VRAI: A Rare Story of Sustainable Manufacturing Meets Celebrity Endorsed Luxury Brand Offering

This guide aims to provide comprehensive information to assist consumers in making informed purchase decisions. We carefully analyze every diamond jewelry and diamond engagement ring retailer to deliver the best advice on how to optimize value and where to get the most for your money. Our goal is to organize and present all the things that consumers should know before buying. We writes these articles personally (never with AI) and we update them regularly based upon our understanding only an insider would know. Our Editor has spent four decades as a global leader in the diamond jewelry industry having led six wholesale and retail jewelry companies, been a select client of DeBeers and a pioneer in the birth of lab grown diamonds. His family has been in the diamond business for over a century.

Purchasing a diamond or diamond engagement ring is a significant investment and can be intimidating and even frightening. Consumers often worry about making informed decisions and finding trustworthy retailers. When purchasing a product with which one is unfamiliar, it is important to invest the time to get educated on both the product, and the sellers of that product. A diamond engagement ring will symbolize a lifetime commitment and is a permanent display to friends, family and colleagues. The diamond, ring design, quality and the craftsmanship must meet or exceed all expectations. All data referenced in these reviews are as of the date of the review, we are not responsible for updating information as prices change constantly. Also, we are not compensated to write these reviews as they are independent of any given retailer or brand.

Summary of Findings

VRAI was the very first diamond engagement ring jeweler to make the sustainable growing of diamonds their guiding principle. At the same time they became a design leader and A list favorite for fashion, wedding band and diamond engagement ring jewelry. They are the world's only diamond retailer who grows, cuts and polishes their own diamonds and the only diamond grower still growing in the United States. VRAI’s zero carbon growing technology distinguishes the brand from all others in its focus on sustainability, luxury and design.

Pros

• Most sustainably produced, carbon neutral, diamonds in the world.

• Only diamonds grown in the USA

• Seven stores in North America and three in Europe and Asia

• Absolute prime source–buy directly from the grower

• Highest standards of cutting and polishing

• Will custom cut and polish to order any diamond a customer wants

• Best Lifetime value/diamond trade-up guarantee

• Upscale craftsmanship and impeccable manufacturing quality

• Free annual ring cleaning and refurbishment

Cons

• No independent diamond grading certificate

• Shopper must pay for shipping

• Returns are not refunded in full. There is a fee of as much as $300

• Returns over $15,000 can only receive a store credit.

VRAI Company Overview

VRAI Review 2025: Direct to Consumer subsidiary of the Diamond Foundry, Prime Source for Lab Grown Diamonds, Diamond Engagement Rings, Wedding Bands and Diamond Jewelry sustainably grown entirely in the USA.

This in-depth review of VRAI examines and evaluates its history and its evolution to the only American produced lab grown diamond brand. We will discuss its unique positioning as the pre-eminent luxury brand for lab grown diamonds, diamond engagement rings and jewelry and a favorite of A list celebrities.

Introduction to the VRAI Brand

VRAI (originally Vrai & Oro) launched in 2014 as a direct-to-consumer digital jewelry startup, founded by Vanessa Stofenmacher and Chelsea Nicholson. Vrai means truth in French, and Oro means gold in Spanish. Initially the fine jewelry line consisted of simple, everyday pieces. By 2016 the founders had achieved annual sales of $3million when they were acquired by Diamond Foundry, the Silicon Valley based leader in sustainably grown, conflict free lab-grown diamonds. The company name was soon shortened to VRAI as Diamond Foundry drove the company to new heights and a focus on lab grown diamond engagement rings. VRAI is the only fully vertically integrated retailer of scale that grows and polishes its own diamonds.

VRAI Brand Heritage, Background and Evolution

In 2015 Blood Diamond star Leonardo DiCaprio (along with some other billionaires) invested in Bay Area start-up Diamond Foundry, which had developed a technique for producing brilliantly clear, colorless, gem-quality diamonds.

Diamond Foundry was founded by Austrian-American entrepreneur R. Martin Roscheisen, a solar-panel trailblazer of the early 2000s, Stanford alum, and all-around varsity member of Silicon Valley. Modeling on the disruption initiated by Elon Musk’s Tesla, Martin shared his vision for the diamond industry in a 2016 interview with Vogue, “The diamond industry is an $85 billion enterprise that’s like the car industry was three years ago, it needs a technological wake-up call.”

