Leibish & Co. Review (High-End Diamond Retailer)

Last Updated on February 28, 2023 by Juli "Jewels" Church
leibish & co review

This is a super in-depth review of Leibish & Co.

In this up-to-date review I’ll break down:

  • Who Leibish & Co. is
  • What makes them unique 
  • Key features
  • Things I like 
  • Thing I don’t like
  • Whether or not their diamonds are worth the price tag
  • And lots more

Let's get started!

Who Is Leibish & Co.?

Leibish & Co. is an online diamond shop specializing in producing fancy colored diamonds and colored gemstones. 

leibish homepage

In this day and age, many are looking for unique engagement rings or alternatives to a colorless diamond. 

Leibish & Co. offers a world of different gemstones and colored diamonds to choose instead. 

There aren't many fancy colored diamonds retailers online, but Leibish has the largest inventory of them.

The family business started out in 1979 with founder Leibish Polnauer. They have been supplying to retailers all over the world and through their website. 

They mostly operate online to different countries. Leibish diamonds can also be viewed at one of their 5 offices around the world.

What Makes Leibish Unique?

There are 2 main things that make Leibish unique from the millions of other diamond sellers:

  1. They're one of the only online diamond retailers that sell high quality untreated fancy colored diamonds and gemstones. 
  2. They often have lower prices than comparable specialty retailers.

Let me dig into each.

What Are Untreated Natural Diamonds and Gemstones?

There's a lot of of jewelers online, right? It can be difficult to tell them apart. Most online diamond retailers carry colorless diamonds. Only some of them carry fancy colors.

I've looked at other popular online jewelers like James Allen and Blue's Niles colored diamonds. Blue Nile has the traditional diamond colors like blue, pink, and yellow diamonds.

James Allen has a good range of colors, but not many options under each. Most of their inventory is natural and lab-created fancy yellow diamonds. 

All of the diamonds at Leibish are natural colored diamonds. They're also untreated. Color treatments are common and make the diamond price cheaper. You can still have a natural diamond that's been colored treated. None of the natural diamonds at Leibish have been colored-treated.

The company is most famous for their canary yellow and Argyle pink diamonds.

Argyle Diamonds

Click to shop the Argyle Pink Diamond Collection at Leibish & Co. 

Besides their colored diamond jewelry, their selection of colored gemstones is extensive too. They carry less common colored loose stones like tanzanite, spinel, topaz, and aquamarine rings

The gemstones and diamonds at Leibish & Co. are sourced responsibly and conflict-free.

Leibish & Co. Shopping Experience?

So, what can you expect when shopping with Leibish?

Here's the general rundown on how the average process should go. It CAN be as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4. Note that different items may take longer than others.

Picking Your Loose Gemstone

They specialize in diamond colors, so that's what I'll be choosing today. They carry 14 diamond color categories. Some of the diamond may overlap into other categories based on their hues. An example would be the Argyle collection crossing with the red and pink diamond colors.

Currently, they carry around 3,600 natural fancy colored diamonds. About 1400 of them are 1-carat minimum.

Diamond color categories

I want to point out that they do have colorless diamonds, but you should opt for a colored option. A colorless diamond at Leibish feels like you're just missing the point.

If you don't want a fancy color that's too bright, they have options for you too. You can check out their milky white diamonds, gray diamonds (not to be confused with salt and pepper diamonds), and black diamonds. That's for those with a flair for the dramatic.

Shop Fancy White Diamonds at Leibish & Co.

Gray Diamonds

Shop Gray Diamonds at Leibish & Co. 

Black Diamonds

Shop Black Diamonds at Leibish & Co. 

They have a filter bar to narrow down your selections by the traditional 4Cs, hue, and intensities. I've chosen one of their canary yellow diamonds.

The term "Canary" refers to all yellow diamonds in most circles. It's not an official term by the GIA though. A jeweler experienced in yellow diamonds would only include the diamonds with the strongest intensities as true canary yellow. 

All of the Leibish diamonds have 360˚ video. It's a bummer you can't control it. I like to see the diamond as it hits the light to make sure the clarity isn't bad. Thankfully, even the I1 clarity color diamonds don't look bad at all.

They offer certificates for all of their stones. Your stone may be certified by the GIA, AGS, IGI, HRD or EGL. You can request an appraisal of any Leibish diamonds alongside your certificate, for no extra charge. The appraisal is done by a GIA Graduate Gemologist. It can help you when insuring your engagement ring or fine jewelry.

I really like that you can have Leibish send any diamond to the GIA grading.

This service is offered for $150 and they'll send it out. The GIA is the top in the world, so you always have the option to have the best without sending it yourself. 

You can contact their customer service via live chat, email, and phone. They have a phone number for international callers too. Their live chat is limited to business hours and they have a 24hr return time on emails. Each international office has their own contact info. 

Read also: Top Places to Buy a Diamond VVS

Choosing Your Setting

The fancy yellow diamond I chose is a 1.10 carat radiant cut diamond. It's has a clarity grade of VVS2 and comes with a GIA diamond certificate. A yellow diamond ring looks best with a fancy diamond shape. Round shapes detract from the color of yellow diamonds.

Fancy Intense Yellow Diamond

Once I've selected by loose diamond, I can choose to add it to a ring setting or a pendant settings. You can also buy the colored diamond by itself. That's a great option for those who love a setting elsewhere.

