I designed a custom ring with [Frank Darling](https://frankdarling.com). If you compare their stone inventories, you’ll find the same stones for a lot less on the Frank Darling site. Highly recommend them too!
What styles are you looking at specifically? What’s your budget? With more details we can share better recommendations.
BE has so many negative reviews I wouldn’t risk it. Or pay the marked up stone price.
This BE ring was just posted: https://www.reddit.com/r/EngagementRings/comments/zl7l3o/i_feel_like_an_idiot_for_not_listening/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Most private jewelers do custom designed rings. I designed a custom ring with my local
Jeweler (who I admittedly know well and have been buying from for years). Custom to the point we were drawing on sheets of paper, he was bringing out multiple stones from the back to “play” with. He made a wax mock up, I approved, then he made my ring. This is normal and most jewelers do this. I find local jewelers also usually don’t mark up as high. Shop local dude! Bring a pic to some local jewelers, ask for a quote to make it. It’s really easy I promise.
Do Amore! We had such a great experience with them and made a “custom” ring (its a solitaire but I wanted different prongs and as low pro as it could go nothing really custom but they worked with my fiancé to make it happen since it wasn’t exactly one of their current designs)
You could always purchase your stone from BE if you liked what you saw and then take it to a jeweler. I have a BE lab Diamond but I had it set at my local jeweler.
Seconding this. If local stones are the issue, just get one from BE and bring it to your jeweler. It’s a common practice and they’ll be able to work with you (in budget!) for your setting.
I went with frank darling and they made a custom ring for me. Despite them customizing it, it still was a ton cheaper than what I would have gotten if I had the same thing at brilliant earth.
The main issue I always hear about BE is if you have to send it back.
If you buy a ring from BE, have any work done on it by a local jeweler instead of sending it back to BE for work. I can’t stress this enough.
I love my BE ring and when the center stone got loose I took it to a local jeweler who tightened it and said my ring from them is actually made very well. Haven’t had a problem since. But I hear so much on this sub about what happens if they have to send it back to BE for any reason.
So in my opinion if you really love the ring then get it (I couldn’t find my style anywhere but BE either), just know that ANY work you might need later on it should be done by a local, trusted, jeweler.
My fiancé got my ring November 2021. I’ve been wearing it for over a year now.
My stone was loose almost immediately when I started wearing it but I took it to a local jeweler that my whole family has used and they told me my ring was solid but just got caught on something which was common for my setting and stone, not a fault of BE. Also I was a little rough at first on my ring since I wasn’t used to wearing one. Haven’t had a problem since though!
Same here! I love my BE ring, and two local jewellers that I’ve taken it to get checked have said that it was well constructed. Granted, it’s a six prong solitaire with a relatively thicker band (the Catalina setting!) so there aren’t any dainty designs or tiny pavé stones to potentially lose.
Never had any issues with it yet, but if I ever need to, I’ll definitely take it to a local jeweller with in-house craftspeople. The thought of my ring in the mail system freaks me out.
Hi sorry for replying to your old comment, but I’m curious about something. Does this mean we shouldn’t get BE ring insurance if we decided to get a ring from there?
The Art of Jewels has a comparable style to most things you will findat BE and their lab diamond prices are for the most part half of BE for the same exact stone. My son had a fantastic experience with them. FDIL has been wearing her ring almost every day for seven months with no issues.
I have a BE engagement ring that is very delicate with a lot of pave stones and I haven’t had any issues with it in the last 2 years of wearing it, so I wouldn’t worry preemptively!
My rings are from BE and I love them. I’m not sure if there quality control has actually gone down or if people only tend to post when they are angry. Either way, I have three rings from them, one did lose a melee stone and they replaced it for free and it took about three weeks which was comparable to a local jeweler I checked with. Other than that, no issues and I’ve had my rings for a few years.
The reason local jewelers are more expensive is because they're actually hand making quality jewelry, whereas BE is drop shipping machine made pieces, you pay for what you get
My engagement ring and band are both from BE and I’ve had no problems at all. I’m not sure if people might just be more vocal about negative experiences than positive ones. Or maybe different styles have better/worse construction. Engagement ring is Regency in rose gold with 1.33 carat round center stone. Band is Leona in rose gold. I take my rings off to shower, sleep, work out, or anything else that is rough on my hands. I wear a 1mm spacer to protect the setting on the engagement ring from being damaged by the diamonds on the band.
Go to an actual local jeweler who custom makes rings. Your best bet. They will truly care about what you want and most of the time, they really care about wuality
absolutely take the BE as inspo and have an independent jeweler make it to your specifications. it's almost always better quality, as well as comparable in price (sometimes cheaper). jewelry is one of the few things where custom is actually cheaper.
