You’re in the right place if you are looking for the best places to buy oval diamonds online. In this article, we’ll be covering some of the basics about jewelry and answering the most frequently asked questions including:
- Where can I buy oval diamonds online?
- What’s a bowtie and why should I avoid it?
- Do oval diamonds have cut grades?
Best Places to Buy Oval Diamonds Online
If you’re in a rush, here’s a highlight of some of the best places to buy oval diamonds online. Keep scrolling to learn more about these reputable online dealers!
Let’s delve right into, shall we?
Best Places to Buy Oval Diamonds Online
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James Allen
James Allen is hands down the best place to buy oval diamonds online. They carry a wide variety of oval diamonds although they are low on demand despite bring a fancy shape.
James Allen offers more than 4,000 mined oval-shaped diamonds and more than 2,000 lab grown oval diamonds. What’s more, they have a range of oval colored stones and fancy colored oval diamonds too. One thing that makes this online retailer stand out from the rest is their use of 360 degrees view technology.
One of the most important factors when choosing loose diamonds online is a high-quality viewer. James Allen has an edge over the others since they’re straightforward. This is because they allow their customers to control the video and drag it in different directions to catch different characteristics of oval diamonds.
James Allen’s 360 degrees viewer is one of the best in the industry especially when it comes to identifying bowtie effects and inclusions. Keep scrolling to learn more about oval bowtie.
In addition, they have 160 different ring settings for the ovals to choose from whether you prefer side stones or plain metal. You can modify these settings to suit your needs thanks to the advanced ring studio feature.
The ring studio feature allows you to start in the studio or modify the one with a rainbow ring at the right hand corner. The best thing about James Allen is that they offer a free lifetime warranty to all their customers. Plus, the warranty covers any routine maintenance. For instance, if you buy Kay’s oval solitaire, you’ll have to pay $329 extra for a warranty that James Allen gives for free.
Pros
- They have a wide range of colorless oval diamonds
- The diamonds are AGS and GIA certified
- They offer a free lifetime warranty
- They have a 360-degree crystal clear view
Cons
- They carry IGI graded diamonds
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Clean Origin
If you’re working on a budge then Clean Origin is the way to go especially if you don’t care whether the diamonds come from. Clean Origin sells lab created diamonds exclusively. These diamonds are usually cheaper than similar grade mined diamonds.
Clean Origin have more than 4,000 oval cut diamonds in the inventory. However, only 1,000 are below a carat weight. If you’re looking for the best place to buy oval diamonds with large carat weights at a relatively lower cost than that you would normally pay for a mined diamond then Clean Origin would be an excellent choice for you.
In addition, Clean Origin have a 360 degrees crystal clear view on all their diamonds with two viewers. The viewers are quite different since one is awful while the other has a couple of features that work remarkably well.
The diamond scan is worse even though you don’t need the bells and whistles when looking for obvious inclusions or a bowtie. Sometimes, the diamond scan spins faster and the rest of the time the diamonds are too big for their screen.
Clean Origin has a unique feature that sets them apart from their competitors. The return policy! They have a return policy that allows customers to have over 90 days free returns. For the most part, online retailers offer 30- or 60-days return period.
It’s quite evident that Clean Origin trust their products. It’s satisfying to find a company that loves it when their customers appreciate their wedding rings like they do. However, just like Blue Line, Clean Origin also lacks a perfect warranty to cover any routine maintenance.
They have manufacturer’s warranty albeit nothing for tightening gemstones or rhodium.
Pros
- They have a wide range of oval diamonds
- They have a 100-day return policy
- They have GIA certified lab created oval diamonds
- It’s ideal for larger carat weights
Cons
- Their 360-degrees view is inconsistent
- They don’t have a warranty for repairs
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Blue Nile
Blue Nile is a renowned online retailer with a strong consumer fanbase. They are the best diamond retailers online which makes then veterans in the industry when it comes to diamonds. Besides, customers always love reliability. They carry more than 16,000 oval diamonds and half of them the 360-degree crystal viewing.
