a ring is the primary concern, often taking precedence over additional features and benefits. However, sometimes paying a little extra upfront can result in long-term savings, making overall value more important than the initial price tag.
Lab-grown diamonds are a more affordable option, costing 20-70% less than their mined counterparts, but still more expensive than alternatives such as moissanite or cubic zirconia.
To compare the pricing of Clean Origin and Brilliant Earth’s lab-grown diamonds, let’s look at a 1.06 carat radiant cut diamond with VS1 clarity and G color grade. Although the picture appears to show a short radiant, the 360˚ video displays differently. This GIA certified lab diamond costs $2,198.
Since Brilliant Earth’s natural diamonds are evidently more costly than Clean Origin’s, I opted for a lab-grown diamond from Clean Origin with comparable diamond grades. The diamond is certified by GIA and is priced at $2,270.
On Reddit
There are numerous customer reviews available on the internet through platforms such as the Better Business Bureau, Google Reviews, and Yelp, it’s worth noting that most people tend to leave negative feedback about the retailer. While these reviews can offer some insight, it’s important to take them with a pinch of skepticism.
To obtain a more comprehensive picture, we prefer to explore various diamond and engagement ring subreddits on Reddit. This allows us to read both positive and negative experiences, giving us a more balanced perspective.
Clean Origin
Clean Origin’s popularity on Reddit has been steadily increasing over the past six months, a notable improvement from their previously lackluster presence. In previous discussions, I’ve noted their scant appearance on the platform. However, over the last three months, more and more posts about Clean Origin have been surfacing.
As they are not yet a well-known brand, there isn’t a significant number of responses. However, among the comments, you’ll find satisfied customers with no negative reviews. Some threads even feature comparisons between Clean Origin and Brilliant Earth, with a few commenters who have purchased from both and were very pleased with their Clean Origin experience.
Brilliant Earth
Building on the previous Clean Origin vs. Brilliant Earth Reddit post above, let’s delve into Brilliant Earth’s reputation on the platform.
You’ll discover a mixed audience. Half of the individuals are happy customers who have already purchased and adore their rings. However, some mention that Brilliant Earth’s pricing is steeper compared to other vendors such as James Allen or Blue Nile.
On the other hand, there’s another group of Redditors who raise concerns about a particular article that has negatively impacted Brilliant Earth’s reputation.
As someone has mentioned in the thread below, we’ve discussed this issue in greater depth in our Brilliant Earth review. Irrespective of the veracity of the claims made in the article (we don’t believe them to be true), Brilliant Earth’s reputation has taken a significant hit.
Conclusion
After comparing Clean Origin and Brilliant Earth, we believe that Brilliant Earth comes out on top as the winner. Here’s why:
Brilliant Earth offers customers a choice between lab-grown and natural diamonds that are responsibly sourced. They also provide a complete diamond trail through their blockchain technology, which is not an option with Clean Origin, as they only offer lab-grown diamonds.
Brilliant Earth offers customers a paid warranty to cover maintenance for three years with the option to renew it. In contrast, Clean Origin doesn’t provide any coverage for maintenance.
Brilliant Earth’s 360˚ viewer is smoother and more sophisticated than Clean Origin’s, and they have a single standard viewer. Additionally, Brilliant Earth has a more extensive selection of lab-grown diamonds, allowing customers to be more precise about their diamond grades.
Clean Origin has some advantages over Brilliant Earth, such as a more positive reputation and a 100-day return policy, both jewelers are exceptional places to purchase diamonds. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which jeweler best meets your needs.