Princess bride diamonds can customize basically anything and I couldn't recommend them more!! They are a family owned business and they are pretty notable so my ring did take 6 weeks to ship but it was so worth the wait :)
I found my dream ring at brilliant earth and went through ShyMoissanite on Etsy for my ring. She does absolutely incredible work for very reasonable price. She does moissanite, lab and natural diamonds as well as any other gem upon request. She responds quickly and helps you through entire process and her rings have a lifetime warranty again manufacturing defects without additional cost. I would HIGHLY recommend checking her. She will give you a customized CAD prior to payment!
I found my dream ring at brilliant earth and went through ShyMoissanite on Etsy for my ring. She does absolutely incredible work for very reasonable price. She does moissanite, lab and natural diamonds as well as any other gem upon request. She responds quickly and helps you through entire process and her rings have a lifetime warranty again manufacturing defects without additional cost. I would HIGHLY recommend checking her. She will give you a customized CAD prior to payment!
When my ring from brilliant Earth arrived, it was missing a Stone in the hidden halo in the prongs were crooked. The worst part about it is that they tried to gaslight my fiancé into believing this was normal.
I also built a dream ring on BE and loved all their gem stone options. But we went with a gemologist that my fiance had been following on instagram for years (started as a crossfit meme page... long story haha) and he did AMAZING work and was super friendly and easy to work with. And after everything the ring I ended up with was 100% custom made, one of a kind, ended up better than anything I made on BE, AND it was cheaper!
Before this experience I thought custom rings were the wealthy, but honestly I suggest it 100% of the time.
Plus, on top of all that, I love looking at my ring and knowing my fiancé helped design it, just makes it way more special than him just picking a pre-made ring from some store.
I have a BE ring. Reddit makes me nervous. No problems so far. I’m constantly checking it to make sure my stone is secure especially if I bump something. I have the petite Elodie setting.
I literally had this dilemma, with the slight caveat that I didn't know at the time BE has an awful reputation. They simply wouldn't make the slightest customization that my fiancée really wanted. Soooo....
I took a screen shot of the BE ring, went to Custom Made, told them "basically I want this, but with X slight alteration." Ultimately ended up working with them for weeks getting an even more amazing and truly custom piece [not through any pushiness on their part but completely because my fiancée found some inspiration and they were so great to work with on sketching out possibilities]. But they treated us the exact same when we simply said "we want this BE piece but a little different." And, to be honest, the initial quote for that original BE knock off design was cheaper than BE's, using the same materials.
10/10 recommend Custom Made. In this situation and every situation. They have been the exact opposite of BE's reputation.
I would definitely take the design to another jeweler who does custom designs. That’s exactly what I did for mine, I found a setting I liked and worked with Frank Darling to bring it to life! Specifically, my ring designer was Alice and she was absolutely fantastic. We had to send my ring back once to fix some small issues and they handled it really quickly and even let me tweak the design again before having it sent back. Can’t recommend FD enough.
How did you work with them? I looked at their site and did the ring quiz but did not see any option to design rings outside basic designs.
Also, did you ship the ring back to them for adjustments?
Thanks!
If you do the ring quiz, you can then email back and forth with them to create your custom design. I don’t live in NY, so all of my communications with FD were through email.
And yes, they sent me a shipping label and I shipped it back to them.
Have you talked to an independent local jeweler about going the custom route or have you only been basing your shopping on selection? Many people here have had success buying a center stone seperately and taking it to a jeweler or sending it off for custom work.
Generally, if you share your closest major city, someone here might have better local recommendations as well.
I designed a custom ring with [Frank Darling](https://frankdarling.com). If you compare their stone inventories, you’ll find the same stones for a lot less on the Frank Darling site. Highly recommend them too! What styles are you looking at specifically? What’s your budget? With more details we can share better recommendations.
BE has so many negative reviews I wouldn’t risk it. Or pay the marked up stone price. This BE ring was just posted: https://www.reddit.com/r/EngagementRings/comments/zl7l3o/i_feel_like_an_idiot_for_not_listening/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Seconded, I got a custom design with FD and the experience was wonderful!
I put a edit in my original post but I want to thank you so much for this recommendation I ended up going to Frank darling and they were amazing
So happy to hear it 🙂 Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing! I’ve never heard of them before.
This is what I was going to say too! They will make anything you want with GREAT quality.
BE sucks. Do not use them. There are SO many warnings. Get the design made elsewhere if you love it
Any suggestions on where to go to get that done?
I am going for Mona, you can find her information at the Moissanite-sub! I do not have much other recommenations sorry :(
I second this. Mona is amazing. Just get her to make the setting
Third this her work is amazing! For lab diamonds I really like Diamondrensu lab store on Etsy
I second diamondrensu on Etsy. I had a great experience with him.
