Blue Nile is a popular store for different kinds of beautiful jewelleries. In around 1995, a small company (internetdiamonds.com) was started to sell diamonds online. Having been unsatisfied with an in-person shopping experience in 1998, Mark Vadon found internetdiamonds.com and purchased an engagement ring from them.
In 1999, Mark Vadon acquired internetdiamonds.com with about $6 million. He revamped the website and changed the company’s name to Blue Nile.
Blue Nile soon became one of the biggest diamond retailers in the world. The company went public with an IPO in May 2004 raising about $76 million.
After many years of operating primarily online, Blue Nile opened its first showroom in 2015 in New York. This was followed by many more showrooms bring established across the US. In 2017, was taken private again when it was acquired by Bain Capital Private Equity and Bow Street LLC.
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Despite the fact that the company has changed structurally over the years, they have remained committed to their main goal, which is to offer a smooth diamond shopping experience.
As a result, Blue Nile is one of the most popular names in the jewellery retail business. That was no error; they’ve since expanded their product offering beyond diamonds, and now offer pearls, gemstones, and precious metal (gold, silver, platinum) jewellery.
Blue Nile advertises as the “first and largest online retailer dedicated to helping you find the perfect piece that lives up to your love“.
Yes, Blue Nile is a legitimate online retailer of jewelry. They have been in business since 1999 and are one of the largest and most trusted online retail jewelers. They are a member of the American Gem Society, a sign of their commitment to quality and ethical standards in the jewelry industry.
The promises of Blue Nile do not stop at offering the perfect diamond or piece of jewellery; they say confidently that no other jewellery retailer can beat their price.
It may not matter to many that Blue Nile was the first online diamond retailer. It may also not matter to many that Blue Nile is currently the biggest. However, claiming to offer excellent quality jewellery at unbeatable prices will grab the attention of any jewellery shopper.
The question is whether that is just advert-speak or the real deal.
This Blue Nile review will also provide the information that will help you reach that decision. First, we will check why Blue Nile is legit, then we will proceed to shine the spotlight on the quality of their products and services.
Blue Nile is legitimate. It is not a scam since you will get your product from the store. It’s no news that fraudsters around on the internet; it’s also no longer news that these sc artists use online stores as a scamming front, where unsuspecting customers will pay for products but will not receive the delivery. Therefore, it’s important to pop the question: is this online retailer legit?
There’s no doubt that Blue Nile is a legit online jewellery store. First, they have been operating (as Blue Nile) since 1999, which is almost two decades. Suffice it to say that no online scamming shop can operate for that long.
Another thing is that Blue Nile traded as a public company from 2004 to 2017. To go back as a private holding, the buying company spent about $500 million to buy off shares at $40.75 per share. Suffice it to say that no scam shop will launch an IPO. But even if one gets that far, the best bet is to disappear with the funds raised ($76 million), and not to continue operation and make a sizeable profit for shareholders.
Another thing that is a pointer to an online shop is legit is that the shop has the capacity to fulfil orders, backed by physical fulfilment centres (physical shops/ showrooms, etc). In this regard, Blue Nile has a physical existence. The company is headquartered in Seattle (Washington). Though they are known primarily for their online operations, they also have different showrooms in shopping malls across the US. Some of the locations are Long Island (New York), White Plains (New York), Tysons Corner (Virginia), Salem (New Hampshire), Tigard (Oregon) and Bellevue (Washington).
These fulfilment centres hold a variety of merchandise, and from these centers Blue Nile ships out items when orders are placed. This capacity to fulfil orders proves that Blue Nile is legit.
Also, Blue Nile has received a lot of awards from industry watchers over the years. Some of the awards that Blue Nile has received include:
Blue Nile has also been featured in Wall Street Journal, Time magazine and other A-rated bodies. Suffice it to say that a scam shop cannot receive seals of approval from these industry watchers.
The combination of nearly two decades of seamless operation, physical fulfilment centres with the capacity to fulfil orders, and seals of approval from different independent third parties show that Blue Nile is a legit online jewellery store.
You can also find Blue Nile similar stores like Dresslily, Zaful, PrettyLittleThing. etc.
Blue Nile is safe and secure. The information that Blue Nile collect from you when you buy from them include your name, shipping address, gender, occupation, birthday, marital status, credit card information, and more. You don’t want this information getting into the wrong hands; thus, it’s important to make sure that Blue Nile will safeguard your personal/ sensitive data.
