Ada Diamonds
USD 1850
Pros
- White glove concierge service
- Simplified buying experience
- Only premium diamonds
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Free and fully insured international shipping
Cons
- Prices are on the high side (but still lower than mined)
- Not possible to browse and select own diamond
- Only very premium diamonds available
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Summary of Ada Diamonds Review
Ada Diamonds is different from the other lab-grown diamond sellers we have reviewed. They have a fresh take on both the industry and the buying process. We applaud Ada Diamonds for thinking outside the box and making it easier for consumers to find the perfect diamond and jewelry. But it comes at a cost. Keep reading our updated 2023 Ada Diamonds review to learn if it’s worth it and what we think of Ada Diamonds.
What makes Ada Diamonds special, and more expensive, is a combination of a concierge jeweler-like shopping experience. That includes them only offering the most premium stones and, very importantly, focusing specifically on lab-grown diamonds. We dive deeper into these services below, their prices, diamond quality, and much more. After reading our review, you’ll know if Ada Diamonds is a good fit for you and your diamond needs.
Our Bottom-Line Verdict of Ada Diamonds
Our Ada Diamonds review lands on a very respectable 4 stars out of 5. We award our high rating for their exceptional service and the absolutely highest-quality diamonds. But we detract one star because of the higher prices and inability to choose diamonds yourself.
3 diamond jewelers we like better than Ada Diamonds
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How We Have Reviewed Ada Diamonds
As experts in lab-created diamonds, we have conducted a thorough analysis of Ada Diamonds, including their diamonds and jewelry. We have compared Ada Diamonds with its competitors and have evaluated the pros and cons against industry standards and our highest-rated lab diamond jewelers.
Our team has spent countless days and weeks utilizing our experience and expertise reviewing Ada Diamonds. We have gone to great lengths to ensure that our review accurately reflects the real-world journey that you, as a shopper, will experience.
As part of our review process, we have thoroughly investigated the shopping experience, including buying and returning products ourselves, studying the actual diamonds and jewelry, and testing the craftsmanship. We have also subjected Ada Diamonds’ customer service to a barrage of questions that you, as a customer, might have. This ensures the accuracy and trustworthiness of our diamond jeweler reviews, including of Ada Diamonds.
We update our reviews several times yearly to ensure they are always current. Therefore, you may see that we update our reviews from time to time. We encourage you to share your own experiences with us in the comments section, so we can include them in our assessments.
Why You Should Trust Us
Our team of diamond experts has accumulated decades of knowledge of diamonds and jewelers, with a combined experience of more than 75 years. Our Ada Diamonds review was led by our top diamond expert, Rolf Hartmann, with input from several of our expert contributors.
Ranking Criteria
We have evaluated and ranked Ada Diamonds using these criteria:
- Price
- Diamond inventory
- Jewelry selection
- Quality
- Shopping experience
- Customer service
- Sustainability
- Shipping and return policies
Who is Ada Diamonds?
Jason Payne and Lindsay Reinsmith founded Ada Diamonds in 2015 in San Fransisco. Their mission was to sell ethical lab-grown diamonds directly to consumers. As with many other online and disruptive lab diamond jewelers, it came out of a personal diamond need and a perceived gap in the market. They created the company that they themselves looked for but couldn’t find when they were in the market for ethical, sustainable, high-quality diamonds.
Today, Jason Payne is the CEO of Ada Diamonds, and the company continues to grow. They fulfill the increasing demand for premium lab-grown diamonds and expert diamond-buying guidance (more on this later).
Ada Diamonds is a trustworthy and legit lab-grown diamond jeweler. Ada Diamonds has one of the best consumer ratings among diamond jewelers. At LabGrownDiamonds, we recommend Ada Diamonds to anyone who is willing to pay a premium for the extra service.
Lab-Grown Diamonds Only
Ada Diamonds sells lab-created diamonds only. They are dedicated to the mission of offering environmentally and socially conscious diamonds. They have dedicated a lot of real estate to education and going into details with the difference between mined and lab-grown diamonds and the latter’s benefits. We’re impressed by their dedication to the cause and in-depth knowledge of man-made diamonds, diamond manufacturing, and the impact of diamond production.
Premium Diamonds Only
Ada Diamonds has chosen to pre-select premium diamonds only for their customers as part of their white-glove approach. Below is an overview of what diamond grades Ada Diamonds include in their premium selection, along with estimated price ranges.
