The rings are samples made of silver with cubic zarconia centers. They hand you a jewelry case and you can pick the rings you like on your own. When you are ready, you can then sit down in a diamond room and look at diamonds to match to the ring. Fantastic concept, but having terrible sales staff ruins the whole experience.
We took about ten minutes to pick out the settings followed by another 15 minutes of waiting. We finally had a chance to sit with someone, but it was painful how disinterested she was. In other words, there was no excuse for this apathy. While it was nice to see that they were showing GIA certified diamonds most of the emails we would get regarding Spence would have non-certified diamonds , just having a GIA certificate does not make it a nice diamond. We were shown only one diamond I guess we were lucky they bothered to show anything at all and it left a lot to be desired.
The diamond we were shown was a Very Good cut read: deeply cut 0. The cut was not very nice at all and the inclusion was quite visible. This was to be paired with a 14kt pave rose gold pave setting 0.
Not only was the diamond a poor choice, it was incredibly overpriced. Better yet, look at this far superior 0. Its truly a shame. Service generally should be a given, but this was the worst service we experienced at any store. But the real disappointment was the quality and value of their product. Buying online from a company like Blue Nile will always be cheaper.
But Spence fails in two ways. Second, for the premiums they charge they should be offering a good product with excellent service. They offer neither. Before you buy a diamond, get personal buying advice from industry veterans. We'll help you get the best diamond for the money. After coming under fire for not covering damage, people started to ask questions about the durability of the settings. On balance, if you are wearing a ring every day there is always a risk of some kind of damage.
People seem horrified by this after spending so much money, but certain settings are not compatible with an active lifestyle. And yes, a diamond can crack. The best way to avoid this is a high-quality diamond inclusions can compromise durability making the diamond more susceptible to cracks , and choose high quality settings. In particular, look for pave or eternity settings that do not use shared prongs and prongs that are proportionate to the size of the diamond.
It will be interesting to see if Spence Diamonds work on the quality of their settings, as well as amending their warranty. Although the amendment was positive, it is still preferable to have a setting that is durable in the first place. Spence Diamonds are extortionately priced for the quality. We know that you will spend more in a bricks and mortar store than you will with an online retailer due to the huge overheads, but beyond the good marketing I cannot see where this huge premium is going.
If my experience in the store had been a knockout with all the bells and whistles that you expect from a luxury retailer, if the sales staff clearly had detailed and technical training then perhaps this would explain a small percentage. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Either way, when it comes to price, I find Spence Diamonds to be offering average to low quality diamonds with an enormous mark up.
So close yet so far. Great ideas and excellent branding that sadly does not translate into the products. The online experience is one of education, excellent prices and a strong warranty. Spence Diamonds does not deliver on either.
Their prices are a far cry from online retailers such as Whiteflash , Hearts on Fire and others. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Crysta Serne says she has only ever bought diamonds at Spence because she thought they were guaranteed for life.
But when the diamonds starting falling out of her Eternity band after six years, she realized the warranty only lasted for five. When CBC News first asked Spence about Serne's ring and about another set of her earrings that needed repairs, the company sent a written response saying they had honoured the terms of the warranties. Serne with charges to have her Eternity band and earrings repaired, given that the warranty periods on both items had expired," said the letter from Jones. But after CBC contacted Spence, the company offered Serna a 50 per cent discount "as a gesture of goodwill" on the cost of her Eternity band repairs and free repairs for the earrings.
All maintenance and repairs are free forever. Even if you lose a diamond, including the centre diamond up to 2.
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