Our Editor recalls his meeting with Martin in NYC before the VRAI acquisition and before the founding of his own company, Clean Origin. Martin immediately impressed him as a brilliant scientist albeit a bit eccentric, as you’d expect a Stanford tech era genius to be. But Martin was not only a ground breaking scientist. He had spent enough time with Google founder Larry Paige at Stanford to understand branding, marketing and ecommerce. Securing Leonardo DiCaprio as an investor had more earned media value than any dollar amount the Blood Diamonds, A list actor might have invested. Our Editor recounted two events from his dinner that capture Martin’s brilliance and peculiar nature. One was Martin stopping mid-sentence and spontaneously coming up with key Google search terms for Diamond Foundry, which was also a direct to consumer etailer at that time. The second was a seven minute monologue on the unique chemistry of the asparagus sitting on his plate. Our Editor shared that he learned as much about search terms at that table as he did about asparagus–both of which he later verified to be true. Smiling to himself at dinner he remembered how much Martin reminded him of “Doc”, the scientist in the film Back to the Future.

In buying VRAI, Martin demonstrated his understanding that a technology website named Diamond Foundry, a foundry being defined by the Oxford dictionary as “a workshop or factory for casting metal”, was never going to compete with Tiffany or Cartier. Moreover, it lacked the hip, fashion ethos of rising contemporary brands like Prada or Versace that offered cutting edge fashion and appealed to women. The nascent Vrai and Oro brand offered the shell into which Martin could insert the revolutionary technology he had created in Diamond Foundry. Think of it like the cool Delorean car in which the time machine was installed in Back to the Future. Here is a snapshot of the Vrai and Oro homepage from before the acquisition:

And here is the homepage today:

Here is the Diamond Foundry homepage from before the acquisition when it was a direct to consumer retailer:

And here is the Diamond Foundry homepage today, a diamond technology company serving industrial applications of lab grown diamonds in the production of microchips.

Less than 10 years since the acquisition of VRAI, the brand is the only top tier lab grown diamond e-tailer that grows its own diamonds, sustainably, using hydraulic power in Washington State. Headquartered in trendy Los Angeles, the style and cutting edge designs of VRAI have placed it above all other lab grown brands and on a par with heritage brands like Tiffany and Cartier who refuse to be part of the future of diamonds and remain stuck in the world of mined diamonds. The parallels with what Tesla achieved, using new technology to create a brand on par with Mercedes Benz and Porsche is clearly the VRAI/Diamond Foundry playbook. It comes as no surprise that VRAI has become the darling of A list celebrities like Taylor Swift, Emma Watson, Jennifer Lopez and Emma Stone to name only a few.

VRAI is both the style and the sustainability leader in high end diamond engagement rings and diamond jewelry. Their designs are not merely on trend–they set trends. As the only major retail jeweler founded by a woman backed by a diamond growing genius, the brand seems to have it all. Since 2019 the brand has been led by female fashionista turned ecommerce expert Mona Akhahvi. Akhavi has a background in haute couture having worked for a Paris based fashion house before beginning her career in ecommerce branding and marketing.

Of the major retailers of lab grown diamonds in America, the largest is part of a $7 billion conglomerate run by a man who formerly ran PetSmart. Another is owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and run by a man who spent all of his prior career in finance, mostly for Sprint telephones. Both jewelry companies were founded by men long retired or long gone. VRAI stands apart from all other lab grown retailers. VRAI is the only luxury jewelry brand that grows their own diamonds right here in the USA, was founded by a scientist who decoded how to grow diamonds and is run by a woman. VRAI is the only jeweler founded by and for a new generation with a mission to disrupt the mined diamond industry and serve up a guilt-free, sustainable lab grown diamond luxury alternative. Mission accomplished.