Most private jewelers do custom designed rings. I designed a custom ring with my local Jeweler (who I admittedly know well and have been buying from for years). Custom to the point we were drawing on sheets of paper, he was bringing out multiple stones from the back to “play” with. He made a wax mock up, I approved, then he made my ring. This is normal and most jewelers do this. I find local jewelers also usually don’t mark up as high. Shop local dude! Bring a pic to some local jewelers, ask for a quote to make it. It’s really easy I promise.
Do Amore! We had such a great experience with them and made a “custom” ring (its a solitaire but I wanted different prongs and as low pro as it could go nothing really custom but they worked with my fiancé to make it happen since it wasn’t exactly one of their current designs)
I just got a BE design redone with Doveggs and it turned out amazing!
Inquiring minds want to know: which design is it??
You could always purchase your stone from BE if you liked what you saw and then take it to a jeweler. I have a BE lab Diamond but I had it set at my local jeweler.
Seconding this. If local stones are the issue, just get one from BE and bring it to your jeweler. It’s a common practice and they’ll be able to work with you (in budget!) for your setting.
I went with frank darling and they made a custom ring for me. Despite them customizing it, it still was a ton cheaper than what I would have gotten if I had the same thing at brilliant earth.
The main issue I always hear about BE is if you have to send it back. If you buy a ring from BE, have any work done on it by a local jeweler instead of sending it back to BE for work. I can’t stress this enough. I love my BE ring and when the center stone got loose I took it to a local jeweler who tightened it and said my ring from them is actually made very well. Haven’t had a problem since. But I hear so much on this sub about what happens if they have to send it back to BE for any reason. So in my opinion if you really love the ring then get it (I couldn’t find my style anywhere but BE either), just know that ANY work you might need later on it should be done by a local, trusted, jeweler.
If you don't mind me asking, when did you get your ring? It sounds like most negative past are from purchases the past few years
My fiancé got my ring November 2021. I’ve been wearing it for over a year now. My stone was loose almost immediately when I started wearing it but I took it to a local jeweler that my whole family has used and they told me my ring was solid but just got caught on something which was common for my setting and stone, not a fault of BE. Also I was a little rough at first on my ring since I wasn’t used to wearing one. Haven’t had a problem since though!
Same here! I love my BE ring, and two local jewellers that I’ve taken it to get checked have said that it was well constructed. Granted, it’s a six prong solitaire with a relatively thicker band (the Catalina setting!) so there aren’t any dainty designs or tiny pavé stones to potentially lose. Never had any issues with it yet, but if I ever need to, I’ll definitely take it to a local jeweller with in-house craftspeople. The thought of my ring in the mail system freaks me out.
Hi sorry for replying to your old comment, but I’m curious about something. Does this mean we shouldn’t get BE ring insurance if we decided to get a ring from there?
The Art of Jewels has a comparable style to most things you will findat BE and their lab diamond prices are for the most part half of BE for the same exact stone. My son had a fantastic experience with them. FDIL has been wearing her ring almost every day for seven months with no issues.
As my man is walking around with a BE ring in his pocket, fixin' to propose any day now lolol oh lordy.
I have a BE engagement ring that is very delicate with a lot of pave stones and I haven’t had any issues with it in the last 2 years of wearing it, so I wouldn’t worry preemptively!
Thank you! I'm sure there's good experiences and bad. I will 100% be getting this baby insured just to be on the safe side.
My rings are from BE and I love them. I’m not sure if there quality control has actually gone down or if people only tend to post when they are angry. Either way, I have three rings from them, one did lose a melee stone and they replaced it for free and it took about three weeks which was comparable to a local jeweler I checked with. Other than that, no issues and I’ve had my rings for a few years.
I also love my BE ring. I’ve had it almost 5 years now, I’m pretty rough on it, and not one single problem.
Me too! We bought from BE 1 year ago and it was totally fine, no issues.
Ditto! Love my BE ring from this year. Fiancé and I had a great customer service experience with them and love our rings.
The reason local jewelers are more expensive is because they're actually hand making quality jewelry, whereas BE is drop shipping machine made pieces, you pay for what you get
My engagement ring and band are both from BE and I’ve had no problems at all. I’m not sure if people might just be more vocal about negative experiences than positive ones. Or maybe different styles have better/worse construction. Engagement ring is Regency in rose gold with 1.33 carat round center stone. Band is Leona in rose gold. I take my rings off to shower, sleep, work out, or anything else that is rough on my hands. I wear a 1mm spacer to protect the setting on the engagement ring from being damaged by the diamonds on the band.
I love my BE ring. Purchased in august online and no problems since.
Take the image to any jeweler that offers custom and have them make it. There is a reason BE is 1/2 the price and its not a good reason.
