Q&A: Houston Diamond District Review (Are They Any Good?)
Houston Downtown District – 2017
Reader’s question: I want to thank you for the fantastic content on your site and I hope you can help me with some questions. I’m looking to buy an engagement ring with a budget of around $6000 and came across a seller on Amazon called Houston Diamond District. I’ve did some comparisons and think their prices are really affordable. They also allow custom style designs which is a plus for me.
It seems like they have a store presence in Houston’s city center near the Galleria and have decent Yelp reviews as well. Being based in Texas, I could actually drop by to check out some of their stuff in person. Have you ever heard of the company or done any review on them? What kind of other advice can you offer?
Paul’s reply: It’s quite confusing to name a store as Houston Diamond District. For a moment, I thought you were referring to Houston’s diamond district where jewelry stores congregate in a single location. Putting the name aside, I have never perform any reviews on Houston Diamond District before nor do I have any prior experience of shopping there.
Now, I looked at the link to their Amazon store and browsed through their listings. And I’m not liking what I see as there are many issues which raise red flags to me. Let me explain why and what are the stuff you should be aware of…
First of all, the listings utilize generic stock photographs which doesn’t accurately represent what you will get. There’s zero tangible data in the engagement ring listings and no clarity on what you are actually buying. You are effectively buying blind and exposing yourself to undue risks.
Screenshot of Houston Diamond District’s listing on Amazon.
If you look at the screenshot above, it states “Diamond Weight Variance can be +/- 6% as we try to get you the best looking stone.” Likewise, the same goes for color and clarity ranges. Not only is this downright ambiguous, it can also mean a big difference in the diamond’s value.
A D diamond will cost much more than an E diamond. Likewise, a 0.95ct diamond is very much different from a 1.05ct diamond. I can’t help but question what exactly are you buying and what will you actually receive?
Secondly, Houston Diamond District also have listings with uncertified diamonds and this is not a good sign. I have written extensively on why you need to buy reliably graded diamonds as it protects your interests. Read this article and you’ll understand why…
An I1 clarity diamond will not look “flawless” like the ring that is shown.
Thirdly, I actually checked out the website of Houston Diamond District to see the types of designs and products they offer: http://www.jewelerinhouston.com. At the time of writing, the website is half-baked and their diamond search function doesn’t work.
Also, the company didn’t even bother to update their about us page and contact page from the web template they are using. I don’t know about you but personally, Houston Diamond District doesn’t instill any confidence in me as a buyer.
Homepage screenshot: “Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.”
And as someone who is Internet savvy, you can be sure I would never consider handing over my personal or credit card details to them. At this point, I won’t bother to go any further to waste time in reviewing Houston Diamond District.
I absolutely hate taking ANY risk when buying diamonds. Given that an engagement ring is generally a big-ticket purchase, there are better retailers that allow you to shop with peace of mind.
Where Are the Best Places to Buy Diamonds in Houston, Texas?
If you are based in Houston, you can count yourself lucky because you are located in the same city as two of the best retailers in the entire world; Brian Gavin Diamonds & White Flash.
Brian Gavin is a 5th generation diamond cutter who built up a reputation for his superior jewelry craftsmanship and precision cut diamonds. They offer a range of carefully curated ideal cut diamonds and recently introduced the world’s first AGS ideal cut emerald diamond.
If you are interested in learning more about their business, you can read the comprehensive reviews we’ve written on products they offer here. More importantly, their website is intuitive to use and offer a transparent shopping process.
Another thing I love about good vendors like Brian Gavin is that they offer plenty of photographs in their listings. This enables you to visualize how the finished piece of jewelry looks like compared to the stock photos used by Houston Diamond District.
Brian Gavin’s showroom is located at 7322 Southwest Freeway, Arena One, Suite 1810 Houston, TX 77074. If you intend to visit them, note that you need to book a session beforehand as consultations are strictly by appointment only.
White Flash is a another vendor that specializes in super ideal cut diamonds and offers a wide selection of beautiful engagement ring designs. They have a solid track record of excellent customer service which won them BBB awards for 15 years in a row!
White Flash has a full fledged workshop that enables them to control workmanship quality and had been the only jeweler to be awarded certification by the ABS for their ISO Quality Management System.
For more details, you can read the full review we’ve written on them here.