VRAI Product Range and Quality

VRAI Diamonds

Most reputable jewelers comply with the Kimberley Process, the global protocol created by the diamond trade to stop the mining and the sale of conflict diamonds. And most are also members of the Responsible Jewelry Council. VRAI starts from a place way beyond the decades old efforts of the mined diamond business to clean up or green wash their practices. ‘Conflict-free diamonds’ are as loose and porous a definition as low-fat. Lower than what? VRAI begins with the premise that mining itself is the problem that needs to be addressed and solved by science. VRAI grows their diamonds from greenhouse gasses–the same gasses produced in abundance by mining equipment. Growing a VRAI diamond uses only 10% of the energy as mining requires. And their growing facility has a real zero carbon footprint and does not need to buy ‘carbon offsets’ to make that claim. VRAI takes sustainability so seriously they even make certain the hydroelectric dam that is the source of their energy has a fish ladder and kills no fish. They contrast VRAI with the miners at DeBeers who drained an entire lake in Canada, killing all 18,403 fish ( did they count each one?) to get at the diamonds. VRAI’s diamond producing leader Martin Roscheisen, has truly lived the words of the late Robert F. Kennedy Senior: "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"

Our Editor spent years in the mined diamond business but left in part as he learned more about the legacy of mined diamonds and the many loopholes within the Kimberly Process. His early involvement in lab grown diamonds was largely driven as a quest for personal redemption. He believes that in our efforts to perpetually improve the enforcement of conflict free diamond mining and trading we must be ever vigilant and relentless. The Kimberly Process was established in 2003 and the Responsible Jewelry Council was founded in 2005. As an industry, little if anything more has been done in the ensuing decades. As a company, VRAI/Diamond Foundry created the ultimate alternative to the world of diamond mining and every facet of the political conflict, environmental damage and human misery associated with it. They are not merely leaders but are the innovators, the genesis of changing the diamond world and making it better.

It is essential that a consumer come to understand the difference between price and value when buying a diamond. All four C’s (color, clarity, cut and carat size – see our section on certification below) impact the price of a diamond and must be considered before determining value. Quality of craftsmanship is also critical. Integrity and trustworthiness of the jeweler, however, are of paramount concern when spending thousands of dollars buying a diamond. As a buyer, you can be confident that VRAI’s diamonds are both conflict free and have the least negative impact on the environment of any diamond in the world. Only by buying from VRAI can a diamond, diamond engagement ring or diamond jewelry shopper be absolutely sure they are buying a Carbon-Neutral lab grown diamond.

Some of the lab grown diamonds in the world utilize non-renewable energy sources like electricity generated from coal. Buying from a retailer that sources their diamonds from others, one can never be 100% sure of the provenance of the diamond or what energy source was used to grow it. Once cut and polished it is impossible to determine how or where or by whom the rough diamond was grown. As the only retailer that actually grows its own diamonds, VRAI alone can claim that every diamond is of what they call “impeccable origin”.

VRAI has end to end control of their supply chain in a way no other diamond jewelry or diamond engagement ring retailer can claim. This is because not only do they grow their own diamonds they also cut their own diamonds in their own polishing facility. Indeed the journey of a Vrai lab grown diamond is all internally managed and controlled. Other diamond retailers have tried to impose blockchain and traceability processes on their suppliers. Though we applaud these efforts, there still exists an inherent risk of error or deceit. For the consumer to whom sustainability, conflict free and quality are important VRAI is an unrivaled place to buy a diamond, diamond engagement ring or diamond jewelry. The level of transparency they deliver on each and every diamond they offer for sale is unsurpassed. For example, were a diamond buyer to select this gorgeous 1ct diamond

VRAI shares every detailed fact about the creation of that unique diamond:

They even introduce each diamond shopper to the master cutters responsible for making each diamond:

It’s not that other diamond, diamond engagement ring and diamond jewelry retailers don’t want to share these kinds of facts. It’s that they can’t because they don’t know. And neither can a consumer be 100% certain that the diamond they are buying is all the seller claims it to be. Because in every other case, the seller is neither the grower or the cutter of the diamond. VRAI alone can offer the conscientious diamond shopper absolute transparency and absolute certainty about the diamond they will wear for a lifetime.

Drawing on over four decades of experience, our Editor deeply admires VRAI’s sincere and authentic commitment to raising the standards for conflict free, sustainable diamonds higher than any other company in our survey. Martin and his team of brilliant scientists, with no prior ties to diamonds or jewelry, have innovated, disrupted and revolutionized the world of diamonds and diamond engagement rings. At the same time their brand positioning as the luxury lab grown brand is embedded in everything they do.

