Brilliant Earth is a legitimate jeweler. They have both physical showrooms and a web store. However, they promise that their diamonds and jewelry are ethically and sustainably sourced. It is this promise that we will investigate as to whether it’s a scam or legit.
About Brilliant Earth
When Beth Gerstein couldn’t find an engagement ring that met her conflict-free values, she started Brilliant Earth.
In partnership with Eric Grossberg, Brilliant Earth began in 2015. The mission from the beginning has been simple; provide quality diamonds and jewelry that are ethical and sustainably sourced.
Currently, they have showrooms in seven cities in the United States. Unfortunately, these retail outlets require appointments to visit, and they are the only physical locations to carry Brilliant Earth products. Therefore, if you don’t live near a showroom or aren’t willing to travel, you’ll need to shop online.
Web store users will find the website easy to navigate using either the dropdown menus or search function. Additionally, customers can request a virtual appointment with a jewelry specialist who will guide them in their purchase.
Ethical And Sustainable Sourcing
Brilliant Earth ranks on the first page of Google when you search for ethical diamonds. However, this is not what makes them stand out from their competition. In actuality, what sets them apart is their “beyond conflict-free” standard for diamond sourcing.
The industry standard for conflict-free diamonds is the Kimberley Process definition. According to the Kimberley Process, any diamond that wasn’t used to fund a civil war or rebel movement qualifies as conflict-free. Unfortunately, this is not the only issue facing the diamond mining industry. This is why Brilliant Earth created its own standard for diamond sourcing.
The “beyond conflict-free” standard states that Brilliant Earth will only accept diamonds that come from mines that, in addition to not financing rebel movements they also do not partake in:
- The violation of human rights.
- The employment of unsafe and unfair labor practices
- The degradation of the environment
Furthermore, these mines must support community development.
Brilliant Earth can offer diamonds that meet these standards because they carefully monitor their supply chain. These diamonds come from mines in Canada, Russia, Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia. In addition, they use blockchain technology to ensure that the diamonds they sell only come from these mines. In this way, they can offer the guarantee that their diamonds are ethically and sustainably sourced.
Additionally, Brilliant Earth offers alternatives to natural diamonds. These are lab-grown and recycled diamonds.
Lab-grown diamonds have the equivalent physical, optical, and chemical composition as natural diamonds. In fact, they’re virtually indistinguishable. In addition, they are created in laboratory environments using advanced technological processes, so they bypass all issues related to mining. Therefore, with this type of diamond, there’s a zero percent chance that it was somehow involved in the abuse of individuals or the environment.
The second alternative to natural diamonds is recycled diamonds. Recycled diamonds were mined and bought previously and are now being made available to purchase again. As many Brilliant Earth reviews have mentioned, it is possible they were procured in a less than desirable manner. However, by recycling diamonds, you avoid having to repeat potential abuses of the mining industry. All Brilliant Earth’s recycled diamonds have been evaluated and graded by an independent gemological lab to ensure that they are of the same quality as a newly mined diamond.
In addition to procuring diamonds ethically and sustainably, Brilliant Earth also procures uses recycled precious metals so as to avoid the unethical and environmentally damaging aspects of new mining.
Brilliant Earth uses recycled and re-refined gold to avoid perpetuating the rampant abuses in the gold mining industry. This includes things such as water pollution, poor safety, human rights violations, and inhumane labor. Additionally, gold mining is environmentally destructive, with 20 tons of ore required to produce gold for one ring. For this reason, they source gold from recycled materials such as electronic components, jewelry, and industrial-use metals. Other precious metals, such as silver, also come from post-consumer materials.
However, for metals such as tungsten, meteorite, and tantalum, the process is a bit different. For example, the tungsten used in their jewelry comes from refiners that adhere to the Responsible Minerals Initiative’s Responsible Minerals Assurance Process, which is designed to meet the standards set out by the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and government regulations on US and European Union conflict minerals.
Meteorite jewelry consists of Muonionalusta iron, which comes from space and is believed to have fallen to Earth between 120,000 and 800,000 years ago.
Lastly, tantalum is a naturally derived chemical earth metal. Brilliant Earth sources this metal from conflict-free production facilities and mines.
Social Responsibility
Brilliant Earth is not only wholesome because of their approach to ethical and sustainable diamond sourcing; they are also philanthropists. The company maintains a strong policy of giving back to local and global communities.
Their main project is the development of mining communities. They donate five percent of their profits to mining communities. These funds were recently used to build an elementary school in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Brilliant Earth has also recently supported the Center for Research and Development (CDC) in its efforts to monitor mines for abuses and provide advocates for the communities. Furthermore, they have helped turn former mining areas into suitable land for agricultural and other uses.
Finally, Brilliant Earth has also donated money to support hunger relief in the United States.
Is Brilliant Earth A Scam Or Legitimate?
What about Brilliant Earth suggests they might be fake?
Their website? They have a website with legitimate payment methods that has SSL certificate protection.
Their claims of ethically and sustainably sourced diamonds? The site includes detailed information on where their diamonds come from. This information is easily verifiable as they provide the names of the mines they work with and origin reports for each diamond they sell.
Their charity? Their philanthropic projects can also be verified.
The quality of their products? They have seven brick-and-mortar showrooms where you can see their products in person to verify their legitimacy. They also have an abundance of satisfied customer reviews that you can find on independent review sites like TrustPilot and Consumer Affairs. Additionally, they offer a lifetime guarantee and a 30-day money-back guarantee. If they were a scam, they would not provide this service.
In conclusion, Brilliant Earth is a legitimate jeweler that provides ethical and sustainable diamonds and precious metals. They are also philanthropists dedicated to improving mining communities around the world as well as the communities in their own backyard.
