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Blue Nile Diamond Search
Forbes' Favorite Online Jeweler for the FIFTH consecutive year!
========== Overall Rating ==========
35 out of 35
possible points
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Summary ==========
Prices -- 
Selection --
Search Engine --
Information Provided --
Customer Service --
Return Policies --
Product Knowledge --
Our Comments:
Blue Nile is one of the most successful sites on the web, and the largest retailer of diamonds and jewelry online. They have also been Forbes' favorite online jeweler for 4 years in a row,
so you don't have to take our word for it. They really treat a customer well, prices are excellent, and they have
proven that they will be around a while. They have sound financial backing, are one of the few major websites
operating at a profit, and offer excellent guarantees and service. We respect the amount
of effort and research that has gone into creating this elegant
and informative site. The prices are among the lowest, while the quality of their inventory among the highest.
The search engine is very efficient, full information
is given for every diamond, and selection is enormous. It's an excellent feature that their diamonds have been
pre-selected according
to overall beauty (tedious and labor-intensive for them but great for first-time diamond shoppers).
Customer service goes beyond the norm, and the staff is honest, knowledgeable
and helpful. The management at Blue Nile is aware of the need to make every customer happy in order to build
their business by word of mouth, so customers are treated with importance. You will enjoy the experience
from start to finish, as testified to us by hundreds of customers over the past 5 years.
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Prices ==========
Rating:
This means that prices on 20 randomly chosen diamonds averaged
within 5% of the best prices we found on the largest online diamond price databases.
Our Comments:
The prices at this site are among the best and among the most
consistent for the fine quality offered. It is very important
to note that almost every diamond featured on this site has been hand-selected for beauty
and fine quality. Also note that the prices at Blue Nile are excellent for such a
full-service firm, and among the top few sites we reviewed. Blue Nile saves you money and
they know how to help without bullying you. You will not go wrong at Blue Nile in our
opinion.
==========
Selection ==========
Rating:
If you like a huge number of diamonds to choose from, all of them fine quality with better
than average to ideal cuts, this is the place to buy your diamond.
Our Comments:
This site listed the largest searchable inventory of all
the sites we reviewed, and they were all apparently hand-picked for overall cut
and beauty. They don't seem to list any diamonds that would not look good to the eye. This is a crucial point that separates the top dealers from the stores that
appear to have lower prices. You have to compare everything, not just the 4 Cs, or you can
really get in trouble. Stores like Blue Nile do the work for you.
The only site with larger inventory online included a huge number of
stones of lesser quality. The selection here was not only very
extensive, but more importantly featured stones with an excellent balance of all the major
quality factors. This alone is a great reason to check out this
site.
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Search Engine =========
Rating:
Our Comments:
This is one of the best search engines of all. It was very
easy to use and included all the most important fields in the
search parameters. We especially appreciated the many ways to
sort the diamonds listed, the interactive way it allows you to narrow your search or expand it, and the complete details available
on every diamond. The other sites have since modeled their search engines after
this excellent example.
=======
Information Provided =======
Rating:
Our Comments:
The depth of information varied only slightly from diamond to
diamond, but everything we needed to chose a diamond and accurately
assess pricing was included for every stone we selected. We also
enjoyed the new explanations of each of the 4 Cs, which defined
and explained the grades on each diamond description page. This is very valuable for the
first-time diamond buyer. Great idea.
=======
Customer Service =======
Rating:
Our Comments:
The sales assistant did not hesitate to guide us through all
the many decisions involved in buying a diamond when we indicated
we were a novice needing help. He was efficient, cheerful and
knowledgeable. His guidance was very comprehensive without becoming
cumbersome and he avoided boring us with excessive technical jargon (even though he had the
knowledge).
The phone rang only
once before it was answered, no voice mail or annoying menus,
and our call was handled by the first person who answered, with
no need to transfer our call to a separate sales department.
The staff does not earn commissions, so you can call back any
time and get answers to your questions immediately from anyone that answers.
The site contains many
features that will be valuable for new diamond buyers, including
a newsletter, excellent details about the 4 Cs and major buying
factors, and an excellent "create your own ring" interactive
feature.
Customer service is
open 8 am - 6 pm, 7 days a week, which is rare among the dealers
reviewed. This is important for anyone who works for a living!
Security and other concerns
are all well handled to give confidence in making a purchase.
This is one of the best
financed sites on the web, and one of the oldest -- based on
a well-established brick-and-mortar business that converted to
Web sales a couple of years ago. We have heard excellent stories
from customers that the return process was easy when it was necessary
to exchange the first stone to see another. The site is very
well organized, and improving monthly. If offers step-by-step
buying instructions, including a kind of jewelry checklist that
will help you remember everything, right up to the wedding day.
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Return Policies ========
Rating:
Our Comments:
These appear to be the most lenient, customer-oriented return
policies on the Web.
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Product Knowledge =======
Rating:
Our Comments:
The randomly chosen sales assistant answered every one of our
questions correctly. In fact, we found this person to be both
knowledgeable and fair in representing the facts, instead of
loading the conversation with lots of hype about being the best
site or having the best prices. In our experience, the best do
not have to say so.
For a list of questions we asked during
our secret shopper test, see How
We Rate the Dealers.
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