What's Going on With Brilliance.com Reviews?

There’s a surprising lack of information about Brilliance.com online. Even their website doesn’t give many details.

Based on their LinkedIn profile, the company was founded in 1988 and is based in Boynton Beach, Florida.

The COO is Jonathon Ohayon.

Brilliance handles a lot of online purchasing volume. According to Ohayon, Brilliance sells more diamonds in a day than a local jeweler sells in a year.

The selection at Brilliance.com is similar to that at other premium online diamond retailers like Blue Nile, Whiteflash, or James Allen.

The focus is definitely on bridal jewelry, so you’ll find a complete engagement ring and wedding band selection. If you don’t see the perfect ring in their store, you can also design a custom engagement ring with one of their in-house jewelers.

Though it’s not as prominent on their website, Brilliance.com also sells all types of jewelry. Whether you’re looking for a bracelet, necklace, ring, or set of earrings, you can find them in their store.

As you might guess from the name, Brilliance.com sells “brilliant” loose diamonds. They have a broad diamond selection where you can sort each stone by color grade, clarity, carat weight, and the like.

To see the full 360º videos and detailed reports available on these other sites, you’ll need to submit your contact information.

Brilliance.com prides itself on its fine jewelry. They don’t sell lab-created diamonds, chemically treated gemstones, or anything other than the best fine jewelry.

Every piece will be made of sterling silver, platinum, or gold—whether white gold, rose gold, or yellow gold.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s impossible not to compare Brilliance.com to another competitor like Blue Nile. The site is similar, the claims are similar, and the products are similar.

But there are a few differences.

First, Brilliance.com says they have the lowest price of any retailer. That might sound tempting if you’re buying jewelry on a budget, but the difference might only be 1% or 2%. That’s just $10 for a $1,000 ring—not huge savings.

Another difference is that you can’t see all the diamond details quickly, like Blue Nile or James Allen. You’ll need to submit your contact info.

This is probably because Brilliance.com pulls diamonds from a large selection of retailers. Unlike other online jewelers, they don’t have up-to-date information on many of the gems they sell—they need to request that information from the wholesaler.

As a result, some of the stones might not even be available, and others might take much longer to arrive than you’d expect.

Brilliance also claims to have superb customer service and a lifetime warranty, and most of the reviews I’ve read online seem to back this up.

Finally, they use a wide range of certification organizations. Some—like GIA—are trustworthy and credible. But others—like EGL—are infamous for inflating the quality so jewelers can charge more.

Reviews are evenly split between customers and experts.

To start with customers, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a clearly positive set of reviews in all the jewelry brands I’ve reviewed (which is saying a lot).

On Sitejabber, Brilliance.com has 5 out of 5 stars based on 401 reviews. They also won Sitejabber’s Customer Choice Award back in 2019.

On Reseller Ratings, Brilliance has 4.95 out of 5 stars, based on 1,412 reviews. And TrustPilot awards Brilliance.com 4.8 out of 5 stars, based on 1,665 reviews.

Considering most brands have just a few dozen reviews with around 3.5 or 4 stars, these are outstanding ratings.

If I had to guess, I’d say Brilliance.com probably asks customers explicitly for reviews after they purchase. That’s fine with me. They don’t seem to be doing anything unethical or illegal.

In fact, it’s probably a good business practice—it makes sure the 98% of customers who are happy leave a review, instead of letting review sites be dominated by the 2% who had a bad experience.

But the experts tend to have a different perspective.

Michael Fried at Diamond Pro gives Brilliance.com 2 out of 5 stars. Fried expresses criticism of their unreliable availability and shipping (his diamond arrived late), inferior certifications, and minimal savings.

Richard Jenkins at Your Diamond Guru likewise gave Brilliance.com 2 of 5 stars, commenting on the low quality of their diamonds compared with retailers using GIA certifications.