QVC Lab-Grown Diamonds Review – Should You Buy? (2023)

Last Updated on July 12, 2023 by Rolf Hartmann

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Summary of QVC Lab-Grown Diamonds review

QVC, the infomercial TV and shopping network, is a ubiquitous name in television and a household name that every consumer knows. QVC sells basically everything and anything. And diamonds, too. Now, QVC has added lab-grown diamonds to their selection, and that’s why we decided to write a QVC lab-grown diamonds review.

QVC stands for “Quality Value Convenience”, which should be very promising. In our review of QVC lab-grown diamonds, we’ll find out if they live up to their consumer promise.

In short, our QVC lab-grown diamonds review finds they don’t. The prices for lab diamonds on QVC are exceptionally high. The lab diamond quality is questionable since QVC and their sellers offer little information about the diamonds, making it difficult to assess the diamond quality fully. However, in our experience, the lab diamond quality is low.

QVC lab-grown diamonds are in many ways similar to Helzberg Diamonds, Zales, Kay Jewelers, and other mall jewelers and perhaps cater to the same audience. Unfortunately, we cannot recommend that anyone shop for lab-grown diamonds at QVC, and we land on a wretched QVC lab-grown diamonds review rating of 2.3 out of 5 possible stars – our second-lowest score yet!

Keep reading our QVC lab-created diamonds review to learn why we don’t recommend buying lab diamond jewelry at QVC.

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Who is QVC and what are QVC lab-grown diamonds?

As noted in the QVC lab-grown diamonds review summary, QVC is a tv shopping network conglomerate that reaches hundreds of millions of shoppers worldwide. They are best known for their infomercials, which remain their key sales channel. However, over the years QVC has evolved to include e-commerce and live shopping.

QVC sells diamonds through both its infomercial channels and its e-commerce platform at QVC.com. In the following QVC lab-grown diamonds review, we’ll focus on the e-commerce shopping channel but throughout note the other media channels.

QVC lab-grown diamond inventory

QVC sells both mined and lab-grown diamonds. Their mined diamonds are overpriced, just like their selection of lab-created diamonds, as we shall learn soon. We generally don’t recommend mined diamonds due to the much higher cost and the potential associated ethical and environmental issues. And we particularly don’t recommend mined diamonds from QVC due to the high price and low quality.

But what about their lab-created diamonds?

QVC’s lab-grown diamonds are sold under the brand name “Fire Light”, which sounds very promising. Brilliance and sparkle, sometimes referred to as fire, are what makes diamonds unique, so we expect QVC’s lab-grown diamonds to have lots of fire.

QVC does not market lab-grown diamonds prominently on its site or in its videos when you look for jewelry. They likely have higher margins on mined diamonds, and their audience may not know what lab-created diamonds are, perhaps thinking if lab-grown diamonds are real. They are.

When you do manage to find their lab-grown diamond jewelry (tip: use the search feature), QVC has been kind enough to add this small comparison illustration, which in fairness, is very correct.

In addition, QVC has created (pun intended) a short video introducing their Fire Light brand and explaining that lab-created diamonds are indeed real diamonds, but they are more affordable than mined diamonds and are created without all the dirt.

That is straight-talking, and we like that. We especially like that QVC refers to the dirtier diamond type as mined, and do not use the slightly misleading moniker (“natural”, inferring that lab-grown diamonds might not be real diamonds).

Next, in our review of QVC lab-grown diamonds, we’ll take a closer look at their Fire Light diamond jewelry.

QVC lab-grown diamond selection

When reviewing lab diamond sellers, we usually assess both their selection of loose diamonds, customization options, and their pre-set jewelry. However, QVC does not sell loose diamonds and does not allow you to build your own jewelry by picking a loose diamond of your choice from their inventory.

That’s a shame. We always recommend creating your own diamond jewelry by finding the perfect loose diamond and pairing it with the jewelry piece of choice. This way, you’ll get a much better diamond and, usually, at a lower price.

The reason is that jewelers tend to set their jewelry with lower-grade diamonds and particularly skimp on the cut grade (Ritani is a notable exception to that rule, using only ideal cut lab diamonds).

QVC lab-grown diamond jewelry

At present (in 2023), QVC offers 73 different lab-grown diamond jewelry pieces. 33 rings, 18 earrings, 14 necklaces, 8 bracelets, and 4 jewelry sets. While that is not a lot to choose between, it’s more than what we saw in our Swarovski lab diamond review.

The majority of the lab-grown diamonds are round-shaped, with emerald and oval making up almost the rest, but QVC also has a few pear-shaped and heart-shaped lab diamonds (plus a few more shapes).

