New World Diamonds Review (2023) – What You Need to Know Before Buying
New World Diamonds
USD 999
Pros
- Huge selection of fancy-colored diamonds
- Reasonable prices
- Decent services
- Good inspection options
- Access to diamond certificates
Cons
- Prices higher than Clean Origin and Ritani
- Smaller inventory of white diamonds
- Low-quality pre-set jewelry
- Strict return policy
Last Updated on April 9, 2023 by LabGrownCarats
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Summary of New World Diamonds Review
New World Diamonds is a relatively new online lab-grown diamond jeweler. New World Diamonds was started in 2018, and they have grown by selling through Amazon, Walmart, and similar online platforms, which you may not normally associate with diamond jewelry. Or at least not with high-quality diamond jewelry.
The risk, of course, is being associated with discount diamond sellers (not in a good way). But they also sell through their own website, where you can buy both loose lab-grown diamonds and jewelry pieces. In the following New World Diamonds review, we’ll find out if that is the case with New World Diamonds, and we’ll review New World Diamonds based on buying through their website.
New World Diamonds is very similar to another new lab-grown diamond seller, Friendly Diamonds, which also mainly sells through online platforms such as Amazon. Read our Friendly Diamonds review to see how they stack up. Grown Brilliance and Best Brilliance have similar hybrid sales strategies.
In short, our New World Diamonds review finds that they rank very similarly to Friendly Diamonds in that their prices are reasonable but not the best, and their services and support are good but also not the best. New World Diamonds also lacks the more advanced inspection features or the gemologist expert guidance you find at some of our higher-rated jewelers.
Their selection of fancy-colored lab diamonds and jewelry, however, is enormous. Still, you’ll find a larger and better selection at higher-rated lab-grown diamond sellers such as Ritani, Brilliant Earth, James Allen, and Clean Origin. Their prices are competitive, but we recommend only creating your own jewelry sets or buying loose diamonds with IGI or GIA certificates. In addition, the quality of the lab diamonds in their pre-set jewelry pieces is just not good.
While customers at New World Diamonds generally are happy, and our experience is also positive and lends us an impression of a trustworthy company, a few things are pulling them down. Things such as dead links, a few too many misspellings, and not listing their physical address are, for the most part, minor infractions but nevertheless worth mentioning.
Our New World Diamonds review concludes that they offer (mostly) great lab-grown diamonds and jewelry. Their loose diamond selection, especially fancy-colored, is very impressive, prices are (mostly) great, and there are some good deals to be found. However, we also find their site, features, and support lacking, and some of the pre-set jewelry is of too low quality for us to recommend.
So, if you’re looking for a colored diamond or happen to find a high-quality IGI or GIA-certified white lab-grown diamond, you might get a great deal. In 2023, we rate New World Diamonds a decent 3.6 stars out of 5 for their fancy-colored lab diamond selection.
3 diamond jewelers we like better than New World Diamonds
To learn more, keep reading our New World Diamonds review.
- Who are New World Diamonds?
- New World Diamonds are dedicated to lab-grown diamonds
- New World Diamonds lab-grown selection
- New World Diamonds buying process and inspection
- New World Diamonds lab-grown prices
- New World Diamonds shipping and returns
- New World Diamonds Review Verdict
- New World Diamond customer reviews
Who are New World Diamonds?
New World Diamonds has been selling diamonds online since 2018, when it was founded. They are thus a relative newcomer to the scene among stalwarts like James Allen and Ritani. However, they quickly hired an industry veteran to run the business, Jacques Panis, coming from luxury goods retailer and manufacturer, Shinola.
He didn’t stick around for too long, and the company today has different leadership. However, it does show that New World Diamonds is an ambitious company that wants to climb the ranks of selling lab-grown diamonds online.
New World Diamonds primarily sells through established online marketplace channels such as Amazon, Walmart, and eBay, but not Etsy, as Friendly Diamond does. In our experience, many jewelers selling through these channels tend to be of lower quality, and some sellers are even a bit questionable.
