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Moving from conspicuous to conscious consumption and doing reviews along the way.  Find plenty of unsponsored reviews of Quince, Everlane, Grana, and Cuyana on the site!  I'm working towards a minimal waste lifestyle, and oh yea I love bags >.<

Quince Review: Lab Grown Diamond Jewelry

Quince Lab Grown Diamond Jewelry Review

Quince on the left, Blue Nile on the right

 

I was considering adding this to my already lengthy Quince Fine Jewelry Review post, but I thought this could be it’s own ever-growing post since I’m really in love with Quince’s lab grown diamond jewelry. I got some credit from Quince (thank you to all those who purchase through my affiliate links since it also gives me Quince credit at the end of each month), and decided to splash out on some lab grown diamond jewelry on my birthday month.

But first, my two cents (or should I say carats—har har) about lab grown diamond jewelry since I know there are varying opinions about this. As an avid jewelry and natural diamond collector (small diamonds mind you because before lab grown, diamonds were mighty expensive as you know), I welcome the lab grown variety. Sure they might make my earth-mined diamonds less in value these days because of the influx of large flawless sparkly diamonds, but diamond prices have always been artificially inflated by the diamond “cartel” (I learned about this in detail from the book Stoned by Aja Raden—a great read if you like jewelry and gemstones). We were being ripped off before, but now the lab grown variety has really democratized diamonds. And not to mention there should be less mining if we can produce what we want in labs. For all those who say lab grown are not real diamonds, that’s scientifically inaccurate since the molecular structure of lab grown is identical to earth-mined ones. However, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop buying earth-mined diamonds, I just prefer them to be antique Old Mine or Old European cut diamonds (usually tiny), which were cut back when they used to do it via candlelight—they have a lot more character than modern diamonds these days. And if you like natural diamonds over the lab grown ones then feel free to skip this post. But for anyone who likes sparkly things, that are made without ripping up the Earth, then I think Quince brings some of the best valued lab grown diamond jewelry on the internet.

My first foray into Quince’s offerings were these 14k Gold Lab Grown Diamond Oval Solitaire Studs. I got them in the 1 carat size since I wanted to compare to my 1.2 carat diamond studs from Blue Nile that I got nine years ago at $3600 😱. Honestly I love those Blue Nile earrings and wore them a ton in the 9 years that I had them, but they were definitely too expensive. And especially with earrings, where you can lose one side without knowing, it’s risky to get such expensive diamond studs. Sure you can get the screw backs, but I was never a fan of those (they would irritate my ears for some reason). I think getting $500 lab grown diamond studs that look exactly like the $3600 ones (well not exactly since the diamond shapes differ), is a much better option. Sure it still sucks to possibly lose the equivalent of $250 (I can’t tell you how many earrings I’ve lose over the years), but that’s the price you pay to wear diamonds sometimes.

I will say that since Quince is selling these below their competitors prices, they have skimped a bit on the gold. For certain lab grown diamond jewelry (like the very large diamond engagement rings) I read in the reviews that they needed to get the diamond reset to accommodate the stone. The manufacturers for Quince are probably using the thinnest bit of gold they can get away to give a good price point, especially since gold prices are so expenesive these days.. But when it comes to the studs I didn’t find this to be a problem.

Currently Quince only has classic designs, but I also appreciate that with lab grown diamond jewelry some jewelry designers can do some fun design with diamonds now without breaking the bank. I also think the influx of flawless diamonds has put more value on the interesting and colored gemstones, which are sometimes more rare than diamonds.

Anyway I appreciate the advent of lab grown diamonds and foresee myself purchasing more in the future.

2025 Hawaii Prices For New Bottega Veneta and Loewe, with some Celine, Coach, and Valextra

On a recent trip to Oahu, I was able to get away for a couple of hours of luxury reconnaissance. I visited Loewe, Bottega, Celine, Coach, and Valextra, to try out some of their pieces as well as learn of any “Hawaii prices” (usually a bit lower than the mainland US pricing). I have a 2025 Hawaii Luxury Shopping guide here, where I’ve bolded my April updates.

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Loewe Mini Lazo Tote Review

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I’ve been interested in the Hermes Plume bag ever since The Row came out with their own version of it (The Domino bag). The Plume and Domino have a fairly plain and classic look, but isn’t that just what’s “in” these days? I honestly didn’t think I would love the Plume 32 as much as I do.

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January 2025 Recap

Starting in 2025, I’ve decided to try writing these recaps a little different. Instead of separating them out in “Did” and “Buy” sections I’m just going to write a general recap. But without further ado:

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Brief Reviews of Bags I've Sold Or Returned: Hermes Edition [Updated February 2025]

Last year I was on a different kind of Hermes journey: one where I tried a bunch of secondhand bags from the brand (and not on the one to get the Birkin lol). The thing about not being able to try on bags before buying them is that you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. And with Hermes, there has been a lot of trial and error since I couldn’t try most of these bags in a store (now I know a bit better and will try things out in store at The RealReal if I’m contemplating an Hermes purchase).

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Quince Men's Clothing Review

I rarely talk about men’s clothing here because let’s be real, males are not really likely to read this blog (unless they’re researching a gift for their gf/wife/mom/sister). But in that same vein, I thought I would at least mention some items I’ve purchased from Quince for my husband since they can make great gifts.

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