Looking to know which is better between Blue Nile Vs Zales?
You’re at the right place!
This is our comparison of the Blue Nile Vs Zales.
In this article, I have reviewed both the brands in-depth and will fully explain to you which one is better.
Let’s get started with an in-depth look at what sets these brands apart.
Table of Contents
1) History
Blue Nile
Blue Nile is a Washington-based online jewelry company that was launched in 1999. Blue Nile only sells high-quality diamonds that have been GIA verified. As a result, the jewels’ genuineness is unquestionable.
Blue Nile is well-known for its handcrafted engagement rings, and it has a large number of delighted customers in a variety of nations.
They’ve lately launched many physical shops in California, Virginia, and Texas, and are headquartered in Seattle, Washington. They’re currently one of the world’s leading online diamond merchants.
Blue Nile is well renowned for their engagement rings, but they also have wedding rings, bracelets, gemstones, and pearls in their collections.
Zales
Zales is a jewelry, camera, and appliance business that was started almost 95 years ago. Later on, it became a significant jewelry retailer, and now, Zales has over 700 retail locations across the United States.
Zales is well-known for its diamonds and bridal jewelry. They also promise to provide high quality at an incredible price. Since 2014, Zales has been a subsidiary of Signet Jewelers, its parent company.
Zales now has over 700 locations selling a wide range of jewelry, including engagement rings, necklaces, wedding bands, bracelets, and watches.
While it is most known for its physical locations, it also sells jewelry online through its website, where you may browse a greater range of its merchandise.
2) Website Navigation
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile website is created in a modern style. You may find numerous categories on the home page. In the unique selection of your favorite diamond cuts, you may choose from a variety of possibilities.
Engagement rings, wedding rings, diamonds, diamond jewelry, lab grown diamonds, necklaces, and earrings are just a few of the categories that exhibit flawless jewelry. Blue Nile also allows you to create your own ring from scratch, which is a thrilling prospect for most of us.
The filters are minimal, but they are really useful. Price, metal, material, ring style, gemstone, stone shape, band width/fit/finish, and more may all be used to narrow down your options. Overall, purchasing through Blue Nile’s online store is simple and convenient.
Zales
Zales’ website, on the other hand, appeals to me as well. It’s simple to look through all of their collections. Some of their primary categories, such as rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, engagement rings, and watches, are displayed on the front page.
The filters make shopping more convenient and time-saving. You may narrow down your search by stone shape and color, metal type and color, price, discounted range, gender, and customizable rings. You may also look for the most popular rings among consumers.
Zales, like Blue Nile, allows you to create your own ring from scratch. Zales’ collection, on the other hand, isn’t as diverse as Blue Nile’s. Furthermore, they do not offer loose diamonds, which is a significant disadvantage.
Overall, it was a pleasant shopping experience.
Winner: Both Blue Nile and Zales website offers a pleasant shopping experience. If I had to pick a winner in this category I would go with Blue Nile.
3) Quality
Blue Nile
Blue Nile’s loose diamonds are of the highest grade. The GIA certifies all of their diamonds, which is the most reliable guarantee of their genuineness.
Blue Nile’s jewelry is likewise expertly created with meticulous attention to detail. The handmade engagement rings from Blue Nile are particularly well-known.
Customers, on the other hand, have lodged some concerns. The majority of these complaints mentioned a problem with the diamond or stones’ setting. The good news is that I haven’t encountered any concerns about diamond quality.
To prevent any headache, your best alternative may be to purchase loose diamonds from Blue Nile and have them set by a local jeweler. However, the general reputation isn’t all that horrible.
Zales
Zales, on the other hand, isn’t quite what I was expecting. First and foremost, I must point you that majority of their gems lack certification. Second, the diamonds that have been certified have been certified by IGI labs.
You should know that GIA grading is far superior to IGI grading, and what irritates me is that IGI certified rings at Zales are more costly than GIA certified rings at Blue Nile.
Apart from that, I haven’t seen many positive reviews about Zales on the internet. If you truly want to give them a chance, go to one of their outlets or retail sites to see the diamonds and jewelry for yourself.
Winner: Blue Nile is unquestionably superior in terms of quality. It provides more bang for your buck as well as higher quality.
4) Store Location
Blue Nile
Blue Nile, established in Washington, is an online jewelry company. Because it is an online jewelry business, it does not have any physical stores in the United States.
However, I was relieved to learn about their showrooms. It’s great news for anyone looking for a one-on-one diamond inspection to clear up any doubts. Blue Nile has showrooms in ten different locations around the United States.
Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington all have Blue Nile showrooms.
Zales
Zales, on the other hand, has a physical store in addition to an online store. Zales, based in Texas, has a large network of stores across the United States.
Zales’ retail storefronts are scattered throughout 700+ sites, which is a significant advantage. You don’t have to worry about online orders if you’re a Zales customer since you can easily visit their shop and get your hands on the nicest piece of jewelry.
5) Pricing
Blue Nile
Blue Nile is a brand that appeals to a wide range of people. And it more than holds up its end of the bargain. Diamonds and other gems are attractively priced at Blue Nile.
Cheaper pricing, on the other hand, does not suggest a drop in quality. That is not the case. For the price, the quality is exactly what you’d expect. They have a variety of diamonds in various shapes and sizes. These Blue Nile jewels, for example, are well worth considering.