They have a physical showroom (2150 Town Square Place #330, Sugar Land, TX 77479) which is open on weekdays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. If you are in the area, you can always drop by for a visit to check out their jewelry in person.
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11 Comments
Awesome. This is exactly what I was looking for. When I look at some of their Amazon feedback from buyers and their Yelp reviews, I can’t help but wonder whether the houston diamond district reviews are faked or posted by shillers.
To be fair, most consumers actually don’t know what they are buying and are poorly educated. It doesn’t matter if the feedback is genuine or not. There are plenty of other sellers with a similar type of operation but fail to make the cut for me personally. In this business, if you don’t go above and beyond, you will likely not succeed.
Have you also heard of the diamond exchange houston tx? It is located away from the Galleria area. And who is the best jeweler for an engagement ring in Houston? What’s the difference between White Flash vs Brian Gavin? Do you have a preference on the better one between them?
Nope. I’ve never heard of the diamond exchange. Is that a company or referring to a specific area?
That’s a tough question to answer and it really depends on what you are looking for. Both of these Houston retailers are fantastic in my opinion. Now, there are some differences between White Flash and Brian Gavin Diamonds.
White Flash has slightly better prices and a broader selection of designer rings. On the other hand, BGD has specialty lines like their blue fluorescence diamonds and emerald cut diamonds.
I won’t say one vendor is necessarily better over the other. You might want to let your choice of setting to decide which vendor you might want to work with.
The Jewelry Building (website: http://www.thejewelrybuilding.com) has a directory of diamond stores in houston. I believe that is what James is referring to. It consists of a number of lesser known jewelry retailers and private jewelers. Unlike the higher end Galleria jewelry stores, prices are cheaper here and there is a wider range of products besides diamonds.
Thanks for the information. At the end of the day, all the points that I’ve mentioned in this write up and in other parts of Beyond4cs.com still holds. It doesn’t matter whether you are shopping at The Jewelry Building, a diamond store in Houston or in New York or online. There is a need for tangible data. It just happens that going online is a much more transparent shopping process compared to buying in brick and mortar stores where sales people don’t have your interests at heart.
Do not buy from Houston Diamond District. My wife initially liked the ring. However, one of the corner stones has fallen out 3 times in the 2 years we have had the ring. They repair the ring but it costs us $60 to ship it there and back each time it breaks (not to mention a month where she does not have the ring). It has also left a rash on her ring finger. We discussed this with Houston Diamond District and they would not do anything to solve the problem. The ring is clearly low quality, do not buy from Houston Diamond District.
If the ring material is white gold, your wife may have sensitive skin towards alloys with nickel. It happens to a small percentage of the population and you will need to buy platinum based jewelry for her in future instead of white gold or gold jewelry.
I PURCHASED a diamond ring from Houston Diamond District. They are also known by several names like houston diamond exchange or engagement ring houston. They offered to upgrade my stone and I said ok. When the ring came without a cert I called and they said- aww, no. remember you UPGRADED it? No cert. I have Never upgraded anything and got less of what I first got. I got it appraised and not only was it NOT caret, IT HAD NEVER BEEN UPGRADED. I sent it back and waited for my refund. 3 rounds at Visa before I finally got my money back.. 6 months. They offered my bank 50% back and my bank told them NO.
I am not knowledgeable about diamonds. However, I really liked the price of Houston Diamond District for the size of the stones & purchased one for Christmas 2020. My ring is beautiful! I absolutely love it! It sparkles, it’s nice and clear (to MY untrained eyes, anyway) and it did come with a certificate, not that I truly understand what those ratings mean). I’ve gotten nothing but compliments on it? Anyway, I had an antique platinum, sapphire & diamond ring I needed a small repair on & decided to have my newer ring from Houston Diamond District cleaned & appraised at the same time. My pretty ring came back appraised over DOUBLE the purchase price. I’m very happy with it, but I’m not a person with a trained diamond eye, so……
Thanks for leaving a comment. I will just say that the appraisal prices mean nothing and that coming from a non-neutral party really means nothing. Since it appraised for double the purchase price, try asking and selling the ring back to them at 1.5 times the price you paid. It would be really “dumb” of them not to buy the ring at a discount from you and yet, you made a hefty 50% on your purchase. Once you try to do that, you will understand why I warn against using such appraisal prices for valuation.