In this regard, Blue Nile uses SSL (secure socket layer) encryption technology. This creates a secure link between your device and Blue Nile’s servers to ensure that all data transferred in the link is protected from third parties. The data is also encrypted to ensure that even if captured, it is gibberish to the hackers.
With the use of this industry standard security protocol, there’s no doubt that Blue Nile is safe.
Blue Nile complaints and feedback are listed below so you can know what the customers are actually saying about Blue Nile. We gathered both Blue Nile bad reviews and good reviews from members so it is not biased.
Cancelled my order after some of the worst customer service I’ve ever had. Spent several hours researching diamonds and choosing the right one on their website for an engagement ring. The website was good and easy to build your own custom ring. Once paid for I received an email asking to call them to confirm the order. The experience I had in the phone (over several calls) was totally unacceptable and eventually led to a call with one of their advisors telling me if I didn’t like what they were saying I’d have to cancel and when I said I would then have to cancel my order the phone was hung up on me. The experience worried me to the point where we contacted our credit card provider as thought we must have been subject to a scam but it turns out it was just very bad service. When I contacted them to advise I was unhappy I was told it was just their security team doing necessary checks. I work on a transactional website and you can make security checks without being incredibly rude and unhelpful. Wouldn’t use again.
I ordered a gemstone necklace, and had to wait several weeks. They were nice about it on the phone. When the gemstone arrived, it had lots of little spots on it, that I didn’t see in the picture. I considered returning it, but stuck with it.
Very good service. Phone staff very helpful. Item I wanted was not in stock however they managed to get to me regardless wtihin a tight time frame. After doing some shopping around I found their like for like products to be cheaper than most.
Maybe you want to buy a diamond or another piece of jewellery but do not know what to look out for. For example: What setting should you choose? What diamond carat or shape will fit a particular setting? How will the finger size affect how the diamond will look? And more.
Blue Nile does help you with that. They do not just list the merchandise; there is a detailed education page that helps you with all you should look out for when deciding on the right diamond.
For example in the diamond education page, you’ll find the most important elements to look out for in a diamond, including why each matter. They also add a suggestion of what grades of the 4Cs (cut, clarity, colour and carat) will give your diamond the best sparkle. There is also a discussion of settings, and what unique advantages each one will give.
The education page comes complete with video and illustrations. For example, you’ll see how different carat grade will look on an average finger.
When making any purchase, you’ll want to physically assess the item to make sure it does not have unacceptable imperfections. In online purchases, physical assessment of item(s) is not possible before the purchase. Whatever assessment is done will be made by relying on product descriptions and product images.
Product description in Blue cannot be more detailed. For example, when you choose a particular diamond, you can view details like Carat Weight, Shape, Cut, Color, Clarity, Length/ Width Ratio, Depth percentage, Table percentage, Polish, Symmetry, Girdle, Culet, Fluorescence, Measurements. Also included are it’s price and delivery date.
In terms of product images, you’ll find good quality pictures of pieces listed in Blue Nile (albeit not the HD pics you may find in some other stores). Also, Blue Nile has now added a resource that is even more effective than images in helping you with your assessments, which is a 360° video viewer.
The industry-leading technology gives you a complete and magnified view of the diamonds, not just from specific-angles photo shots. It is almost like you’re holding the diamond in your hand and turning it as you please for a full inspection.
With such a detailed and magnified view of their diamonds, you’ll be able to see inclusions (tiny imperfections in diamonds) that are visible to the naked eye. However, not all diamonds in the store can be viewed with this technology.
Astor is Blue Nile’s premium diamond offering. The Astor by Blue Nile diamonds features the highest cut grading.
Diamond cut is the most important of the 4Cs to consider when buying a diamond. Without a high cut grade, even a diamond of high quality can appear dull and lifeless; thus, the cut is the biggest factor in creating sparkle and fire.
The Astor by Blue Nile™ Diamonds is cut to gather and reflect the lightest possible, as a result, they have very high grading for brilliance, fire, and sparkle. Fewer than 15 out of every 10,000 diamonds qualify as an Astor by Blue Nile™ diamond.
Needless to say, these premium diamonds are pricey.
