The Fine Jewelry Industry's Dirty Secret - And Why We’re Talking About It

"Your margin is my opportunity." — Jeff Bezos

When we first started nocolor, we knew we had to nail two things:

  • Make the absolute best-quality fine jewelry possible.

  • Price it fairly - no crazy markups, no marketing gimmicks.

The jewelry industry loves to throw around words like "premium," "luxury," or "fair pricing," but once we started digging deeper, we quickly realized most of it was just noise.

Especially with lab-grown diamonds, brands regularly mark these up by 90% or more, which honestly blew our minds. Lab diamonds cost way less to produce than mined diamonds, but instead of passing those savings to customers, most companies pocket huge profits while pretending they're giving customers a "deal."

We knew that if we were really going to build nocolor, we had to ask ourselves some tough "why" questions:

  • Why do brands call one diamond "premium," while the exact same quality diamond elsewhere is labeled "entry-level"?

  • Why do companies claim they're cutting out the middleman, yet still price like they're paying three middlemen?

  • Why is the jewelry industry still stuck pretending diamonds have to be outrageously expensive when we know that's not true?

The more questions we asked, the clearer the truth became: we weren’t just competing against other jewelry brands. We were taking on an entire outdated mindset.

The Three Types of Jewelry Brands (And Why None of Them Felt Right)

Here's what we found after researching the jewelry landscape:

1. The Old Legacy Brands

These are the big, traditional jewelry stores you see in malls everywhere: Zales, Jared, Kay Jewelers. They've been around forever, have a huge retail presence, and set most people’s expectations about what jewelry should cost.

They're also the reason people still think mined diamonds are somehow "superior" or more "natural" than lab-grown diamonds (spoiler: they're chemically identical). They pushed this idea to justify their sky-high prices, even though lab-grown diamonds are literally the same, and far more ethical.

2. The DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) Brands

These are the newer, sleek, Instagram-friendly jewelry brands. They built their entire businesses claiming they're disrupting the old legacy brands with better prices, but honestly, they’re just legacy brands with nicer websites.

The giveaway? Constant discounts. If you can offer a 40% off sale every month and still make money, your original pricing was clearly inflated to begin with. Most of these brands still sell lower-grade diamonds (SI1, VS2 clarity) but charge premium prices.

3. Local Jewelers

We genuinely like these guys. They're usually family-run, provide amazing personal service, and can custom-make nearly anything. The downside? They have to charge a lot to stay afloat: store rent, employees, and inventory costs add up fast.

While we respect what they do, that business model simply isn’t affordable for everyone.

Why None of These Models Made Sense for nocolor

We looked at all three of these categories and thought: there’s gotta be a better way.

So here's how we decided to approach it:

  • Offer the absolute highest-quality diamonds and jewelry we can.

  • Price everything fairly from the start, no fake sales or bloated prices.

  • Keep it simple. Fewer choices, but every choice exceptional. We only make something if we know it's amazing quality.

What Quality Means (In Actual, Real Terms)

"Quality" in diamonds isn't just a marketing word, it's measurable. Every diamond has clear, standardized grades for color, clarity, and cut.

Here's exactly what we mean by "quality":

  • Color: We only sell true colorless diamonds, grades D or E. Most brands sell "near-colorless" diamonds (grades G-J) because they're cheaper. But we don’t cut corners here.

  • Clarity: We use only VVS1 and VVS2 clarity diamonds. Most brands settle for VS or SI grades, which show visible flaws up close. Our diamonds' inclusions are so tiny, you literally can’t see them without a trained eye and special equipment.

Proving Our Promises (And Why We Write These Journals)

When we started, we knew our biggest hurdle would be convincing people our quality and pricing were real, especially because it looks "too good to be true."

That’s exactly why we started writing these journals, so you can see how we think and how the jewelry world really works behind the scenes.

IGI Certification: Proof That We’re Serious

Every piece we sell can come with an IGI certificate, which is a detailed "report card" from the International Gemological Institute. This third-party verification confirms that your diamond matches exactly what we say it does, color, clarity, cut, and carat weight.

Many jewelers only offer certificates on big-ticket items, but we think everyone deserves this peace of mind.

Why This Matters

Our ultimate goal? To make buying fine jewelry feel fair, transparent, and actually enjoyable.

With nocolor, you're getting:

  • Better diamonds (D-F color, VVS1/VVS2 clarity, solid gold)

  • Real pricing (no huge markups, no fake discounts)

  • Complete transparency (you know exactly why you're paying what you're paying)

We started this because we think the jewelry industry deserves better, and customers deserve to know the truth.

— Alex, Dev, and Jordan (the nocolor team)