Whether you’re shopping for an engagement ring, a wedding band, or an everyday statement piece you’ll wear for years to come, investing in fine jewelry can feel daunting and overwhelming to say the least. There are so many brands to choose from, it’s hard to know what really deserves your money and what doesn’t.

Today I’m going to help you cut through the noise and gain some clarity (no pun intended!) on two of the most widely known online jewelry brands, Blue Nile and Brilliant Earth. My goal is to help you decide which brand may be the best investment for your jewelry needs by exploring the pros and cons of each company, online shopping experiences, an overview of their different collections, ethical sourcing, and more.

At a Glance

Both Blue Nile and Brilliant Earth are reputable for a reason: they offer curated fine jewelry for milestone moments in an easily shoppable online platform. They both have transparent pricing and offer valuable information about the materials they use.

That being said, their differences stand out to me in a few big ways, one of which is their overall aesthetic style. Blue Nile’s catalog feels both timeless and versatile. These are quality pieces that are high-end, yet wearable enough for everyday. Brilliant Earth leans more towards being on-trend, with designs that feel more current and like statement pieces. 

Blue Nile has a wider selection overall, carrying traditional classics like diamonds, colored gemstones, and pearls. They also offer fine jewelry pieces made for daily wear, like chains, stackable bracelets, and earrings. Brilliant Earth’s selection is a bit more cut and dry, focusing on jewelry for big moments like an engagement, wedding, or personalized gift.

Main Differences of Blue Nile vs. Brilliant Earth

• Blue Nile offers classic, versatile jewelry pieces for all occasions, while Brilliant Earth leans more toward giftable pieces for milestone moments.
• Blue Nile’s selection is great for building a personal jewelry wardrobe, while Brilliant Earth’s is more occasion-focused.
• Blue Nile’s jewelry styling feels more timeless, while Brilliant Earth has more trend-forward designs.
• Blue Nile’s non-bridal jewelry selection is larger, while Brilliant Earth’s non-bridal categories are more limited.
• Blue Nile has fewer videos for individual pieces on their site, while Brilliant Earth shows more videos of their pieces.
• Blue Nile offers more natural conflict-free gemstones in addition to lab diamonds, while Brilliant Earth has a wider selection of lab-grown stones.
• Blue Nile’s upgrade program applies to natural diamonds, while Brilliant Earth’s program applies to both lab and natural diamonds.
• Blue Nile’s specs and GIA certifications are front and center, while Brilliant Earth’s stones have less details shown.

What’s Blue Nile All About?

Blue Nile was founded in 1999 as a revolutionary new way to shop for an engagement ring. The founder, Mark Vadon, experienced firsthand how frustrating and intimidating buying an engagement ring can be. Blue Nile quickly disrupted the typical jewelry store experience and created a newfound value and confidence in buying diamonds online. Mark’s goal to empower customers to shop with clarity and ease is what makes Blue Nile continue to thrive today.

What I Think About Blue Nile

Where Blue Nile really shines is in their seamless shopping experience. The website is so clear and easy to navigate. I love how easy it is to shop via stone, setting, shape, material, you name it. It’s really fun to see how custom you can get here. Depending on the piece I’m shopping for, my priority could be the metal color, the shape or color of the stone, or the overall design, so it’s really helpful and convenient that you can begin your design process with what’s actually most important to you.

When shopping for a higher-end investment piece, I personally prefer an experience that stands out in both quality and luxury. This is an important purchase, and it’s my time to shine, right? Thankfully, it’s hard not to feel taken care of when shopping at Blue Nile. The imagery is so strong and shows undeniable clarity of their stones and materials. I personally appreciate this more than lifestyle photos that may be distracting from the jewelry itself.