Very simple and very transparent but also very limiting.
To a point. Because Ada Diamonds does not usually list the diamond cut quality of their stones. As you will know from our guide to buying lab-grown diamonds, diamond cut is the single most important factor for any (brilliant) diamond.
This is a big miss from a diamond jeweler who only sells premium diamonds. While we have spotted diamond cut grades mentioned for a few jewelry pieces, it’s often not the case.
If you have already read our buying guide to lab-grown diamonds or our in-depth articles on the 4Cs, you will have learned that we often recommend going below the premium clarity and color grades that Ada Diamonds are limited to.
Ada Diamonds is thus helpful if you do not want to compromise on diamond clarity or color quality. But, not being transparent about the diamond cut quality is a red flag. As you can read in our Best Brilliance review, another white-glove diamond jeweler does list their diamond cut quality.
When Ada Diamonds lists the cut grade, they list it as excellent or ideal. Since they often use IGI as the grading laboratory, excellent is not the best grade (that’s ideal). So be aware of that and ask for an ideal-cut diamond only.
Pre-Set Lab-Grown Diamond Jewelry
Since we first reviewed Ada Diamonds, they have expanded their offerings to more pre-set and ready-to-ship jewelry. This includes lab-created diamond earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, bands, and a variety of fashion jewelry.
We think it’s great that Ada Diamonds are embracing a wider spectrum of lab-grown diamond jewelry. However, the approach is fairly similar because you are limited to the pre-selected diamond grades, and you can’t pick your own diamonds.
The grades are often premium, but, as noted above, the diamond cut grade is not always the very best. Make sure to ask for that.
The prices for their pre-set jewelry range from decent to very high. Their diamond stud earrings are slightly more expensive than we see at James Allen and Brilliant Earth. But not near the excellent prices offered at Clean Origin and Ritani.
Compare all prices for lab-grown diamond earrings in our price guide.
The prices for other jewelry pieces, for example, their single-diamond pendants, start at $3,000. And that’s for the “standard” diamond quality. The pendant necklace is a very simple piece of jewelry where the setting typically does not carry a high cost. As we have seen in our many reviews where we use 1-carat lab-grown diamonds as a reference, prices typically start at $1,000 and should not go above $2,000 for the very best and rare (such as near-colorless).
How Ada Diamonds ends with a $3,000 sticker price, we don’t understand. But you can compare them in our guide to prices for 1-carat lab-grown diamonds and see for yourself. Next, in our Ada Diamonds review, we’ll see if their premium service makes up for it.
Concierge Service
Ada Diamonds has carved out a niche in the market akin to the purchase process you may experience at a high-end jeweler (Tiffany’s, De Beers). Like the store jeweler experience, Ada Diamonds offers you fewer options. This way, they simplify the buying process while also ensuring that you end up with a premium product.
The main differences are their online presence and their dedication to lab-grown diamonds (they do have two physical stores in New York and San Francisco). This means that you can get the white-glove service of Tiffany’s at lab-grown diamond prices. Pretty sweet.
And during COVID, when the jewelry experience has been more or less inaccessible, Ada Diamonds became even more relevant. They will remain so now in 2023 as people have become used to the convenience of shopping from home.
Convert Objects
Previously Ada Diamonds offered personalized custom lab-grown Lavoisier diamonds where you could convert objects of significance to you into a diamond. What objects? Basically anything that you can transform into carbon (which is most things that you can incinerate). The service is currently suspended due to supply-chain challenges but may come back online at a later time.
As of 2023, Ada does not offer the service of converting objects into diamonds anymore, and we have not included it in our Ada Diamonds review. However, see our review of Eterneva, which does offer this service (but at a steep price).
Buying Process
Unlike jewelers such as Clean Origin, Ritani, Brilliant Earth, and James Allen, Ada Diamonds does not have an online section where you can browse their lab-grown diamond inventory. If your starting point is choosing a diamond, the above table is the configuration you can decide between. This is very similar to Best Brilliance, another concierge-like diamond jeweler.
If your starting point is a jewelry type, you can explore their inventory of jewelry types, including many different types of earrings, rings, necklaces, and bracelet settings. It offers an extensive selection and is similar to what you find both online and in physical stores.