The lab-grown diamond jewelry designs at QVC span the classics, from stud solitaire and halo earrings to eternity rings and tennis bracelets. None of the designs are out of the ordinary, but they cover the basics plus a little more.

So QVC caters to the average shopper looking for the more common diamond jewelry. That’s not a bad thing. But if you are looking for extraordinary designs and exquisite takes on classic design jewelry, we suggest you check out what our jewelry design favorites Grown Brilliance and With Clarity offer.

Next, in our review of QVC lab diamonds, we’ll evaluate the diamond quality.

QVC lab-grown diamond quality

Examining diamond quality, whether mined or lab-created, is an often overlooked but incredibly important part of the diamond and jewelry shopping process. But we’ll help with that.

The first thing to know is that all diamonds, mined or lab-grown, are graded on the diamond 4Cs. These are:

• Diamond cut – how well the diamond has been cut and reflects light
• Diamond clarity – imperfections and blemishes
• Diamond color – from none to yellowish
• Diamond carat – the diamond weight (not size)

Sort of in the order. What’s most important is that the diamond cut is first. It is by far the most important aspect of a diamond, particularly colorless brilliant diamonds (some fancy shapes and fancy colors are a bit different).

You can learn much more about that in our in-depth articles linked above or by reading our lab diamond buying guide to find the perfect diamonds.

Knowing that diamond cut is the most important quality factor, let’s start there.

QVC lab-grown diamond cut

QVC highlights the importance of the cut of their lab diamonds, as can be seen below:

This makes it so much more surprising that they will not tell you the cut quality of the diamonds they sell!

That’s right. It’s impossible to find out what diamond cut grade the diamonds they sell have. They, sometimes, list the clarity and color grade (and always the carat). But not the cut. Suspicious much?

But, while it’s surprising, we are not all that surprised. Other diamond sellers in the same category as QVC, such as Kay Jewelers, Zales, and Helzberg, similarly fail to list cut quality, and often even their customer service can’t tell you, as we saw recently in our Kay Jewelers lab diamonds review.

That, in itself, should be enough for you not to shop there. And we could easily end our QVC lab diamond review here. But, perhaps, you’re still curious to learn if it gets worse (it does).

QVC brilliant rose cut

Before we move on to the other diamond grades, we want to discuss the “brilliant rose cut” that QVC advertises as being better than the round brilliant shape, which many views as the ultimate diamond shape (shape is often used interchangingly with cut, but we prefer to refer to shape to avoid unnecessary confusion).

So what is the rose cut? The rose cut (or shape) is an inferior and typically cheaper shape than the round brilliant. We advise staying clear of the rose cut, despite the lure of the additional facets. The diamond rose shape is dull and does not have any of the fire and brilliance that you expect from (brilliant) diamonds.

But, QVC and their Fire Light brand claim to have improved upon this inferior diamond shape with their world premiere of the brilliant rose cut (see the world “premiere” at QVC). It’s a little odd, considering that the “brilliant” version was supposedly created in 1996.

But that aside, is the brilliant rose cut any good? As with most things, it’s a matter of taste. Yes, it has more facets, but that does not mean anything. It’s not a quality factor. So don’t be fooled, more is not always more.

We do not find that the improved version of the lesser rose shape is better than the round brilliant shape, which was perfected with mathematical precision in 1919. It’s worse. But it may be slightly better than the not-so-good standard rose diamond shape.

It’s even evident from the promotional videos at QVC that the brilliant rose diamonds lack brilliance and fire. Not really on brand (for their Fire and Light brand).

We suggest you stick with the round brilliant shape if you want a round diamond.

QVC lab-grown diamond clarity, color, and carat

Moving our QVC lab diamonds review along, let’s assess the remaining diamond 4Cs.

Diamond carat is pretty straightforward, and we have not found any instances where QVC did not list the diamond weight. That said, since you are not buying a particular diamond, the carat weights are only approximated and minimums.

In addition, often, QVC does not disclose the carat weight of center stones but only the total carat weight, which includes (lower quality) accent stones. You should know the weight of the center stone, of course.

Diamond clarity and color are included in some but all product listings. From our experience, the more expensive and the larger the diamond, the more likely it is that you can find the clarity and color grades.

The clarity grades we most often experienced are “very slight included 2” (VS2), which is a decent grade and usually acceptable. However, diamond grading is a professional but subjective exercise, and some diamonds may receive a higher clarity grade but can still have visible inclusions. That’s why we always recommend buying a particular diamond you can inspect and study online. Alas, at QVC, you get whatever diamond they pick for you.

But, giving QVC the benefit of the doubt, the diamond clarity quality is ok.

The color grades are generally ok, too. Often even higher than we typically would recommend (because you often can’t see the color difference, but you can clearly see the price difference). And what’s worse, we don’t really trust their color grading (more on that later).