Blue Nile allows you to build your own diamond ring. It’s a simple process where you’ll select a diamond, a setting, and complete your ring.
There’s a long list to select from (over 150,000 loose diamonds and 300 settings), but there’s a filter tool that can help you narrow your search. Alternatively, you can look at is what customers have built recently to draw inspiration from in the building of your own perfect diamond.
One good thing of the customized diamond ring shopping experience is that if you do not get your sizing right, Blue Nile offers complimentary (free) resizing of “build your own ring” diamond rings.
If for good reasons, you have concerns about purchasing conflict diamonds, you can rest assured that Blue Nile has a zero-tolerance policy toward conflict diamonds.
The company only deals with suppliers who adhere to and enforce the standards established by the Kimberley Process (a process which tracks diamonds from mine to market to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the mainstream diamond market).
For other metals, Blue Nile also has a strong policy on responsible mining, which makes them deal with only suppliers that meet the highest human rights, social, and environmental criteria.
The ideal store should holds a wide range of products as well as a good number of inventories for each product. You are more likely to find the right item when choosing from a huge list. Also, a good product range allows you to buy similar products from one place.
Blue Nile ticks the box. Though their main business is engagement rings, expansion over the years have seen them include non-engagement jewellery; and they now stand as a one-stop online jewellery shop. In terms of the number of inventory, Blue Nile is a clear leader.
The product categories (and items in each category) on their site are as follow:
One big advantage of shopping in Blue Nile is that they have a large inventory. They accomplish this by signing exclusivity deals with suppliers all over the world. For example, there is over 150,000 loose diamond. There’re also more coloured diamonds than you’ll find in almost every other stores. With such s huge selection, you’re more likely to find a piece that matches your preferences and budget.
You should own a high-quality diamond, but shouldn’t pay over and above what is reasonable for it. That is what Blue Nile says. To ensure this, Blue Nile uses a business model which is now being imitated by online diamond retailers.
Traditionally, retailing entails buying inventory from manufacturers and/ or wholesalers, and reselling them. Blue Nile is redefining that by not actually purchasing and holding inventory, but simply listing the diamonds directly from the manufacturers and/ or wholesalers.
This kind of cut off the middle man and all it’s overhead, and so Blue Nile is able to offer their diamonds at unbeatable prices. Blue Nile calls the business model disruptive, and it does disrupt the traditional retail setup. In fact, no physical diamond retailer can compete with Blue Nile in terms of price. And in the online sphere, Blue Nile is also a clear price leader.
Blue Nile says on their site that you’ll find their prices 20% – 40% less than that of traditional jewellers. True to that, it’s not uncommon to see pieces almost identical to the ones in Blue Nile costing significantly more in other stores.
We are talking diamonds and precious metals, so prices are in the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands. However, you can get elegant pieces for less than $100. Some heart-shaped necklaces, bracelets, and earrings go for $40.
One very attractive service/ feature of Blue Nile is their “Price Match Guarantee”. As part of the commitment to offer unbeatable prices, Blue Nile undertakes to match the price of a comparable diamond being offered at a lower price anywhere else.
That is, if in your search of diamonds in other shops, you find a diamond similar to one offered in Blue Nile but lower in price, all you need do is call Blue Nile at 1-888-565-7641. They’ll check out the diamond (using a consultant), and if it’s the same spec with theirs and graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), they’ll match the price. That is, they’ll give you the diamond in their store at the lower price you found the similar piece being offered elsewhere.
Blur Nile run promotions some times which allows customers to get items for less than their full prices.
These promotions are usually time-specific, so you’ll need to check their website for what promotion is being offered at any particular time.
At this time of writing this review, one of the enticing promotions is off Black Friday sales. Another promo offered $100 to customers for signing up for newsletters. However, you redeem the bonus by having $100 knocked off your next purchase (which has to be over $1000).
There’s a referral program that can help both you and your referral save as much as $100. If the friend you refer makes a successful purchase, both of you will save $20 on your next order of $100 or more, $50 on your next order of $500 or more, or $100 on your next order of $1000 or more.
There are no discounts on pieces, but Blue Nile explains that their competitive prices and the “Diamond Price Match” guarantee more than makeup for this.