However, as we saw with Friendly Diamonds, Grown Brilliance, and Best Brilliance, it does not have to be the case. However, we would never expect the best online jewelers, such as Ritani, James Allen, and Clean Origin, to start selling through eBay.
So while this could be a red flag, it does not have to be. But it’s definitely a warning sign.
Therefore, to better assess New Worlds Diamonds, we decided to carry out an in-depth analysis and review of the buying experience, the quality of their diamonds, their prices, inventory, and general services.
We do this based on their own website, not the experience of shopping at Amazon, though you may consider that if you prefer shopping at Amazon or Walmart. Continue reading our New World Diamonds review to learn more.
New World Diamonds are dedicated to lab-grown diamonds
New World Diamonds are dedicated to lab-created diamonds and do not sell mined stones. We think this is great. As the ethically and environmentally better choice, lab-grown diamonds carry a lot of benefits, and we believe they are the future of diamonds. So that’s an excellent start.
Moreover, New World Diamonds spends a lot of time and website real estate to educate visitors and prospective buyers about the many benefits of lab-grown diamonds over mined. That said, the information is a little unstructured, and a few inaccuracies are also included (such as being able to spot a lab-grown vs. mined diamond through a loupe – you can only tell the difference by analyzing trace elements).
New World Diamonds also refers to “investing” in diamonds on their page, but we think that is the wrong approach to diamonds. You should invest in value-creating ventures, not diamonds. You should buy a diamond for its beauty and for wearing it in a jewelry set.
All this, of course, is not all that relevant if the buying experience is superior. So let’s dig into that next in our New World Diamonds review.
New World Diamonds lab-grown selection
Our New World Diamonds review is based on their website. However, most of their sales happen through other channels, such as Amazon. So while we’re basing our review of New World Diamond on their website, most buyers might have the same buying experience.
We’ll start by examining their selection and then search for some of the reference diamonds we use to compare quality and price against (see next section).
New World Diamonds sells both loose diamonds and pre-made jewelry sets, as well as options to build your own, which is what we recommend you do. This way, you can choose exactly the right diamonds for you and the jewelry set you will be pairing the lab diamonds with.
Their pre-made jewelry selection is pretty impressive. New World Diamonds boasts endless jewelry designs across earrings, rings, bracelets, and pendants – and they even have a men’s diamond jewelry section. But, as you’ll learn later in our New World Diamonds review, we don’t recommend their pre-set jewelry.
Do also note that New World Diamonds only make custom diamond jewelry with a minimum price of $1,000. Since we always recommend that you build your own jewelry with custom stones, this is critical to be aware of.
New World Diamonds Fancy-Colored Diamonds
We’re particularly impressed by their selection of fancy-colored diamond jewelry (fancy-colored diamonds just mean non-white/clear diamonds.)
We have not seen such a vast selection of fancy-colored diamonds in many places, and it’s even larger than that of Lightbox Jewelry which has one of the larger selections and markets itself as a specialist in fancy-colored diamonds.
As you will have learned from our intro to lab-grown diamonds, colored diamonds are very rarely found in mines and are, therefore, extremely expensive. But in the controlled environment of the laboratory, these can be created at a much more reasonable cost, making them much more accessible.
So, if you’re looking for pre-set colored lab diamond jewelry, you likely won’t find a broader selection anywhere. However, one thing to note is that most of their fancy-colored diamond jewelry is graded by International Gemological Laboratories (IGL), which is not as reputable a grading institute as IGI, which grades most high-quality lab-grown diamonds. More on that later.
New World Diamonds also has an extensive selection of fancy-colored loose diamonds (735 at the time of writing) in an impressive array of colors and shapes. Most (83%) of their fancy-colored loose stones are graded by IGI, which is a plus. Some are even graded by GIA, the most well-known and respected of all institutes.
New World Diamonds White Diamonds
Even though we love the extraordinary beauty of fancy-colored diamonds, most people are interested in white (or rather colorless) diamonds. In the following part of the New World Diamonds review, we’ll therefore be focusing on these.