Here’s an example of a halo lab diamond ring with a color range of E-F, i.e., it should at least be F, which is a good color grade. Except, in the image, it looks like a fancy-colored white diamond (which is different and much cheaper than a colorless diamond).

We know this is only for illustrative purposes, and maybe the lighting was off. However, while we have not seen this particular diamond ring in person, it does not look promising (we’ll try to get our hands on one, so we can inspect it further).

But, as can be witnessed below, QVC seems to be confusing diamond colors with shapes, so perhaps they are also confusing fancy white with colorless.

Obviously, it’s an error on the site. But it’s still indicative of the attention to detail QVC puts into its diamond jewelry listings. Not something you want from an expensive purchase.

QVC lab-grown diamond certification

How do you know if the grades of the lab diamonds you are considering are trustworthy? One way is to have diamonds inspected by independent grading institutes.

As we have learned in our reviews of Vrai, Swarovski lab diamonds, Lightbox Jewelry, and more, sometimes jewelers decide to just grade their diamonds themselves. And you’ll just have to trust their independence. We generally caution against that, though the diamonds at Vrai and Swarovski are often great.

Many diamond laboratories offer grading services, and some are more trustworthy than others. GIA, the Gemological Institute of America, is perhaps the most well-known. IGI, another renowned institute, is the leading grader of lab-grown diamonds.

The lab diamonds at QVC are supposedly graded by GIA. That’s a massive vote of confidence. If you buy a lab-grown diamond graded by GIA, you can feel safe that the quality is as advertised.

So that’s great, right?

Well, recall that QVC does not list the cut quality? Even if GIA assesses that a lab diamond has the cut quality of “very good”, that is still pretty bad. Any diamond from GIA should have the diamond cut grade Excellent! That is their highest grade and the only one you should ever consider.

We applaud that QVC sells GIA-graded lab diamonds, but since the cut quality is unknown and possibly low, then it doesn’t really matter who graded the diamond.

Summary of QVC lab-grown diamond quality: While the color and clarity grades are seemingly decent, and the carat weights are listed but not specified for center stones, the diamond quality at QVC is not great. The problem is that diamond cut quality is not listed, and that, more often than not, means it’s low. We think it’s “very good”, because that is the most common cut grade used by diamond jewelers for pre-set diamond jewelry. The problem is, very good is not very good and, in fact, it is pretty poor!

Having learned that the diamond quality is decent and questionable at the same time, we’ll find out that the prices match the presumably lower quality next in our QVC lab-grown diamonds review.

QVC lab-grown diamond prices

As we noted above in our QVC lab-grown diamonds review, diamond quality is often ignored by consumers but should be a critical part of any lab diamond purchase. But, of course, so is the price. So let’s assess the diamond prices at QVC next.

When we assess lab diamond prices, we typically start by comparing the costs of loose lab-grown diamonds. What we do is use a reference diamond as a yardstick (prices for a 1-carat round brilliant). But, as QVC does not sell loose diamonds or offer the option of picking a diamond from a diamond inventory, that is a futile exercise.

Instead, our QVC lab-grown diamonds review will compare the prices of common pre-set diamond jewelry. Let’s start with a pair of lab diamond stud earrings.

Price for a pair of 1-carat lab-grown diamond stud earrings at QVC

QVC does not sell a pair of 1-carat diamond earrings, which is, perhaps, the most popular diamond jewelry product. However, they do have 0.9-carat diamond stud earrings (all are total weights, so divide by 2 to get the individual stone weights).

At QVC, they are listed for $922.79 (plus shipping and handling of $5.50, weird).

The color is “colorless”, which typically means between G and J (a pretty wide range). So let’s assume it’s J because that’s the only guarantee they’ll give you.

The diamond clarity is “Very Slightly Included”, which we assume means minimum VS2.

Both are acceptable grades in most cases. But, again, we don’t know the diamond cut grade!

Regardless, compared to Ritani (who always uses the best diamond cut grade, ideal), QVC is slightly cheaper. Or so it seems.

Ritani lists their 1-carat stud earrings for $1,356. But these are top-notch premium quality diamonds. The clarity grade is the same, but the color grade starts at H. So, a much, much better set of lab diamond earrings. The $430 extra is more than worth it!

A more comparable set of diamond stud earrings at Clean Origin costs $800. So, if you need to be under $1000, go for Clean Origin. But we suggest Ritani instead for the superior diamond quality (you’ll be happy with your decision).

Price for a pair of 1-carat lab-grown diamond stud earrings at QVC

Let’s also compare the prices of a piece of round-weight lab diamond. QVC has a pendant set with a 2-carat lab diamond, which they list for $4,598. That should make it easier to compare prices with competitors.