You could get some pretty bad stuff from them, but you might also get some really nice and pricey jewels that are well worth the money. The prices are fair, and the flexibility to design your ring from start to finish provides you more control.
Zales
Because Zales is a luxury brand, its diamonds and jewellery are quite pricey. When you buy something from Zales, I feel you pay half for the ‘name,’ and the balance for the goods and services.
If you’re enamoured with brand names, Zales is an excellent choice. Alternatively, if you know someone who adores Zales, you might want to try emptying your wallet at one of their locations.
Zale’s pricing are outrageous. Some people believe the cost is excessive, while others are ready to go to tremendous measures for their loved ones. Personally, I would buy a similar thing from somewhere else since the thought and feeling behind the gifts are more important than the actual goods.
Winner: I don’t believe I need to say anything further at this point. There is a significant price difference between the two. Zales is ridiculously costly, and I’m not sure why, because being a market veteran isn’t a good enough justification to be pricey. Blue Nile wins.
6) Shipping
Blue Nile
Because Blue Nile is situated in the United States, it provides shipping and delivery services throughout the country. Apart from that, Blue Nile offers delivery to a few of nations throughout the world, but not globally.
All Blue Nile shipments are dispatched by FedEx inside the United States and internationally. If you live in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Guam, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Taiwan, UAE, Virgin Islands, or APO/FPO/DPO locations, you can have your item sent from Blue Nile.
Zales
Unfortunately, Zales does not ship internationally. They only deliver to the 48 contiguous United States and nowhere abroad, which is a major turnoff.
They do, however, provide a lot of convenience for their consumers in the United States. They not only provide standard doorstep delivery, but they also allow you to have your item transported to your local Zales store and avoid paying the shipping price.
Zales uses UPS or USPS to ship all of their orders.
7) Return Policy
Blue Nile
Blue Nile is known for its high quality, but they also provide a 30-day return policy to ensure that their clients are completely satisfied. So you won’t be disappointed if your purchase falls short of your expectations. If your order is under $2000, just contact Blue Nile or go to their website’s online returns page to return or exchange your item.
Personalized, engraved, and damaged/used products are not eligible for return. Customers from Australia, Canada, and the United States are eligible for free returns.
Zales
I must add, Zales has an extremely convenient and customer-friendly return policy. Zales offers a 60-day exchange term in addition to the standard 30-day return policy.
Furthermore, orders without a receipt are still eligible for exchanges or gift card conversions. While online orders without a receipt can be returned by displaying the purchase confirmation email. And this fantastic return policy has truly pleased me.
You can return your order to any Zales store or ship it back, whichever is more convenient for you.
Winner: Zales has clearly the upper hand because to their customer-friendly return policy.
8) Customer Support
Blue Nile
Blue Nile provides excellent customer service. While I agree that a number of consumers have gotten jewelry that did not match their expectations, Blue Nile’s customer service was important in their recovery.
In most circumstances, they are quite sensitive of their consumers’ difficulties. You can also reach out to Blue’s non-commissioned diamond experts. You may reach out to them by email, phone, or live chat.
Zales
The poor customer service at Zales turned me off completely. At least, that’s what I’ve deduced from my study. However, I hope your experience is a positive one.
But, as far as I’m aware, Zales’ customer service could need some improvement. They also provide one-on-one consultations with diamond specialists.
Winner: Blue Nile has an upper hand again Zales in this round
9) Customer Reviews Online
Blue Nile
Many popular review sites have given Blue Nile high marks. They’ve received 4.7 out of 5 stars from 1,166 reviews on WeddingWire.com.
Blue Nile has a large number of pleased consumers from all around the world, as seen by the reviews.
Zales
Although Zales has received some excellent feedback from customers, there are also cases when the findings are mixed.
The Better Business Bureau has given them an A+ rating, indicating that they are known to respond to client concerns in a friendly manner.
Zales has a 3.7 out of five star rating on ConsumerAffairs.com. Some reviews complain about the jewelry being of poor quality for the price, as well as late shipment and improper size.
Winner: On the internet, Blue Nile has a far better reputation than Zales.
10) Warranty
Blue Nile
Maintenance and repairs are covered by a lifetime warranty from Blue Nile. We’ll take care of any issues you have, from cleaning to polishing to prong tightening.
For the first year after your purchase, Blue Nile provides free resizing. Blue Nile recognizes how challenging it may be to find the appropriate size. Blue Nile will make certain that everything is in order.
Zales
Zales gives a lifetime warranty on the diamond’s grade, which is unlike any other certification since it provides incredibly detailed and comprehensive information on the diamond.
It has a lot more information than a GIA grading report does. They also give free repair estimates and complimentary cleaning for the life of your item. The value of the diamond will almost likely grow because the diamond’s grade will not fluctuate over time.
Winner: Blue Nile can be considered as the winner.
Overall Winner
Blue Nile, on the other hand, provides more value for money in my opinion. It has a larger inventory than Zales and superior diamond quality. Their diamonds are GIA certified, but Zales’ diamonds are IGI certified.
In addition, unlike Zales, Blue Nile ships to numerous places throughout the world and has a higher overall reputation. Zales’ 700 retail outlets across the United States, on the other hand, are a huge bonus.
Blue Nile is the ultimate winner in my opinion.
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