However, being a reputable dealer isn’t the only thing that makes Blue Nile stand out from the rest when it comes to oval diamonds. You’ll have about 4,200 for a carat minimum with 360-degree view which is such a classic drop. However, more than 3,000 oval diamonds is a large pool to draw from.
Blue Nile diamonds are GIA certified. GIA certified diamonds are more valuable and have accurate grades in the gemstone industry although they are quite expensive. However, natural diamonds come highly recommended especially those that are GIA or AGS certified.
Oval diamonds from Blue Nile are relatively expensive as compared to those from James Allen’s collection. This is because the latter carries IGI certified diamonds as well which are slightly cheaper than AGS or GIA although not quite accurate. Blue Nile’s oval diamonds fall on an average of $500 as compared to James Allen’s. The price is the same for most of them.
What’s more, they allow their customers to view the GIA report with the diamonds online. James Allen, on the other hand, would want you to call and inquire. They usually have a recommendation guide that comes in handy when you’re looking to compare diamonds that fall in the same category like the one you want to buy. It displays a brief overview.
Blue Nile doesn’t have a free lifetime warranty which is a major drawback. A lifetime manufacturer’s warranty only covers design flaws and defects anytime although it’s not as good as a lifetime warranty. You’re not in luck either when it comes to wear and tear. This is quite a bummer because most of their diamonds fall on the higher side of the pricing spectrum in comparison to other online retailers.
Pros
- They have a wide range of oval diamonds to choose from
- You can view reports online
- They have a great customer support
- Crystal clear 360-degrees view
Cons
- Only half of the diamonds have 360-degree view
- They have no warranty on repairs
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Brilliant Earth
Brilliant Earth is a renowned gemstone online retailer. For the most part, they tend to specialize in being transparent by simply going beyond conflict free especially with colored gemstones and natural diamonds.
All the online retailers that come highly recommended are usually conflict-free. However, that only covers where the diamond comes from. Brilliant Earth provides a blockchain to deal with this especially when buying blockchain oval diamonds. You’ll get an email notification with a code after you make a purchase.
The code is a unique key that you can use to access the history of your diamond. The oval diamond is usually signed off in different production phases. Blockchain technology is as virtually unhackable as it is secure and Brilliant Earth was the first online retailer to use it on diamonds.
Brilliant Earth has more than 5,000 oval diamonds in their collection and 373 are blockchain diamonds. Most of their diamonds are GIA certified with official GIA reports that’s a little bit different from that of their counterparts. The report lets you know the origin of the diamond.
Brilliant Earth additionally carries 11,000 lab created oval diamonds along with 40 recycled ones. Recycled oval diamonds were previously owned, repurposed and recut. They also use recycled metals in the ring settings. Plus, they have a controllable and nice 360 degrees viewer albeit not on all diamonds. However, there are lots of options that you can choose from.
What keeps the fire burning at Brilliant Earth is the environment along with giving back to the society. They have many different collections that usually go towards a number of causes like the NAACP and female Tanzanian miners.
The diamonds from Brilliant Earth are relatively expensive as compared to those from their competitors. That’s why they tend to take a backseat. The information provided on their website is not quite detailed and there’s no mention of the Extended Service Plan. Besides, you can barely add it on the website then call in afterwards.
Brilliant Earth offers a 3-year warranty that covers routine maintenance.
Pros
- They’re an eco-friendly company
- They use 360-degree view technology
- Their diamonds are GIA certified and comes with Origin reports
- They have trackable blockchain diamonds
Cons
- Their oval diamonds are pretty expensive
- Their site lacks relevant information about blockchain ovals and warranty
FAQs on Places to Buy Oval Diamonds Online
Here’s a round-up of some of the most frequently asked questions about buying oval cut diamonds online.
What’s a bowtie effect?
A bowtie effect is typically the shadow that tends to appear on ovals, pear cut and marquise diamonds. A shadow that resembles a bowtie appears at the center of the diamond diagonally at different angles. Oval diamonds with exquisite cut quality have undetectable bowties while those that are carelessly cut have darker bowties.