VRAI's Diamond Quality

All of VRAI’s diamonds are carefully grown and polished for the best of all four C’s. The lowest color and clarity they will offer is J Si1, like most guild or luxury stores. Further testament to their positioning as the premier luxury lab grown diamond, diamond engagement ring and diamond jewelry brand is that 100% of the diamonds offered for sale are excellent cut or better. VRAI, however, is the only jeweler in our survey that does not offer an independent certificate of quality from the GIA or IGI. Like Tiffany, they offer their own internally graded certificate. For us, this is like grading your own homework. Tiffany has been around for almost 200 years and VRAI has been around for a little more than a decade. But they do have a diamond warranty if you submit your diamond to ” an internationally recognized diamond grading laboratory” and get a lower grade. According to an online chat our experts had with the team at VRAI:

The GIA is not only the oldest and most respected gemological laboratory in the world, but they are also a nonprofit organization and a school. It is quite telling that their URL is not GIA.com, but rather GIA.edu. VRAI’s in house diamond graders are all GIA trained gemologists. The GIA invented the 4c’s system of diamond grading and their training is the undisputed very best in the world.

VRAI's Diamond Assortment

While other online jewelers clutter their site with many diamonds of lower quality, we believe shoppers will appreciate how VRAI makes the shopping experience much easier by only growing the best diamonds and cutting them to the highest standards. The assortment is constantly refreshed as new diamonds are grown and polished. But VRAI offers something no other retail jeweler in the world does: their Cut For You program. VRAI will custom cut and grow any diamond a diamond engagement ring or diamond jewelry shopper might want. Well, not any diamond: they limit the service to a maximum size of 8cts! And they offer 30 different diamond shapes or cuts.

Because they employ expert Belgian diamond cutters who are some of the best in the world a VRAI diamond customer can create a truly unique, vintage or hard to find diamond shape, like one of these rare masterpieces:

In addition to being a declaration of love, a diamond, diamond engagement ring or diamond jewelry from VRAI is also a declaration of the shared values of a bride and her partner. As the largest diamond grower in the United States and the only one selling direct to consumers, VRAI is recognized as the premier sustainable luxury brand by discerning buyers and brides everywhere. A diamond created and polished by VRAI explodes with brilliance, beauty and impeccable ethics.

Diamond Foundry, and later VRAI was the first diamond grower to retail their own diamonds, diamond engagement rings and diamond jewelry. There was a time when our co-founders sourced lab grown diamonds from Diamond Foundry for sale in their omnichannel jewelry business. But the acquisition of VRAI signaled to the world that they sought to eliminate any middle man between them and the diamond, diamond engagement ring and diamond jewelry shopper. Through VRAI they elevated their brand above all the retailers to whom they once wholesaled their diamonds. While many online retail jewelers have become mass merchants, offering hundreds of thousands of lab grown diamonds from many different growers of all sizes and qualities, VRAI has moved upscale. VRAI offers customized luxury services, features and benefits that only a grower with its own cutters can and quality that a mass merchant cannot.

Our Editor and team were early pioneers in the validation and acceptance of lab grown diamonds. Over the last eight years, the technology for growing gem quality diamonds has improved, expanded and consolidated. The result has been that the price of lab grown diamonds have come down enormously. Because the cost of lab grown diamonds have corrected so much, our experts strongly advise consumers to only consider buying the topmost qualities, with 1 carat, F VS2, ideal cut as the minimum carat, color and clarity (more on this later). VRAI simplifies the shopping for a lab grown diamond by curating and limiting their assortment to what is best for consumers. Our survey on June 22, 2025 found only two round diamonds below 1ct for sale. We appreciate VRAI doing the work for consumers by limiting the lab grown diamonds available on their site to what is best for consumers.

VRAI is serious in their commitment to transparency and to giving consumers choices that align with their personal values. For the consumer for whom environmental concerns are paramount there is no need to be selective about which diamond they choose. Every single VRAI diamond has the same environmental bonafides. Other jewelers go to great lengths to have blockchain diamonds, and categorize their diamonds by different percentages of renewable energy used to grow them. And that is a claim that is very difficult for a retailer to verify. They are only repeating what their vendors tell them.

