Are you looking for a diamond? Are you someone that loves hunting for treasure? If you’ve answered Yes to both questions you’ll love these sites. Dig deep, uncover the clues, and find the best stone which is perfect just for you.
Diamond Shopping is Like a Treasure Hunt
Do you remember going on a treasure hunt as a kid?
Treasure hunting was always exciting.
I thought so anyway!
I still do!
You gotta love the thrill of looking at different clues and piecing together the location of a treasure!
A lot of people even take up treasure hunting when they retire! Ok, technically it’s called metal detecting, but still, it’s TREASURE HUNTING!
Treasure hunting is something which brings out the primal instincts in us. The instinct for hunting and gathering hasn’t been completely lost in this modern era.
There are still many opportunities to display our hunting prowess.
I believe this is the reason online diamond retailers like James Allen and Blue Nile have been so successful.
They don’t just say: here you are this is the best one.
You have to dig deep and find the treasure. And the treasure is, well, literally treasure! Diamonds and gold!
I have realized that not only am I a treasure hunter, but that treasure hunting is something that appeals strongly to many other people, in particular many of the people that reach out to me.
I had referred someone to a diamond jeweler who specializes in top quality diamonds. There was the perfect diamond, and I knew they would absolutely love it.
For some reason this person was not seeing just how perfect this diamond was.
I soon worked out what it was that was giving them pause.
The idea of sifting through thousands of thousands of diamonds to find The One was tantalizing and exciting to them.
Even though they asked me for guidance, they still had the hunter instinct, and needed to feel like they were finding a gem among the pebbles.
And I totally agree.
This is something I love about my work as a diamond concierge.
The hunt.
Being handed something on a silver platter may appeal to some people, but if you, like me, enjoy searching for clues, weighing up the pros and cons, digging down into the details of each stone, then James Allen and Blue Nile are perfect places to get your hunt on.
Hunting for Treasure at James Allen
A Treasure Hunter’s Dream
Four creative minds worked together to bring JamesAllen.com into reality. Oded Edelman, James Allen Schultz, Michele Sigler and Dean Lederman created what was to become the largest privately held online diamond and bridal jewelry retailer in the world.
Their mission from the onset was simple: to give people all the information they needed to buy their perfect diamond.
I think they had a hunter’s mindset, or at the very least understood that people are for the most part treasure hunters.
From the very beginning the creators of the James Allen brand decided that all their diamonds would be displayed using high resolution imagery. They wanted the experience to be as good, if not better, than viewing a diamond through a jeweler’s loupe.
By keeping the customer experience in mind they created what is in my opinion the best place to buy diamonds online.
Yes, they began with an incredibly ambitious plan. They had to take high resolution photos of each and every diamond they planned on listing on their site.
The genius of their plan not only lied in having photos. It was that they would photograph diamonds under identical conditions.
This way it would be possible for a buyer to be confident when comparing diamonds side by side that each feature would be clear.
This one step proved to be the key to making the model work.
Diamond buyers loved it.
It gave shoppers control and combined with a respectable return period and attention to detail was instrumental a huge role in James Allen becoming the biggest competitor to Blue Nile (which had a huge presence in the online diamond retailing space).
The diamonds James Allen initially listed were all held by manufacturers within easy reach of their photographer. Eventually the collection grew to thousands, and then tens, of thousands, and now hundreds of thousands of stones.
An Eye For Detail
Oded Edelman’s is from a family which was renown for their discerning eye when it came to diamonds. Oded, being a relentless innovator, was determined to translate this eye for detail into something which would be appreciated by diamond hunters.
He imagined that if he were to buy a diamond online he would want to be able to examine that diamond in great detail. Not just the face of the diamond, but from all angles.
Hunting for treasure at Blue Nile
Blue Nile was founded in 1999. The founders figured the engagement ring business was ready for innovation. It was the dot com boom and everyone was dreaming big.
Diamonds, though seemed like a tricky thing to sell online.
Blue Nile however managed it and revolutionized the industry.
The headlines around the time of their launch included the word “disruptive” more than once.
But their online business model made it possible to shop for extraordinary, high-quality diamonds at a great value. And they didn’t stop there.
The Blue Nile team firmly believed that their customers wanted (“deserved” is the word Blue Nile likes to use) more choices, straightforward information and strove to provide a quality of service they could feel comfortable claiming was legendary.
They built a great team, and excelled in customer service.
But the secret, I think, is in the way they appealed to the treasure hunter instinct.
Sure it helps to position oneself as a leader in handcrafted engagement rings, beautiful fine jewellery, and diamond retailing.
The way they’ve placed a great deal of power in the hands of shoppers appeals to those who like to do some of the work themselves.
