Updated 12/17/21

Review: Ritani vs Brilliant Earth

With a wide selection of both earth-grown and lab created diamonds, Ritani and Brilliant Earth are both popular places to get ethically sourced engagement rings online.

If you’re searching for an engagement ring, you (hopefully) want to get the best deal possible. So, which online jeweler should you choose for your ring? Keep reading to get a full breakdown of Ritani vs Brilliant Earth.

Diamond Pricing

Shopping online for your engagement ring can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. However, Ritani’s diamond prices are far more competitive than other jewelers.

Here is a comparison of a 1-carat natural GIA-certified diamond listed on both Ritani and Brilliant Earth’s sites. Below are the diamond details:

Cut: Excellent
Clarity: Internally Flawless
Color: F
Measurements: 6.35 - 6.39 x 3.98 mm
Table: 55%
Depth: 62.5%
Symmetry: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Girdle: Medium – Slightly Thick
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Strong Blue

Ritani sells this diamond for $8,563.

Brilliant Earth sells the same diamond for $9,570. *

By choosing Ritani, you would save $1,007 on this diamond. It’s clear that Ritani offers phenomenal pricing on its diamonds.

Price Matching

A sign of a trustworthy, reputable jeweler is that they offer price matching. Diamond shoppers are often advised to look for this feature while shopping for a stone. Surprisingly, Brilliant Earth does not offer price matching. Brilliant Earth also removes report numbers from its natural diamond reports. Below is an example of a GIA-certified diamond on Brilliant Earth’s site:

It is likely that they do this to prevent comparison shopping.

At Ritani, we stand by our pricing and know that it’s the best. We offer price matching in the unlikely event that you do find a diamond priced better elsewhere, and we include the certificate numbers for all our diamonds on our site.

Diamond Shopping Tools

Ritani has numerous tools to make diamond shopping easier and more transparent that Brilliant Earth does not provide.

Diamond Cost Breakdowns

The diamond industry historically has had a dubious reputation. We’re breaking industry stereotypes with our Diamond Cost breakdown. Ritani’s Diamond Cost Breakdown, which is listed under every stone, shows you exactly what goes into the final price of a diamond.

Ritani’s Diamond Cost Breakdown tells you the diamond cost (how much the diamond cost to get from the vendor), fulfilment costs (like shipping duties, customs fees, and more), our markup, and the final retail cost.

Brilliant Earth does not provide a Diamond Cost Breakdown for its shoppers.

Diamond Price Alerts

The diamond market is constantly changing. Ritani gives its customers the ability to set up diamond price alerts, which will notify shoppers via email if the price of the diamond goes up or down.

Brilliant Earth does not offer diamond price alerts for its shoppers.

Best Value Diamonds

To make finding the perfect diamond even easier for shoppers, Ritani gives diamonds with exceptional value a Best Value badge. These Best Value diamonds are all listed under the Recommended tab so shoppers can easily find them. Ritani uses historical market prices to determine which diamonds are Best Value; each diamond’s 4 Cs and other factors play a role in this.

Brilliant Earth does not provide this information on its diamonds.

Diamond Information

The quality of each specific diamond on Ritani’s website is summarized in an easy-to-understand way. For example, Ritani informs shoppers if their diamond appears smaller, larger, or equal to its carat weight. This information is calculated from the diamond’s proportions. This information is incredibly important because it is difficult to see how large a diamond will be online. Lots of shoppers aren’t aware that diamonds can appear smaller or larger than their carat weight indicates since carat is simply a measure of weight.

Ritani also helps customers understand if their diamond is eye clean based on its specific inclusions as well as its clarity grade. While diamonds on Ritani’s site have HD imagery and/or videos listed, it is sometimes difficult for beginner shoppers to judge whether the diamond will be eye-clean in person. Ritani also lists which inclusions may affect your diamond’s appearance.

Brilliant Earth does not include this highly specific information on its diamonds.

Free In-Store Preview

Buying a diamond or engagement ring online can be scary – after all, you have no idea what it will look like until it arrives at your doorstep. That’s why Ritani offers Free In-Store preview at over 100 locations in 30 different states. Free In-Store Preview allows shoppers to preview a diamond or completed engagement ring that they are interested in at a local jeweler or WeWork near them. You get to see your actual loose diamond, or the actual diamond set in your engagement ring, at no cost to you. If you don’t like it, there is no obligation to buy it. You can walk away without paying a dime.

Brilliant Earth currently has 15 showrooms available in 12 different states. However, these showrooms do not offer free previews of your potential diamond or engagement ring. The sample engagement rings in their showrooms feature diamond simulants, not real diamonds, so you won’t know what your final engagement ring will look like. They do give you the option to pick up an order that you placed online.

Custom Engagement Rings

Both Ritani and Brilliant Earth provide custom engagement ring services. At Ritani, there is no spending minimum for a custom ring, and customers can still return or exchange their ring. Our goal is for our customers to walk away with a ring that they love.

At Brilliant Earth, custom engagement rings require a $2,000 minimum. You can’t return or exchange your custom ring. Custom engagement rings also do not qualify for a free resizing at Brilliant Earth.

Ring Resizing

When you purchase a ring from Ritani, you get one free resizing within the first year of purchase.

At Brilliant Earth, free ring resizes are only offered within the first 60 days of purchase. This has many downsides as your finger size can change throughout the seasons depending on the temperature, and 60 days isn’t much time to experience this. Additionally, those who are popping the question may purchase the ring and not propose right away. The newly engaged often want to cherish and show off their ring and putting such a tight time limit on resizing takes away from that. To resize your ring, you’ll have to mail it back or bring it to a Brilliant Earth showroom.

Engraving

An engagement ring is the ultimate token of your love. To make your ring even more personalized, Ritani offers free engraving on any order.

Brilliant Earth offers engraving, but you must pay a $40 fee.

The Bottom Line

Ritani is always putting the customer first, but don’t just take it from us. Check out some of these customer reviews:

“Ritani is absolutely amazing! I had the opportunity to customize the ring to make it my own and it looks absolutely stunning! Their customer service was fantastic as well. On top of that, the price of diamonds on Ritani is WAYYYY better than anywhere else online!” -Ben T.

“The diamond we purchased is absolutely beautiful! Juliet G is a wonderful gemologist who helped us make the right decision. Ritani did a great job at updating us along the delivery process as well. Worth every single $!” -Anonymous

“Excellent customer service! I had a custom order for an engagement ring and Juliet G helped me greatly. She made the process smooth and easy, considering I have zero knowledge of diamonds. Prices are competitive with other big-name online stores. Overall I've had a great experience with Ritani and would definitely recommend it to others.” -Darel A.

“I have nothing but praise when it comes to shopping with Ritani! I love my new ring and the price was amazing. Customer service is always easy and helpful! Just purchased matching earrings and am going to eventually buy a matching necklace, bracelet and engagement ring from them in the upcoming months.” -Anonymous

Check out more reviews here.

*Reflects price as of December 16th, 2021