In both cases, Ada Diamonds only displays a “from” or estimated price. The next step in the buying process is to initiate their concierge buying service by clicking the “inquire” button, where you would normally find an “add to cart” option.
After submitting your inquiry, you’re contacted by their highly competent staff or one of their owners. They will guide you through the process, listening to your needs and suggesting appropriate diamonds and jewelry options.
We are very impressed by Ada Diamonds’ level of service, responsiveness, courtesy, and diamond knowledge. You will undoubtedly be in good (white glove-wearing) hands, which is a refreshingly low-risk buying experience.
As mentioned, Ada Diamonds does offer “ready to ship” jewelry with pre-selected diamonds. This is a little more like how you would shop online or at local jewelers. Your diamond choice is limited to carat weight and standard or premium quality diamond. Generally speaking, the diamond quality is good, but more often than not, so good that it justifies the premium prices.
Ada Diamonds Review Verdict
In our Ada Diamonds review, we have found that Ada Diamonds serves the top tier of the lab-grown diamond market. In some cases, you just can’t or won’t compromise on quality and need to be completely certain that you get a very high-quality stone. For that, Ada Diamonds is a perfect jeweler and seller of lab-grown diamonds, and we highly recommend them.
Who Is Ada Diamonds For:
Ada Diamonds review rating #1: A solid 5 out of 5 if you’re looking for a hands-off white-glove jeweler-like buying experience and are willing to pay a premium for it.
While similar to the experience of a high-end store, you avoid the pushy sellers (yes, even the high-end jewelers employ pushy and commissioned sellers).
So rather than compare Ada Diamonds to the likes of (otherwise highly recommendable) Clean Origin, Grown Brilliance, Ritani, Brilliant Earth, With Clarity, and James Allen, compare Ada Diamonds to the high-touch shopping experience of premium brand names such as Tiffany’s and De Beers – just much better. And cheaper. And environmentally and socially conscious.
Their prices are at the high end of the lab-created diamond market. And rightly so. You pay for the white-glove service, the certainty of getting a very high-quality ring, and premium-only stones.
Who Is Ada Diamonds Not For
We have also seen in our review of Ada Diamonds that they will not be for everyone. Sometimes you just need someone to carry you through the purchase process or cannot risk making any mistakes. And sometimes, your time is worth more than the savings you can make by spending more time on the purchase. But also, sometimes, it’s not.
If you are a little less risk-averse and you are willing to do some research (start with our lab-grown diamond buying guide and lab-grown diamond knowledge articles), then we recommend going with a seller who offers you to pick your own diamonds.
The upside to doing your own research and picking your own diamonds is that you get a tailored diamond for your needs, can browse through huge inventories, and compare across sellers. And in the end, save money or upgrade on carat weight.
Ada Diamonds review rating #2: For this type of buyer, we rate Ada Diamonds 3 out of 5 and suggest you look elsewhere.
Instead, we recommend you try out Clean Origin, Ritani, Brilliant Earth, and James Allen for their large inventories and superior service and support. If you’re looking for engagement rings, consider the fantastic ring replica service at With Clarity (it’s free!) You can read more about them and other sellers in our lab-grown diamond seller reviews section.
We think it’s worth investing time in finding the perfect diamond yourself but know that sometimes you don’t have that luxury. In those cases, visit Ada Diamonds, and you won’t be disappointed.
Other Ada Reviews from Customers
Our Ada Diamonds review is not alone in praising Ada Diamonds, and they get perfect reviews on both Google and Yelp.
Our Editorial Review Process
Our reviews are unbiased and not influenced by monetary or commercial considerations. We do not accept money for editorial content. We do not accept payment for editorial content and decline most requests for partnerships and paid content proposals. We only collaborate with a select few lab diamond jewelers that we wholeheartedly endorse.
Our stringent review process adheres to strict guidelines and evaluates all lab diamond jewelers under the same rigorous criteria. As a result, all of our reviews cover critical aspects, even those of the highest-rated jewelers. We recommend several lab diamond jewelers, but each for specific reasons. In our expert reviews and when suggesting the best places to buy lab-grown diamonds, we explain why we suggest a particular jeweler and what you should think about before making a purchase. This way, you can find the lab-grown diamond jeweler that is right for you. But make sure to shop around and compare lab diamond prices.