As we recommend to any of our readers, you should start your purchase by selecting diamonds yourself instead of relying on pre-selected jewelry. This way, you can get the best diamond and the jewelry you’re looking for.
And New World Diamonds are a perfect example of why. The pre-set jewelry pieces that they offer on their website are all priced very competitively, and they even show a comparison chart with Lightbox Jewelry (read our Lightbox review).
The problem is that neither Lightbox Jewelry nor New World Diamonds advertises the diamond cut quality. And as you will have learned from our articles, the diamond cut is the most important aspect of a diamond.
Lightbox Jewelry doesn’t even have its diamonds graded by a third party, but New World Diamonds does, which is good. The problem is that the diamond cut grade of the lab diamonds in their jewelry pieces is too low.
For example, their pre-set diamond stud earrings might be cheaper than at Lightbox, but the cut quality is only “very good,” which is actually not very good at all. You should always choose the best grade, which for IGI-graded diamonds is ideal and for GIA is excellent. And in many cases, the grading is done by less reputable institutes. So we don’t recommend that you buy their pre-set lab-grown jewelry.
Instead, start by finding a diamond that lives up to your needs and the minimum grades that you set. If you need help deciding what these should be, check out our intro to lab-created diamonds or our buying guide.
In the following part of the New World Diamonds review, we’ll do the same and assess their loose diamond prices and quality.
The search features work pretty well and is similar to what you find at other online diamond jewelers. You can easily filter for the diamond 4Cs, shape, and size to narrow down your search. Since, as we’ll talk about later, New World Diamonds sells diamonds graded by less trustworthy institutes, it would have been nice with a grading institute filter.
Generally, their larger stones tend to be graded by IGI, the leading institute for lab-grown diamond certification. So that’s good.
The white (colorless) diamond inventory is decent but not overwhelming as the case was with their selection of fancy-colored diamonds. However, there’s still a decent chance that you’ll find a least a few good candidates among their lab diamonds.
New World Diamonds buying process and inspection
Once you have narrowed down your search to diamonds within your criteria, you can click to view each individually. This opens up the diamond page, where you can further inspect the particular stone. You see a decently-sized and quality image as well as a similar quality video. The latter allows you to inspect the diamonds from all angles, look for imperfections, and assess brilliance.
This is the minimum you should expect and need to inspect diamonds, but, surprisingly, often, these features are not available. Another critical step in the inspection process is the diamond certificate. Luckily, New World Diamonds provides direct access to certificates.
Most larger diamonds are certified by the leading lab-grown diamond grading institute, IGI. This is excellent, and they are trustworthy. However, a good part of New World Diamonds’ inventory is graded by IGL (now IL), generally viewed as less reliable. So ignore those and select only IGI (or GIA) graded stones.
We would have liked to see more HD images and an even higher-quality video, but compared to many other online sellers, New World Diamonds does a pretty decent job. So for many people, it will suffice.
However, an important part of the inspection process, especially for non-experts, is receiving expert advice and guidance, ideally from an independent gemologist. Several of our top-rated lab diamond sellers offer exactly that. Unfortunately, this is not offered by New World Diamonds.
It’s perhaps not surprising, given that their main sales channels are online marketplaces, where this is not expected. However, Friendly Diamonds, which has a similar seller profile, does have the option to book virtual appointments.
New World Diamonds lab-grown prices
A key part of our New World Diamonds review is, of course, to assess the competitiveness of their prices. As we have already mentioned, they have a price comparison chart on their site, but frankly, it doesn’t really tell you anything since not all parameters are listed.
When judging prices, we only compare high-quality diamonds that we would recommend that you actually buy. Our reference diamond is a 1-carat lab-grown diamond with the highest cut grade (most often graded by IGI, which is the ideal grade). In addition, we look for stones with a min VS2 clarity grade and an I or J color.
As you will have learned from our recommendations, you can often get a better deal on diamonds just below the round carats, such as 0.97 carats. Hence, we allow flexibility (a high-quality 0.97-carat will look much bigger than a low-quality 1.10-carat stone).