Blue Nile’s strength is in its ultra-wide selection of over 150,000 loose, GIA-certified natural and lab-grown diamonds and gemstones. The product page for each gemstone makes it super easy to see all the specs about the stone, including the full GIA certificate, so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Pros

• Blue Nile offers a large selection of engagement rings and settings, in addition to other diamonds, gemstones, and jewelry styles for everyday wear.
• They have a versatility of styles to create a full personal jewelry collection.
• Blue Nile’s pieces feel timeless, wearable, and made to last.
• Their jewelry is made with the highest-quality materials and conflict-free sourcing.
• They have a wide range of styles, from more classic to modern, minimal designs.
• Blue Nile sources reputable stones with GIA certifications and grading details.
• They offer competitive pricing with a significant discount compared to traditional jewelry stores.
• Blue Nile’s customer service is responsive, with easy ways to contact, including instant online chat, phone, email, and WhatsApp messaging
• Their website lets you design and customize your own unique rings, earring,s and necklaces.
• Blue Nile’s curated collections and gift guides help narrow down a vast selection of items without limiting choices.
• They offer services like lifetime cleaning and inspection, free resizing within the first year, and free shipping.

Cons

• The high volume of stones and options in jewelry customization can feel overwhelming at first.
• If you’re looking for lab-grown, it’s worth noting that they have a wider selection of natural gemstones than lab-grown styles (but they do carry both).
• Their virtual appointments are great, but it may not replace the experience of trying something out in person.

What You’ll Find at Blue Nile

Engagement Rings

Blue Nile is best known for their diamonds, and for good reason. They make it easy to navigate through hundreds of thousands of diamonds and setting options so that you can design your dream ring. I really appreciate how clear the spec information and photos are on their site. The nitty-gritty details on such an important purchase make all the difference.

Wedding Bands

Blue Nile’s selection of wedding bands covers everything from timeless solid metals to unique diamond-accented styles. Whether you’re looking to match an engagement ring or create your own unique stack, it’s easy to find a band that fits your personal style.

Gemstones

I’m like a kid in a candy store with Blue Nile’s catalog of gemstones! Their website lets you discover so many beautiful, unique cuts and colors in every shape imaginable. Their personalized jewelry section also allows you to customize any style of rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. 

Custom Rings

Blue Nile’s customization tools are the best out there. They let you start with either a diamond, gemstone, or setting, so the possibilities are endless. 

Tennis Bracelets and Necklaces

My personal favorite, you can never go wrong with a classic tennis bracelet and necklace. These are jewelry staples, and Blue Nile’s sparkle like no other. 

Personalized gemstone pieces

Blue Nile lets you design your own engagement ring, earring, or pendant with your own unique choice of gemstone. Shop favorites like emeralds, sapphires, and rubies in a shape and size you love. Every stone is unique so the customization here feels extra special.

Pearl Jewelry

Quality pearls are hard to find, but Blue Nile’s quality stands out. Their pearl jewelry collection includes Akoya, South Sea, freshwater, and Tahitian, so you can discover an array of classic and bold styles in different settings.

Everyday Jewelry

Blue Nile has a beautiful catalog of rings, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces designed to stand alone or wear as a part of your everyday jewelry stack. One of my favorite things about shopping at Blue Nile is that they have so many pieces to choose from to create a timeless personal jewelry collection.

What About Brilliant Earth?

Brilliant Earth was started in the mid-2000’s when people were really starting to question where their diamonds came from and the manufacturing process behind the scenes. From the beginning, the brand’s foundation was in sustainability and conflict-free sourcing of diamonds, providing a more ethical shopping experience for the modern buyer. Today, Brilliant Earth is a go-to for fine jewelry with an emphasis on conscious consumerism.

My Take on Brilliant Earth

Brilliant Earth is one of the first names I think of when I think of wedding jewelry. The shopping experience to me immediately feels fun and celebratory, with an emphasis on love and romance. Their website is curated around celebrating milestones and gift guides for that special someone in your life.

Where Brilliant Earth shines is in their videos of their gemstones. I love the 360-degree feature. It’s super cool to see the stones in depth and from every angle.

I definitely get a more youthful vibe from Brilliant Earth. Their imagery is on-trend and emotional, which is beautiful, but personally can feel a little bit distracting. Sometimes the glittery lifestyle and model photos can make me feel like I need to be buying the biggest, shiniest thing I can get my hands on. In reality, what I truly want is the best quality piece I can find at a price I can afford, and in a style that I’ll feel amazing in for years to come.