Fancy shapes have no official cut grades and ovals are no exception. However, you might see loose oval diamonds in the best cut category sorted in the Very Good class. Oval diamonds that are described as Good when there’s the Very Good option have noticeable bowties.
However, some online retailers like Brilliant Earth tend to classify some of the best fancy diamond shapes as super ideal or ideal. This means that their super ideal and ideal oval diamonds are the best cuts and have no bowties.
Sometimes, the bowtie is usually quite unfortunate as it takes away from the sparkle. It’s as annoying as it is frustrating especially if you’ve invested in a higher clarity grade such as a VVS1 so that you don’t have to deal with darker shapes in the diamond. When it comes to VVS diamonds, brilliance and price are supposed to match.
No one wants to spend thousands for a squeaky clean diamond only to see a darker shadow playing across it and detracting from its brilliance. However, some people like it that way as they find noticeable bowties unique. At the end of the day, it all narrows down to personal preference. So, to each their own!
Use the jeweler’s Gem scope, loupe, high-quality 360-degrees viewer to inspect the oval diamond if you want les noticeable bowties. Using a controllable viewer like that of Blue Nile and James Allen is a lot easier. This is because a controllable viewer allows you to control the angles and light to see how dark it gets and how the light hits the bowtie.
There’s no way to avoid the bowtie completely owing to the intricate faceting the diamond cutter uses to come up with the oval shape.
Do oval diamonds sparkle more than regular diamonds?
Diamonds are usually cut in two different styles – step cut and brilliant cut. However, some diamonds are a combination of both brilliant and step cut. Just like round diamonds, the oval ones are also brilliant cut. Brilliant cut diamonds have more sparkle as compared to their step cut counterparts like Asscher and emerald cut stones.
Oval diamond rings tend to pale as compared to a round cut diamond’s sparkle. This because a rounded-shape diamond is an ideal cut and perfect in terms of proportions and symmetry. Oval diamonds look extra sparkly because the shape has a larger surface area than that of round diamonds. It’s equally elongated making it look bigger than fancy shapes.
For instance, cushion cut and princess cut diamonds. One of the main reasons why most people prefer oval diamonds is because they are look bigger on the finger and elongate the finger too.
RECOMMENDED: Cushion Cut Diamonds Guide
Are oval diamonds more expensive?
Oval diamonds are relatively cheaper than round diamonds even though they might be of the same grade. The most expensive shape are round brilliant cut diamonds. Diamond shapes that are less popular like the oval ones fall on the lower side of the pricing spectrum.
However, that’s not always the case. Cushion cut diamonds are among the most popular shapes although they’re relatively cheap. Marquise and heart cut diamonds are usually the most affordable options. ICheck out the price chart below to compare the price of oval diamonds against other different shapes.
Generally, oval diamonds are cheaper. This is because their brilliance is lower than that of round diamonds although they are more affordable than other different shapes like radiant and princess cut diamonds. Plus, clarity and color are more noticeable in an oval shape.
Thankfully, brilliant cut style with choppy and short facets can hide inclusions perfectly well. Dark inclusions are more noticeable. However, you can solve this problem with a crystal clear 360-degrees viewer.
Color grades, on the other hand, are more challenging. In this case, you might need to use a minimum H color grade for 1.5 carat diamonds and below. G color grade comes highly recommended for oval diamonds since they tend to show more color than other shapes. This also means that colorless ovals that is – H, I and J appear like they have a yellow tint. Keep this in mind when choosing the halo ring setting.
Halo diamonds usually have better color grade since they’re smaller although the clarity can be compromised. However, if you opt for a lower color grade for an oval-shaped halo, you’ll notice a slight tint at the center stone.
A perfect example is checking out a Neil Lane oval halo ring setting and do a comparison of the color grade. In this case, both the center diamond and halo tends to be I color but looks more yellow owing to the carat weight.
You can save a few bucks by going for yellow gold as opposed to white gold if you’re not particular about the ring setting of the metal. This way, you’ll have a warm oval color against the yellow gold solitaire ring setting with less color.