Summary of VRAI Diamonds

• Most Sustainable, Conflict Free, Carbon Neutral Diamonds anywhere

• 100% are excellent cut or better

• Most different, unique and vintage cuts of diamonds

• Curated selection for 4 C’s: best color, clarity, cut and carat weight

• No middleman they do it all from growing to polishing

• Cut For You custom grown and polished diamond program

VRAI Diamond Pricing and Value

When purchasing a diamond, diamond engagement ring or diamond jewelry consumers know the quality, reputation and broad consumer recognition as a true luxury brand with the very best environmental credentials sets VRAI above all other jewelers, on or off line. Their trade up policy for lab grown diamonds is the very best offered of any other jewelers in our survey group ( see detailed analysis below).

As a digital first, online lab grown diamond jewelry company, the prices of VRAI diamonds are a fraction of what a consumer would pay in a traditional luxury brand store. But unlike any other luxury online jeweler, you still can see the diamond or diamonds of your choosing in one of their 10 gorgeous stores. Many consumers may prefer to examine what will become a family heirloom in a quiet, luxury environment where they can privately meet with a trained diamond consultant. Couples are increasingly shopping together for diamonds and diamond engagement rings. Many of these couples prefer to examine, learn and choose the symbol of their bond together in the private surroundings of a VRAI store.

We visited the VRAI store in New York City’s trendy meatpacking district. The store is an oasis of calm, located across the street from New York’s coolest museum, the Whitney, and neighboring luxury brands like Gucci, Hermes and Rolex. Knowledgeable sales people guide diamond, diamond engagement ring and diamond jewelry customers to private rooms where they can learn and discuss both diamonds and settings,

In addition to VRAI’s ability to show diamonds in a private showroom, their aftercare is also everything you would expect from a luxury diamond engagement ring brand. A customer has 30 days to return most purchases for a full credit or a refund less a small recycling fee. Their lifetime trade up policy for lab grown diamonds asks a buyer to purchase a diamond of 1 ½ times the value of their original purchase, whereas the others surveyed require 2 times the original amount. This makes it far easier for a consumer to upgrade should they ever wish to have a larger or better quality diamond. Better still, a diamond can be traded in for any piece of diamond jewelry and not just another diamond. This is the very best lab grown diamond trade up policy of which we know.

The VRAI lifetime manufacturer’s warranty is equal to that of our survey group (see detailed analysis below). Most of all when a consumer chooses to purchase a diamond, diamond engagement ring or fine jewelry from VRAI they know they are buying from the company that has revolutionized diamonds, taken on DeBeers itself, and is the most sustainable diamond grower in the world.

Having dined with Diamond Foundry’s Founder and chief technologist, Martin R, our Editor is delighted to go on record in support of Martin as sincere in his decades long battle to create a socially-responsible and environmentally-friendly diamond jewelry industry and taking on the 800 pound guerilla, De Beers, head on.

VRAI Diamond Price Comparison

VRAI does not lead with a low price. It’s not who they are or aspire to be. If a consumer is only concerned with price, there are several mass marketplaces reviewed by our experts that a diamond, diamond engagement ring or diamond jewelry shopper should read. Nevertheless, there are categories where we found VRAI diamond prices to be remarkable when compared to other leading premium retailers. Blue Nile, the aspirational premium brand and the original online mined diamond jeweler has historically been the most premium of all digital first diamond brands. Brilliant Earth has in the opinion of many edged ahead of them in recent years. In a side by side comparison of J Vs1 Excellent cut round diamonds, VRAI was the absolute price leader .

Perhaps the most exclusive feature offered only by VRAI is the ‘Cut For You’ diamond program discussed above. It is difficult to assess the emotional importance for each diamond buyer of this ‘bespoke’ diamond, grown and ordered for each unique bride. As the only retailer who is also a major grower, VRAI alone can offer such a truly custom service.

VRAI Diamond Buying Experience

VRAI Website Usability and User Experience

Being a lifelong technologist from Silicon Valley it should surprise no one that VRAI’s website is as fast, easy and precise as a swiss watch. They keep it simple. A diamond, diamond engagement ring or diamond jewelry shopper can view all the diamond filters on a single page:

And drilling down into each filter is equally uncomplicated. For example, the diamond color filter icons make reading the words almost optional.

Whether in a store or online, a careful consumer will want to closely examine and compare many different diamonds. VRAI offers 360 degree unique videos for many of their diamonds at a 40 time magnification. We believe their viewing and comparing system is vastly superior to what is available in traditional jewelry stores. Because VRAI has their own stores, however, diamond shoppers can have the best of both.