The ideal shop should support a number of payment options so that you can readily find one to conveniently pay for your purchases. Also, the ideal shop should support a wide range of currencies so that you’ll not have to worry about currency conversions when buying internationally.
Blue Nile ticks both boxes in this. They support a variety of currencies which include: AED (UAE firham), AUD (Australian dollars), BGN (Bulgarian Lev), CAD (Canadian dollars), CHF (Swiss franc), CZK (Czech koruna), DKK (Danish krone), EUR (Euro), GBP (Great British pounds), HKD (Hong Kong dollars), HUF (Hungarian forint), JPY (Japanese Yen), MOP (Macanese pataca), MXN (Mexican peso), NOK (Norwegian krona), NZD (New Zealand dollars), PLN (Polish zloty), RMB (Chinese renminbi), RON (Romanian leu), SEK (Swedish krona), SGD (Singapore dollars), TWD (New Taiwan dollars), and USD (US dollars).
In terms of payment methods, they also support a variety of options depending on where you’ll be shipping to.
For orders shipping to most international addresses, payment methods supported include:
The different payment options supported means that Blue Nile affords you stress-free transactions.
The Blue Nile Credit Card is more than just a payment method. Holders of the Blue Nile Credit Card have access to some exciting financing options.
Apart from offering convenient payments, some of the best advantages of the card include the flexibility to pay overtime and special access to card member-only offers and promotions.
There are two financing options available with the Blue Nile Credit Card:
In either financing option, if payment is not made when due, the APR jumps to 29.99%.
Shipping is one of the most important considerations for online shopping. You don’t want shipping costs to take your total expenditure on items to unacceptable levels, and you also don’t want to wait forever to receive delivery of your package.
In terms of shipping cost, free shipping wins it all the time; but where free shipping is not available, customers would want shipping cost to be as low as possible.
For domestic shipping (US addresses), there are three different shipping options. There is the FedEx Ground shipping which may take up to 3 days; there’s FedEx 2Day shipping, and there’s FedEx Priority Overnight shipping. Thankfully, Blue Nile offers free shipping. There’s free Ground shipping for orders under $500, free 2Day shipping for orders between $500 – $1,000, and free Priority Overnight shipping for orders $1,000 and over.
Blue Nile also ships internationally. Shipping to Australia takes 3 – 10 days. Shipping to Canada may take anything between 1 – 8 days depending on the province. Shipping to China takes 2 – 4 weeks. It will take 1 – 4 days to get to European addresses.
It takes: 3 – 6 business days for Guam and Hong Kong (SAR); 2 – 8 business days for Japan and Mexico; 4 – 7 business days for Macau (SAR); 3 – 10 business days for New Zealand; 3 – 8 business days for the Northern Mariana Islands; 2 – 5 business days for Puerto Rico; 3 – 7 business days for Singapore; 3 – 7 business days for Taiwan; 7 – 14 business days for United Arab Emirates; and 1 – 3 days for the Virgin Islands.
The processing times for items differ and is not included in the shipping times advertised, so you’ll have to allow for items processing time when expecting delivery. However, most of the items in Blue Nile are processed and sent for shipping the same day the order is placed (if orders are placed before 6 PM EST).
Wedding bands with diamond may take 3 days for processing, while most loose diamonds may take up to 7 days, while “build your own jewellery” with diamonds may take up to 10 days.
You should want a store that allows returns just in case you are not totally satisfied with the item when you receive delivery of it. Therefore a review of the returns policy of an online shop is as important as anything else.
Blue Nile has a very likeable returns policy. First, it is backed by 30 days no-questions-asked money back guarantee. The offer is one of the best you’ll find. Apart from the fact that you have a full 30 days (of shipment of item from their facility) to return the item, you don’t have to explain yourself. Another perk is that all returns are free of charge.
At the time of writing this review, Blue Nile was offering an extended holiday returns, that allows orders shipped from Blue Nile starting November 15 (2018) to be returned free of charge to Blue Nile through January 15 (2019). Also, Blue Nile makes concessions and will allow returns from military addresses that get to them after the normal 30 days window.
However, it should be noted that Blue Nile allows two complimentary (free) returns per customer in a new. Once you initiate the return process, a free FedEx returns label is emailed to you. If you’ve exceeded the two times limit, you can still return items, but you’ll bear the cost. For that Blue Nile offers some shipping options and insurance at discounted rates.