Being on-trend isn’t inherently bad, and I’m sure others do end up loving their trendier pieces and get a lot of wear out of them. For me personally, making the best investment to me means building a jewelry collection that I’ll love forever, at every stage of life.

Pros

• Brilliant Earth is great for modern engagement rings and wedding bands.
• Brilliant Earth shows 360 degree, interactive video for their diamonds and gemstones.
• Their focus on ethical sourcing and lab-grown stones makes their jewelry a more sustainable option.
• They offer a smaller selection of stones and settings, which can be less overwhelming and help with decision fatigue.
• Their website has strongly curated collections of gift guides, which is really helpful if you’re shopping for someone other than yourself.
• Brilliant Earth’s curated collections make it easy to shop for something fun and unique.
• Brilliant Earth’s website is easy for casual shopping if you don’t want to compare too many specs.
• Their lifetime upgrade program includes a full price credit for upgrading both natural and lab-grown diamonds.

Cons

• Prices can be higher for certain materials and designs than other sites, due to their focus on sustainable sourcing.
• Their selection can feel more trendy than timeless.
• They have fewer filtering tools for side-by-side comparison.
• Their pieces can be more milestone-focused rather than for long-term wear.

What You’ll Find at Brilliant Earth

Gift-ready styles

A highlight of Brilliant Earth’s website is their extensive collection of curated gift guides, including gifts for her, for him, milestones, holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and more. It’s super convenient if you need guidance on a selection of gift-ready styles for someone other than yourself.

Engagement Rings

Like Blue Nile, Brilliant Earth is a go-to brand for engagement rings. They make it easy to customize your own ring, starting with a stone, setting, or a complete bridal set. Their 360-degree video is a standout feature and gives you confidence when picking out the perfect stone.

Sustainable Ring Options

If sustainability is at the top of your priorities, Brilliant Earth offers 100% renewable energy lab and colored lab diamond collections made with renewable and solar energy.

Zodiac and Personalized Jewelry

Brilliant Earth offers some really fun collections, like their zodiac jewelry styles for astrology lovers. They also offer personalized pieces, including name necklaces, engravable bracelets and necklaces, angel numbers, and initial jewelry.

Wedding Bands

Brilliant Earth has wedding bands for both men and women, as well as a gender neutral selection. I like how easy it is to customize your own, or shop by metal, style, or collection.

Colored Lab Diamonds

For their 20th anniversary, Brilliant Earth created their own unique Pacific Green colored lab diamond, inspired by the California coast. If you love a green colored stone and want something affordable and sustainable, this collection is definitely worth checking out.

The Best of Both Brands:

Blue Nile May Be Best for You If…

• You want the highest quality diamond at the best price.
• You’re building a personal jewelry wardrobe and want pieces that are wearable for everyday and fit your style.
• You prioritize gemstone specs and GIA certification.
• You prefer a more classic, timeless jewelry style.
• You want to invest in quality above all else.

Brilliant Earth May Be Best for You If…

• Your top priority is sustainability and sourcing.
• You want your jewelry to be current and on-trend.
• You’re shopping for a gift for someone else in your life
• You like fun collections like zodiac, initials, and angel numbers.
• You’re looking for unique lab-created stones in different colors.

Blue Nile vs Brilliant Earth: The Overall Winner

The final verdict for me really depends on who and what you’re shopping for. In an industry with so many variables, having this kind of clarity is essential.

My overall winner for buying fine jewelry online is Blue Nile. While both companies have standout aspects, Blue Nile wins me over with the timeless feel and quality of their gemstones. Their design tools make it so easy to not only create a beautiful design, but also to keep the specs and important details in mind. The quality is undeniable, and I feel like I know exactly what I’m getting when I purchase from Blue Nile..

I know I can’t help but mention sustainability every time I mention Brilliant Earth, but if that is at the top of your priority list, then Brilliant Earth is a solid option. I also think it’s really great if you’re wanting something very on-trend or a uniquely colored lab stone that you may not be able to find somewhere else.

Whether you’re looking to buy a standalone piece or start to build your personal jewelry wardrobe, I’m confident that you’ll find something you love at Blue Nile that will stand the test of time.