In a traditional store consumers might get to compare a few diamonds, and not the diamonds they choose but the diamonds the store already has and wants to sell. Sometimes a shopper might even be handed a 10x magnifying glass or loupe with which to examine the diamond. Looking at a diamond through a 10x loupe is a specialized skill. It can take weeks of training to begin to understand how to even hold and position it. Knowing how and what to look for takes many months and evolves over a lifetime. With the loupe in one hand you are also expected to hold the diamond in a specialized, nearly 7 inch tweezer in the other hand.

If a shopper can manage a brief glimpse of a diamond this way–which is doubtful–, they are only able to view each diamond one at a time, preventing them from actually comparing side by side. On rare occasions a store might have a stereo microscope like this:

Under special LED white lighting meant to enhance the apparent color and sparkle, a buyer is shown one diamond at a time, and seldom at full magnification. Moreover, the prospective buyer is only able to view the top of the diamond and not the sides and bottom.

VRAI’s diamond videos magnify 40x, allowing a buyer to view top, bottom and sides. This is a significant leap beyond the10x top only magnification you might get in a traditional store. Through this technology a buyer is afforded a detailed inspection of all the diamond’s facets, top and bottom. As importantly, it also reduces the risk of misrepresentation, a common concern in online purchases. We like that VRAI displays so many actual diamonds when a diamond buyer searches their website because it gives the buyer control over how they prefer to shop. Both ways make it easy for a shopper to compare different diamonds.

Looking at multiple diamonds on VRAI.com is far better than looking at a single diamond under a microscope in a store. And perusing diamonds on your couch and in the privacy of your home or office is a less pressured experience. On your phone, iPad or desktop you can magnify any VRAI American grown diamond 40x and rotate it 360 degrees. The GIA, the most trusted geological laboratory in the world, certifies diamonds based upon 10x magnification. So having a technology that allows a diamond or diamond engagement ring buyer to examine any one of the online diamonds by a magnification of 40x is clearly an advantage for the consumer. The simple and elegant filters of VRAI’s website make it easy.

VRAI Customer Service and Support

VRAI Diamond Expert Services

Most first time buyers do not understand how to evaluate a diamond. VRAI is staffed with diamond experts and GIA graduate gemologists who are available to help answer all your questions. We appreciate that these are experts trained to serve customers and answer questions, not commissioned salespeople. No consumer wants to be rushed, pushed or manipulated into making a decision. The experts at VRAI will also aid customers in deciding which lab grown diamond to purchase among the ones they’re considering.

Our Editor mystery shopped the VRAI store in New York City several times over the summer of 2025. What he liked most was their willingness to let him view and select from the diamonds they have for sale in each store. This was not a mall store experience. It was even more personal and private than an average customer might get at Tiffany.

The New York City store has two private rooms in the back where a shopper can view diamonds, diamond engagement rings, wedding bands and diamond jewelry with the consultant. The rooms feature microscopes, many engagement rings that are mounted and set as well as unset diamonds of many shapes and sizes.

Whether by making an in-store appointment or a virtual appointment, VRAI always tries to make a personal connection with each shopper and give them the respect and attention of uninterrupted time with one of their consultants. Rather than sell a customer what they want, it’s all about understanding each customer's needs. What VRAI offers is really a ‘concierge’ service.

VRAI Diamond Certificates and the 4 C's

The diamond will be the most expensive part of any diamond engagement ring purchase so it is important to take the time to research and learn about the 4C’s. Our Editor explains in detail how to understand this VRAI 1ct certificate below:

Report Number

This is the individual VRAI certificate number unique to this diamond. It has also been microscopically laser inscribed on the side of the diamond. It does not impact the refraction or shine and will not be visible without at least 10x magnification. This is important because it can protect buyers from diamond fraud or substitution, which, though rare, is a risk when repairing a ring at an unethical jeweler.

Shape

The outline of the diamond when viewed from the top down, while the cut is defined by the pattern of the facet arrangement. Most buyers prefer a round also known as a brilliant cut diamond. Other shapes are collectively referred to as fancies. The most popular of these today are oval, pear and emerald. Historically marquise and princess cuts were also popular,

Diamond Proportions

The diamond’s dimensions are in millimeters. This is important information a buyer should learn and understand as these impact the brightness, fire or light of the diamond.