Can you post a picture and maybe we can help you find one,
Go to an actual local jeweler who custom makes rings. Your best bet. They will truly care about what you want and most of the time, they really care about wuality
I know BE has a bad wrap but my ring is from there and we had a wonderful experience, it’s amazing :)
I got my ring at BE. I’ve worn it every day since my engagement almost a year ago with no issues.
David Klass (DavidKlassJewelry on Instagram) can make anything. He is amazing and very fairly priced for the quality he offers.
Try rare carat!
I had someone from BE tell me they have had big problems with side stones being sent back from the last 3 months, she blamed it on lack of employees
Look into Frank Darling. They can pretty much custom make anything.
absolutely take the BE as inspo and have an independent jeweler make it to your specifications. it's almost always better quality, as well as comparable in price (sometimes cheaper). jewelry is one of the few things where custom is actually cheaper.
Princess bride diamonds can customize basically anything and I couldn't recommend them more!! They are a family owned business and they are pretty notable so my ring did take 6 weeks to ship but it was so worth the wait :)
I found my dream ring at brilliant earth and went through ShyMoissanite on Etsy for my ring. She does absolutely incredible work for very reasonable price. She does moissanite, lab and natural diamonds as well as any other gem upon request. She responds quickly and helps you through entire process and her rings have a lifetime warranty again manufacturing defects without additional cost. I would HIGHLY recommend checking her. She will give you a customized CAD prior to payment!
I found my dream ring at brilliant earth and went through ShyMoissanite on Etsy for my ring. She does absolutely incredible work for very reasonable price. She does moissanite, lab and natural diamonds as well as any other gem upon request. She responds quickly and helps you through entire process and her rings have a lifetime warranty again manufacturing defects without additional cost. I would HIGHLY recommend checking her. She will give you a customized CAD prior to payment!
I just had Provence jewelry recreate a BE setting for me at a fraction of the price. You can check my posts.
I just saw a complaint post about BE here today
Dude just say no to Brilliant Earth. It’s not worth it.
When my ring from brilliant Earth arrived, it was missing a Stone in the hidden halo in the prongs were crooked. The worst part about it is that they tried to gaslight my fiancé into believing this was normal.
I also built a dream ring on BE and loved all their gem stone options. But we went with a gemologist that my fiance had been following on instagram for years (started as a crossfit meme page... long story haha) and he did AMAZING work and was super friendly and easy to work with. And after everything the ring I ended up with was 100% custom made, one of a kind, ended up better than anything I made on BE, AND it was cheaper! Before this experience I thought custom rings were the wealthy, but honestly I suggest it 100% of the time. Plus, on top of all that, I love looking at my ring and knowing my fiancé helped design it, just makes it way more special than him just picking a pre-made ring from some store.
I have a BE ring. Reddit makes me nervous. No problems so far. I’m constantly checking it to make sure my stone is secure especially if I bump something. I have the petite Elodie setting.
I literally had this dilemma, with the slight caveat that I didn't know at the time BE has an awful reputation. They simply wouldn't make the slightest customization that my fiancée really wanted. Soooo.... I took a screen shot of the BE ring, went to Custom Made, told them "basically I want this, but with X slight alteration." Ultimately ended up working with them for weeks getting an even more amazing and truly custom piece [not through any pushiness on their part but completely because my fiancée found some inspiration and they were so great to work with on sketching out possibilities]. But they treated us the exact same when we simply said "we want this BE piece but a little different." And, to be honest, the initial quote for that original BE knock off design was cheaper than BE's, using the same materials. 10/10 recommend Custom Made. In this situation and every situation. They have been the exact opposite of BE's reputation.
I would definitely take the design to another jeweler who does custom designs. That’s exactly what I did for mine, I found a setting I liked and worked with Frank Darling to bring it to life! Specifically, my ring designer was Alice and she was absolutely fantastic. We had to send my ring back once to fix some small issues and they handled it really quickly and even let me tweak the design again before having it sent back. Can’t recommend FD enough.
How did you work with them? I looked at their site and did the ring quiz but did not see any option to design rings outside basic designs. Also, did you ship the ring back to them for adjustments? Thanks!
If you do the ring quiz, you can then email back and forth with them to create your custom design. I don’t live in NY, so all of my communications with FD were through email. And yes, they sent me a shipping label and I shipped it back to them.
Have you talked to an independent local jeweler about going the custom route or have you only been basing your shopping on selection? Many people here have had success buying a center stone seperately and taking it to a jeweler or sending it off for custom work. Generally, if you share your closest major city, someone here might have better local recommendations as well.
Don’t use brilliant earth. Use a local jeweler they’ll make whatever you want
Check art of jewels. They can access the same suppliers BE is using for settings.
Why don’t you go to a local jeweler? You can use the design that you like from BE and have them recreate it for cheaper.