Again, we don’t know the diamond cut grade but assume a “very good” grade.

At Brilliant Earth, you can design your own diamond pendant. That means you can pick any diamond from their inventory of loose lab diamonds and pair it with the pendant of your choice. Doing that, we found a lab diamond of similar quality to the one from QVC, including the pendant setting totaling $3,190. That’s 30% cheaper!

If you want to skip the create-your-own process, you can also opt for a pre-set lab diamond pendant from Grown Brilliance, another of our favorite places to buy lab-grown diamonds. The pendant at Grown Brilliance is of better quality and cheaper!

See the stunning 2-carat lab diamond pendant at Grown Brilliance for $3,380 and save 26%. It’s a no-brainer.

Summary of lab-grown diamond prices at QVC: As we have learned above in our QVC lab-grown diamonds review, QVC is significantly more expensive than Ritani, Clean Origin, and Grown Brilliance. And that’s compared to similar or better quality diamond jewelry. That said, compared to mall jewelers such as Helzberg, Kay Jewelers, and Zales, QVC’s lab diamond prices are somewhat reasonable. But they’re still way too high.

Shipping and returns at QVC

Shipping costs are included in the additional shipping and handling fee that, for whatever reason, QVC doesn’t just include in the price. Typically, it’s less than $10, so that’s reasonable. But, for $10, you don’t get insured overnight shipping as you do at James Allen or Clean Origin.

When shipping high-cost items such as diamond jewelry, you probably want it to be insured during shipping.

The shipping included in the “shipping and handling costs” is standard, while you can opt to pay more for express or premium delivery. You probably want that, given the value of your parcel. So expect the shipping and handling costs to increase.

QVC lab diamond returns and exchanges

At QVC, you have a 30-day return period, which starts from the time of receipt, which is pretty good and on par with the industry average. It’s a far cry from Clean Origin’s generous 100-day risk-free return period, but it’s not bad at all.

You do have to repay the shipping and handling costs, which, for some reason, are separate from the product price. And you also have to pay for return shipping costs unless you want to make an exchange or the return is due to an error on the part of QVC.

That’s not great. Our recommended lab diamond jewelers all offer a minimum 30-day risk-free return period that includes free return shipping. But it’s similar to what the mall jewelers we have reviewed offer. And the return shipping is relatively cheap, so that helps.

On that semi-positive note, let’s summarize our QVC lab-grown diamonds review.

Summary of QVC lab-grown diamonds review

Throughout our QVC lab-grown diamonds review, we’ve learned that QVC has a decent selection of lab-grown diamond jewelry, and they cover the basic designs and a few modern ones, but it’s far from what we’ve seen elsewhere.

The quality of their diamonds is, in some respects, decent, while others are dubious. And when buying a high-cost item such as diamond jewelry, you want to steer clear of anything that can be labeled dubious.

The prices for lab-grown diamond jewelry at QVC are also high. We’ve seen prices at QVC around 26-30% higher than similar or better diamond-quality jewelry at competing retailers. To be fair, QVC’s competitors are more likely to be the jeweler you find at the mall. And compared to their prices, QVC offers competitive prices. But who wants to shop at the best of the worst?

In short, we suggest you shop elsewhere (see our recommended alternative jewelers below).

To summarize our QVC lab-grown diamonds review, let’s consider the pros and cons of shopping for lab-grown diamonds at QVC (because, surprisingly, there are a few pros!).

Pros of buying lab-grown diamonds at QVC

The pros of buying lab-grown diamonds at QVC are few, but in fairness, we’ll highlight the pros below:

• Prices for lab-grown diamond jewelry are lower than what you’ll find at the mall.
• The selection of lab diamond jewelry is decent, though underwhelming.
• Lab-grown diamonds are graded by GIA.
• Lab diamond clarity and color grades are ok.

Cons of buying lab-grown diamonds at QVC

• The lab-grown diamond cut quality is unknown and, at best, questionable.
• Prices, even if better than at the mall, are still much higher than what you can find elsewhere.
• You can’t customize or pick your own diamond.
• You can’t inspect diamonds since QVC decides what diamond to pair your jewelry with.
• Shipping is not free, not quick, and not insured.
• Returns are not free, nor insured.
• You have much better options, see below.

Alternative to QVC lab-grown diamonds

Concluding our unimpressed QVC lab-grown diamonds review, we want to offer you better alternatives. At LabGrownCarars.com, we review the best and the worst sellers of lab-grown diamonds so you can shop confidently and find the perfect lab-grown diamond.

Below are the best places to buy lab-grown diamonds and jewelry in 2023. If you shop at any of these jewelers, you will both save and get a much better lab diamond.