Carat Weight

The weight as measured in carats to the nearest 1/100th of a carat. A carat is equal to 0.2grams.

Color

Describes the degree to which a yellow hue is present. Color is graded on a scale from D-Z though most gem quality diamonds are within the D-J colors. D is the whitest and by K even an untrained eye can detect the yellow hue. This will be an important consideration for buyers as prices of a D color will be higher than a J, particularly for a natural diamond. The tradeoff a consumer will often have to make is between color and carat weight.

Clarity

Describes the degree to which natural inclusions or blemishes are visible under 10x magnification.

Polish

Polish describes the smoothness of a diamond's facets. A high-quality polish will leave little to no scratches and slightly optimizes for maximum brilliance.

Symmetry

Symmetry describes the degree to which a diamond's facets are mathematically aligned to emit maximum light. A symmetrical diamond emits high levels of fire and brilliance.

Conclusion on VRAI Diamonds

VRAI is a premium luxury online jeweler. They are distinguished from all other online jewelers because they grow, cut, polish and grade their own diamonds. Shoppers can visit them online or in one of their elegant stores. Some diamond or diamond engagement ring customers prefer shopping in a store or knowing there is a store nearby, just in case. Whatever your preference, VRAI makes it easy to shop for the right diamond or diamond engagement ring in the quality and design you want and at a price that fits your budget. And if you can’t find the diamond of your dreams, VRAI will grow, cut and polish it just for you.

VRAI is the most transparent and sustainable diamond jeweler in the world. They have revolutionized the centuries-old mined diamond business–and made it better. They have completely eliminated the environmental and human impact of mining diamonds and mitigated the use of energy in diamond growing, cutting and polishing. More than any other diamond retailer. They are the most transparent diamond jeweler anywhere and no other jeweler is close.

VRAI offers a customized, concierge style personal shopping experience for every diamond buyer. They offer three personalized diamond shopping experiences: online, by virtual appointment or in person at one of their stores. The information, education and ease of shopping they offer is born of a deep understanding of diamond growing, polishing and of the 4C’s of diamond quality. Every diamond they offer for sale is a testament to preserving the environment and a conscious statement of luxury. Each VRAI diamond is offered with unsurpassed traceability and transparency right down to the number of kilowatts of energy used to grow it and the fourth generation masters who cut and polished the gem to spectacular brilliance and scintillating shimmer.

VRAI provides lifetime warranties on all diamond engagement rings and jewelry for manufacturer’s defects. Their trade up policy for their diamonds is the very best we have found anywhere. Their highly personal, pre-purchase educational process is truly spectacular and everything with VRAI is made easy by their simple and easy to use website. Post purchase they match or exceed the warranties and trade up of all others in our survey group.

VRAI Diamond Engagement Rings

VRAI has a broad, deep and beautifully designed diamond engagement ring assortment of styles. The breadth and the sheer variety of unique and innovative collections and designs available on their site assures there is something for everyone. The manufacturing quality and craftsmanship of their rings meets or exceeds the very high standards of our Editor by all criteria. Well, in full disclosure, many of them are hand crafted by former partners of his from several decades ago. VRAI’s intuitive and user-friendly filtering technology makes it easy for couples shopping for a diamond engagement ring to explore and discover the perfect design to forever symbolize their love. They have divided their designs into 9 high level categories:

We clicked though to their Signature Design solitaire ring

We loved the low set, one piece design of their solitaire. Most jewelers will use a much higher set diamond because it allows them to solder different ‘heads’ onto the same solitaire, for different size and shape diamonds, like this:

VRAI’s Signature solitaire is a luxury crafted designer engagement ring. Quality and luxury drive are what drive their design and manufacturing.

Consumers will also find a massive amount of individual customization, even for a solitaire like the one above. We counted 1,440 different variations of the Signature solitaire and that does NOT include different diamond sizes. For example, the solitaire above can be customized for any of 30 different diamond shapes! No other diamond jeweler we know of offers consumers so many options to personally create their own diamond engagement ring style. Without leaving the page (it’s so simple!), a diamond engagement ring shopper can add a hidden halo to the ring, get a wider band, add diamonds to the band, choose one of 8 different metal colors or combinations. After all that they can choose one of the 30 diamond shapes. And for many shapes they can even choose between a north south and an east west setting. We took the white gold 18kt round solitaire above and just played around with different design ideas. With just a few clicks we created this rose gold 14kt marquise shaped diamond engagement ring with a hidden halo and pave set diamonds on the band.