So how do New World Diamonds fare? Their prices range from just below $1,000 to around $1,200, which is much lower than many online sellers and, not surprisingly, significantly cheaper than any mined diamonds.
However, the prices for our reference diamonds, as well as the overall price levels, are above sellers such as Clean Origin, Brilliant Earth, and Ritani, who offer some of the lowest lab-grown diamond prices on the market. New World Diamonds’ prices are comparable to those of James Allen.
But, while James Allen’s prices a slightly higher than those of Clean Origin and Ritani, they are justified by their superior inspection and extraordinarily diligent and dedicated buying support (learn more in our James Allen review and in our guide to buying an engagement ring at James Allen).
Our New Worlds Diamonds review doesn’t find that premium services or offerings offset these higher prices. That said, prices on diamonds sometimes vary, and it’s definitely still possible to find a good deal at New World Diamonds, particularly on fancy-colored diamonds.
New World Diamonds shipping and returns
The last thing we evaluate in our New World Diamonds review is their shipping and shopping terms.
Like most of the better online diamond jewelers, New World Diamonds offers free shipping. Unfortunately, it’s free only for orders above $100, but it would be rare if this minimum is not reached (otherwise, you could buy through Amazon with Prime).
The shipping is Standard Ground, which is acceptable. Still, most of our better-rated diamond jewelers will most often offer free 1-day / overnight shipping, which should be the norm for what is often an expensive and important purchase. Unfortunately, New World Diamonds also don’t deliver on weekends.
The shipments are fully insured, so even if the delivery takes a little longer, you at least don’t have to worry about your parcel being lost.
Returns are accepted within 30 days of receipt and are free (including free shipping). Those terms are fairly standard for better online jewelers but not as impressive as Clean Origin’s 100-day risk-free return period.
However, if you have ordered anything custom, there is a “20% cancellation/restocking fee with a maximum of $1000”. Since we generally recommend you select your own diamonds and thus make a custom order, this is an important limitation. However, it may be possible to negotiate that this stipulation is disregarded, and we would only recommend you purchase custom jewelry if it is.
New World Diamonds Review Verdict
Throughout our 2023 updated New World Diamonds review, we have pointed out both flaws and positives, and overall, our impression of New World Diamonds is mixed.
The positive is their huge inventory of fancy-colored diamonds, their relatively competitive prices, the decent ability to carry out diamond inspection, and direct access to diamond certificates.
New World Diamonds fare adequately when it comes it shipping, and returns are averages for non-custom jewelry.
The negatives are the lack of buying support and access to independent advice, strict return policies for custom jewelry, unjustified higher prices (unlike James Allen), and low-quality pre-set jewelry. We also don’t like that they have a considerable amount of diamonds graded by less well-regarded institutes, but IGI grades most larger diamonds.
Lastly, we have found minor issues such as dead links on their site, a few too many spelling errors, and a somewhat unstructured website. We have also not been able to locate their physical address. Of course, we can all make typos (there are probably some in this New World Diamonds review, too), and dead links don’t impact the quality of the diamond you’re buying. But, it does leave the impression of a seller that’s not 100% focused.
All that said, New World Diamonds does have a lot of happy customers, and we don’t advise against shopping with them. Particularly if you’re looking for fancy-colored diamonds, you should give New World Diamonds a shot and check out their impressive inventory and reasonable prices. Just stay clear of their pre-set jewelry and insist on removing the 20% restocking fee if you purchase custom jewelry.
Should you not be successful, we recommend that you consider any of our top-rated places to buy lab-grown jewelry.
Clean Origin, James Allen, Brilliant Earth, and Ritani are our current favorites for their low prices, vast lab diamond inventories, and superior service and support. You can read more about them and other sellers in our lab-grown diamond seller reviews section.
New World Diamond customer reviews
While our New World Diamond review is mixed, they do have a lot of happy customers leaving feedback at Trustpilot. The discrepancy may be explained by our generally critical approach and evaluation of New World Diamonds based on their website. Most of their customers shop through Amazon and Walmart and may have less experience with diamond assessment and valuation.