Also, for the returns to be acceptable, the items must be in their original purchase condition and include all product documentation. And while you are at it, you should note that Blue Nile does not assume responsibility for lost or damaged returned shipments.
If your item is delivered to you damaged, you may refuse the shipment, or call Blue Nile immediately (at 1-800-242-2728) to arrange its return. You shouldn’t wait for more than five days after delivery to report damaged items, as well as missing items.
When your returns reach Blue Nile’s facility and are approved, you’ll be issued a full refund. However, you’ll have to allow up to two weeks for the returns approval/ refund processing. Efforts are made to issue a refund through your original payment method; for orders paid for with PayPal, your PayPal account will be credited. But where bank wire is the original payment method (and the amount under USD $1000), you will be refunded via check.
There are certain items that cannot be returned. These include:
Also, there are some items that cannot be resized, so you’ll have no luck returning them for resizing. These include: diamond and gemstone eternity rings with a specific number of gemstones per finger size; milgrain or ornate bands; some silver rings; or rings with alternative metals such as Tungsten.
If you change your mind about an order, Blue Nile allows you to change or cancel the order, as long as it has not been shipped out.
Where it has already been shipped, you’ll have to wait to receive delivery of it and process a return. However, cancelling or changing an order does not apply to special orders.
If you want a diamond retailer that stands by their products, you’ll be hard pressed to find one better than Blue Nile.
With their lifetime manufacturer warranty, Blue Nile warrants that all their items will be free from manufacturing defects, not only when you receive delivery of them, but throughout the life of the products.
If at any time you determine that your item has a manufacturing defect, you can return it to Blue Nile. If after inspection, the item is passed damaged due to a manufacturing defect, they will repair it at no cost, or replace it with another, or issue a refund equal to the selling price of the original item.
However, if they determine that the damage is not due to manufacturing defects, you’ll be notified. You may then have them effect needed repair at your own cost, or have the items sent back to you.
No matter how long you’ve used your diamond, if you decide you want a bigger rock from Blue Nile, you can return your diamond to them and get a full refund of the original purchase.
As you would have guessed, there ate some conditions. First, the piece you are returning must be in its original condition with the original grading report. Also, the new diamond you want to get must be at least twice the price of the one you’ll be returning.
Blue Nile offers free cleaning and inspection service on diamond rings. To extend the life of the jewellery, the inspection and cleaning may be necessary after using the ring for some while or when it undergoes major trauma.
Thankfully, the service is free. You’ll only pay for the shipping to Blue Nile, and they will even bear the cost of the return shipping. However, you’ll bear the cost of repair to ring mounting.
You may have questions you will want answers to, or issues you will want to be resolved. Thus, the ideal shop should have an effective customers support service.
A review of the customer service of Blue Nile will examine the different channels they provide for assisting customers and the effectiveness of these channels.
The first step to getting help from Blue Nile is the FAQ section on their website. The section holds articles that answer many questions that you may have about: Blue Nile, merchandise returns, discounts, shipping, financing, warranty, and their products (diamonds and diamond Jewelry).
If you’ll rather have direct contact with a customer rep, Blue Nile supports an email service and a telephone service. Both services are an area available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You may send them a mail (at service@bluenile.com). They endeavour to answer all email inquiries within a few hours. However, if you want instant feedback, you can use the call them (at 1-800-242-2728).
It should be noted that another area where Blue Nile has seen a lot of positive reviews is customer service. The many customer reviews have it that Blue Nile’s consultants are especially helpful in walking customers through almost every situation. Also, these consultants are not commissioned so they do not pressure customers in any way to make purchase commitments.
Blue Nile is legit; there’s no way they’ll rip you off. Blue Nile is also safe; there’s no way shopping there will expose you to other scammers.
Now that that’s off the way. Blue Nile is definitely an online jewellery store you should check if you need a piece of jewellery, especially diamond. They are the biggest online jeweller; as they have the most robust inventory of diamonds. Not just that, they give you too quality pieces at very friendly. Their prices are simply unbeatable.
They also mesmerize in terms of service with a good number of convenient payment options, smooth and free shipping and returns, effective customer support service, and a host of juicy warranties
Do you have experience with Blue Nile? Good or bad, kindly use the review section below to give us your brief Blue Nile review.
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