Then with one click we got to see it set east west:

No other online jeweler we tested allowed this amount of personalization. Even those with far fewer options for personalization were more complicated or made us leave the page. VRAI’s customizable ring options were not only the most, they were the easiest to use and the most elegant.

And as if that wasn’t enough, VRAI’s technology allowed the diamond engagement ring shopper to view the personalized design on their own hand. Brace yourselves, this is not the hand you are going to expect:

VRAI's quality control of their diamond engagement rings is exactly what a consumer would expect from a luxury jeweler.Though VRAI works with jewelers and manufacturers of fine jewelry all over the world and they have strict quality control standards for every diamond engagement ring they sell. This is important because consumers want their diamond engagement ring to come in right the first time. VRAI also has a free ring sizing tool they will mail any prospective customer for free. Sometimes, however, ring sizes do need to be adjusted and VRAI handles all of this at no cost including round trip shipping. Their free ring sizing kit AND the free resizing policy allows a diamond engagement ring customer to buy with confidence. The quality, after market service and jewelry design and manufacturing capabilities of VRAI distinguish them among online jewelers.

VRAI Fine Jewelry

VRAI has some of the most amazing jewelry collections available anywhere. It is no surprise they have become a favorite of Hollywood A listers.

We were particularly impressed with the Amanda Hearst Ronning exclusive collection for VRAI. This drop earring is the height of elegance, luxury and incredibly grown and cut fancy shaped diamonds.

Hearst, a socialite and former model, has used her family wealth to establish the WellBeings charity which focuses on protecting animals, people and the planet, so it was no surprise she chose to work with the most sustainable jewelers in the world.

And the Atelier collection has some of the most magnificent designs we have seen anywhere,, like this 79 carat double strand fancy cut tennis necklace.

VRAI has a diverse assortment of sustainably sourced lab grown diamond jewelry. Theirs is a luxury diamond jewelry store with more designs, styles and options than most any traditional guild jewelry store. The designs range from refined elegance to cutting edge with many stops in between. The quality of the craftsmanship is everything you’d expect from the world’s most sustainable luxury diamond brand. VRAI stands out from other luxury jewelers in its unique designer collections that are both exceptionally creative but at the same time highly refined.

VRAI Aftercare

Shipping

VRAI offers FedEx two day shipping on all orders for $10. We find this petty and wish they would offer the same free shipping as nearly every other jeweler in our survey.

Returns

VRAI offers 30 day returns for a refund less a “Recycling fee” but only on products under $15,000. This non refundable portion can be as much as $300. Any item can be returned for a full store credit, less shipping fees at time of purchase, but they do pay for the return shipping.

Warranty

VRAI offers an industry standard lifetime warranty against manufacturer's defects.

Ring Resizing

VRAI offers one time free ring resizing.

Annual Shine

Free annual comprehensive cleaning, polishing, prong inspection, and re-dipping (for white gold only).

Lifetime Trade-in

The VRAI 100% Diamond Value Guaranty policy is the very best of the jewelers surveyed for lab grown diamonds. They ask the buyer to purchase a new diamond or diamond jewelry for 50% more than the price of the original diamond and they will apply 100% credit for the initial diamond purchase.

VRAI Review Conclusion

In conclusion, VRAI offers the most sustainably manufactured, zero carbon diamonds of any in our survey group. Because they are the only grower who is also a retail jeweler, shoppers for diamonds, diamond engagement rings and diamond jewelry can have 100% confidence in any and every gem they select. VRAI’s engagement ring styles are uniquely elegant but also feature cutting edge designs not available anywhere else. Their jewelry designs are absolutely outstanding bordering on the surreal. Their designer collections are often seen on A list celebrities worldwide. Very importantly, the quality of everything they sell is excellent. The VRAI website is among the simplest to use yet their customization is more than most others in our survey. Buying a diamond and personalizing the diamond engagement ring of your dreams is easy on VRAI. Their stores are a peaceful oasis in which to explore and shop. VRAI is America’s home grown diamond company and a top choice for purchasing sustainable diamond engagement rings and jewelry.