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Overall Score:3.67 | | ||||
| Price:3.5 | | Selection:3.5 | | Customer Service: 4 | |
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| Other Recommended Retailers |
Bottom Line
Ritani is a good company. As reported in National Jeweler, they were even named to the Forbes “America’s Most Promising Companies” list. Their jewelry and service are excellent and their diamond prices are ok. That said, you can get better value shopping at Blue Nile or James Allen (better overall experience).
For those niche consumers who really want to utilize Ritani’s “click and bricks” business model (explained below), or those consumers who happen to fall in love with a specific setting at Ritani, they are a great company.
We’d be happy to help you navigate the diamond search on Ritani and select some options for you. Or, if you prefer, we’re also able to recommend diamonds from elsewhere that provide the best value depending what you are looking for. Just contact us.
1) History of Ritani
Ritani is a relatively new kid on the block of online diamond retailers, having opened in 2012. Ritani was the brainchild of one of the largest DeBeers Sightholders, Julius Klein Group. After a couple of years, their stake was bought out by Cantor Fitzgerald. Throughout this ownership change, Brian Watkins has remained at the helm of this company (he has been the CEO since its founding).
Ritani has taken the advantages of online retail (as we cover in our article about online vs. traditional retailers) and is trying to add some unique twists. The results are impressive, but I’m not sure how much those features resonate with the consumer.
2) Shopping for an Engagement Ring from Ritani
Ritani has a very nice website. It is clear, intuitive and easy to navigate. They are a large company with an excellent selection of diamonds. Over the years Ritani has shown willingness to invest in technology to help both consumers and retailers with tools such as the “Ring Recommender” featured in JCK Online.
Ritani has direct relationships with their suppliers, so the diamonds they have listed are guaranteed to be available. This is the case for the biggest two companies as well; Blue Nile and James Allen.
Why you should trust us
To help you with the diamond buying process we lean on our expertise and experience. The author of this article, our CEO, Mike Fried has over 20 years of experience in the diamond industry. Mike started from the bottom, sorting and evaluating hundreds of thousands of diamonds to learn every facet (pun intended) of diamond quality and value. Mike followed that up by spending years buying and selling diamonds on the wholesale market as well as selling tens of millions of dollars worth of diamonds to diamond retailers.
Other sites use lists of diamonds from industry lists that are not always accurate (diamonds may not be available, the seller may not agree to sell it to the website you try to purchase it from etc). Working with one of these three sites gives you a more seamless buying experience.
Ritani also has the option to have a gemologist inspect the diamonds for you. You can select up to four diamonds, book a time slot, and they will give you a more detailed review of those diamonds.
Deal Alert: Get 25% off sitewide at James Allen
3) Clicks and Brick
Ritani’s standout feature is their “clicks and bricks” model.
This allows shoppers to have their selection shipped to a local retailer for viewing. This is a nice feature for those who really want the feel and experience of going into a store.
The reality is that all of the major online retailers offer full return policies, so you can just as easily order a ring and return it if you don’t like it. It’s far more practical, but some people prefer the retail experience. Also, if you are really strapped for time and don’t have a high credit limit, shopping elsewhere may tie up some of your credit for a week or so (while waiting for the return to be processed).
If you go the online route (like the overwhelming majority of our readers), Ritani has a great return policy. All the major companies offer full return policies. Like James Allen (Blue Nile does not offer this), Ritani will also pay for the return shipping. You just notify Ritani and they will schedule a pickup for you at home. You just slap the return label on and return.
While store visits and return policies are nice for peace of mind, the reality is that less than one percent of readers who contact us end up returning what they buy. So the minor differences in return policies don’t really come in to play that much.
Ritani Loose Diamond
Fortunately Ritani is a site that only lists GIA and AGS certified diamonds on their site. For a limited number of diamonds, they offer high-quality videos (imperative if you are looking to find the sweet spot in quality/value).
Additionally, I’m a fan of their most recent update to the loose diamond search page. I like their new filter buttons and sliders. It was easy to put in our recommended diamond parameters.
James Allen vs. Ritani (Loose Diamonds)
For comparison’s sake, I decided to search for the most commonly purchased diamonds. I searched for GIA certified 1ct, H VS2 excellent cut round diamonds with no strong fluorescence. We compared Ritani’s loose diamonds to James Allen’s diamonds with the exact same parameters (here we review James Allen diamonds).
As you can see, James Allen’s diamonds are approximately 4-5% cheaper than Ritani’s loose diamonds. Ritani fared better when compared to Blue Nile, where the prices were roughly the same (here we review Blue Nile diamonds). But that would just be looking at their loose diamonds in a vacuum. Normally people purchase a diamond with an engagement ring setting. This brings us to our next section.
Ritani Engagement Rings
Blue Nile vs. Ritani (Engagement Rings)
As we mention above, when it comes to loose diamonds Ritani came out about even with Blue Nile in terms of price. Blue Nile has about 50% more diamonds listed (151k to 100k) though that’s neither here nor there. What you need to consider is what value you have overall.
Ritani seems to have a more limited selection when it comes to engagement rings. To be fair, their quality and craftsmanship are top notch. They also have some fantastic designs. Some are unique and hard to find (like every major retailer). But Ritani’s engagement ring selection is especially limited when it comes to the lower price points.
Take, for example, Ritani’s cheapest engagement ring selection. Blue Nile’s cheapest setting is 25% less expensive. Not only are the settings from Blue Nile cheaper, they also have more to choose from in the under $400 range (Ritani has just that one, while Blue Nile has 9).
Another example would be halo settings. Ritani has only three halo setting styles for a price point under $1,500. Blue Nile has 26 halo options. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Ritani engagement rings. Every Ritani diamond ring I have seen has been lovely. The point is that there are more, and cheaper, options elsewhere.
FAQs
- Does Ritani offer financing? Ritani has financing options at least as good as other retailers we’ve examined. While Ritani’s zero financing option is a good one, I would strongly suggest avoiding their 9.99% longer term financing.
- Are Ritani diamonds GIA certified? Ritani only offers diamonds with a GIA or AGS certificate. As we mentioned, GIA laboratory is the gold standard in certification.
- What is Ritani’s return policy? Ritani offers a 30 day money back guarantee (some custom designs are excluded). They will even pay for the return shipping (we are not sure if that includes international orders).
Is Ritani the right place to buy a loose diamond or engagement ring?
Let’s start by answering an easier question. Ritani is definitely not the wrong place to buy an engagement ring. Ritani offers high quality diamonds paired with settings of equal quality.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a compelling reason to purchase from Ritani. Compared to their top competition, James Allen and Blue Nile, Ritani comes in third both in selection (number of diamonds or settings available) and price. The price and selection differences aren’t large, but I don’t see much value that would compel me to recommend them over the competition.
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. James Allen will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free International Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisals
- One free resizing within 60 days of purchase
- Free ring inscriptions
- Best-in-class high quality imagery of all diamonds in stock
- 24/7 Customer Service
- Best-in-class packaging
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. Blue Nile will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisal
- One free resizing within the first year of purchase
- High quality images of about half of their diamonds
- 24/7 Customer Service
- 100% credit towards future upgrades (must be at least double in value)
- Best in class fulfillment
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