They have 114 ring setting options. Most of them will accommodate my radiant cut diamond. Their ring settings are unique, but not for everyone. I chose this carriage halo diamond ring. The retail cost of the ring setting is $3000. 

carriage halo diamond ring
carriage halo diamond ring

Now I have my Canary yellow diamond engagement ring and I'm ready to hit the checkout. Leibish gives us one final cost breakdown. I love the way it's displayed, so you know exactly what you're getting. You can also get a mockup of the piece for free! 

carriage halo diamond ring

Purchase Process

After adding your finished fancy color diamond ring to the cart, you'll fill out your contact info. They give you an option to create your own account too.

The payment options are simple with just three options. You can pay using a debit/credit card, Paypal, or financing with monthly payments to Split.

All orders ship free. If you chose to buy a ring setting, it takes a few weeks to set and ship. My engagement ring says it will ship before November 22nd,which is 32 days from today.

If you just bought the stone, orders should be received 3-5 days after payment. They also have a collection for 48 hour shipping if you're in a hurry. Overnight shipping is only available to US customers.

Return Process

If you decide your don't like your engagement ring from Leibish, they give you 30 days to return. You can start the return process on their website. They have a form under the Returns section of their footer. 

Money Back Guarantee

What Did I Like About Leibish & Co. ?

So now that I've covered what makes Leibish & Co. unique, what do I like about this brand?

What stands out to me as something that makes me consider buying from Leibish & Co. vs any other brand?

Here's some of my favorite things about Leibish & Co.

Best Selection

I love browsing through Leibish & Co.'s inventory for fun. They have one of the largest collections of colored diamonds and gemstones I've ever seen online.

Even fancy colored diamonds at James Allen and Blue Nile pale in comparison to the look of Leibish's diamonds. You can tell they are top quality and it gives reason to why they're so pricey.

Those places don't carry semi precious stones either like Leibish. 

Free Appraisals

Leibish & Co. will give you an appraisal upon request at no extra charge. A lot of people get confused between a diamond certificate and an appraisal.

Diamond certificates and grading reports assess the quality of your diamond by the standards of the 4Cs. A diamond appraiser uses the certificate to help him appraise the value of the engagement ring. You take the appraisal to help you get jewelry insurance.

Most online diamond retailers only provide their customers with a grading report. Others have partnerships with different jewelry insurance companies.

Leibish makes it easier for you to protect your ring as soon as it leaves their hands by cutting out the extra step. 

Loyalty Program

Another cool feature Leibish & Co. provides their customers is a loyalty program. You earn 5 points for every $100 you spend. 

You can earn 100 points just for signing up for the program. Other ways to earn points include site reviews, 150 points for your birthday and anniversary, and other ways they're still rolling out.

Your points can be redeemed for up to 25% of a retail price. The only downside to this is that you have to be a big shopper at Leibish for it to really benefit you.

But who knows? Maybe after reading this Leibish Co. review, you might end up being one.

What Didn't I Like About Leibish & Co?

No online diamond store is perfect. Here's a couple of things Leibish & Co. could improve on: 

Ring Setting

The prices for their untreated fancy colored diamonds are understandable given their rarity. The ring settings they offer are a lot more expensive than other online retailers.

There isn't any simplicity in the offered settings. Most of them are icy designs, loaded up with accent diamonds and sparkle. The cheapest solitaire ring setting is 18K gold and over $1,000. There are some unique solitaire settings, like this marquise bezel set solitaire engagement ring ring below:

Fancy Intense Purplish Pink Round Diamond

Fancy Intense Purplish Pink Round Diamond in 18K White Gold Setting

The settings aren't anything to write home about. They're going to appeal to specific tastes rather than the general population It's great you have the option to just buy the colored diamond or gemstone. Plus, I don't expect a lot from their ring settings, considered they're not the star of the show.

How's Leibish & Co.'s Pricing?

The conditions that have to happen deep in the earth to produce a fancy colored diamond are rare. Rare colors like blue and pink diamonds are exponentially higher than colorless diamonds. 

That's why a lot of fancy color-seekers opt for lab grown diamonds. Colored lab grown diamonds tend to be around the costs of eye-clean colorless diamonds.

At Leibish and Co, this heart cut blue diamond is $9,100. It also has a 360˚ video. The same diamond is listed at their competitor, Brian Gavin Diamonds. They have it for $11,375, with no video.  The GIA report numbers are the same. 

Fancy Grayish Blue Diamond

Isn't that outrageous? Of course, each diamond price comparison is different. But that's almost a $3000 difference. I'll let you decide who you'd rather buy from.

Leibish & Co. Bottom Line: Best Fancy Colored Diamonds

Leibish & Co. is my top pick for Best Place To Buy Fancy Colored Diamonds. Their fancy colored diamond and assorted colored gemstone inventory is incomparable. Here's some great reasons why you should buy from Leibish & Co.

  • All their fancy colored diamonds are untreated
  • GIA certifications offered for colored gemstones too
  • Free appraisals
  • Many known origins
  • Many different hues of colored diamonds and gemstones
  • Sells semi-precious loose stones
  • Respected reputation
  • 360˚ video

If you're looking for high quality gemstones online or colored diamonds, Leibish & Co. definitely gets the stamp of approval. Try them out and see for yourself.

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