Peoples Jewellers Review

My experience allows me to give the best impartial advice to diamond novices and engagement-ring seekers across the world. Why? To protect customers (and their wallets) from the poor quality, overpriced jewelry and diamonds. To prevent disappointing experiences, buyers regret and diamond myths from being perpetuated.

This review is very much a cautionary tale, illuminating the pitfalls customers can face when shopping for an engagement ring. If you are familiar with Peoples Jewellers or considering purchasing from them, I implore you to read this guide – you will be glad that you did.

The History 

The Peoples Jewellers story begins over a hundred years ago. After forging their own path for much of the century, Peoples Jewellers were acquired by the Zales Corporation. Following this, they became part of the Signet group in 2014, whose brands include Kay Jewelers, James Allen, Blue Nile, Zales and more.

If you’re in the US, the association with Kay Jewelers and Zales might be a giveaway for what to expect from Peoples Jewellers. If you are in the UK, the Signet group also owns H. Samuel. The common trend here is a ‘rack them and stack them’ approach to jewelry, selling low cost, semi-precious jewelry alongside their ‘fine’ jewelry. Low quality diamonds, a lack of/inferior certification and unjustifiable prices plague these stores. Within jewelry groups, there are those brands that stand out as offering a higher level of service and quality – I do not tarnish every large chain with the same brush; I simply shine a light on those who let the side down.

The Diamonds 

Peoples Jewellers sell pre-set engagement rings. There are issues with this, namely that you cannot properly scrutinize the diamond when it’s in the setting; nevertheless, this is not always an indicator of a subpar brand – there are some beautiful pre-set engagement rings on the market.

However, when you try and delve into the details you will be hit with almost every red flag of buying a diamond engagement ring. First, let’s look at the basics:

• Peoples Jewellers do not sell GIA or AGS certified diamonds. They sell Canadian ‘certified’ diamonds under a number of collections (Prestige®, Canadian Luxe™) – try as you might, you will not find specifications for these collections or what makes them ‘prestigious’. The approach to certification is very cloak and dagger.
• Peoples Jewellers use GSI for their certification (not that you, the consumer, would learn this on their website). The GSI use entirely different standards to the leading labs resulting in looser grades, inconsistent grades and a low tier certification.
• There is a lot of ‘estimating’; approximate carat weights, bracketed color and clarity grades – nothing to give customers the assurance that they know what they are buying.
• The same goes for diamond specifications; cut quality, fluorescence, proportions and measurements, diamond clarity plots…all the crucial information is withheld making it impossible to truly understand the properties of your diamond.
• Peoples Jewellers have around 150 bricks and mortar stores across Canada, however, they still sell engagement rings online! This means they must be held to the same transparency standards as the leading vendors. Peoples Jewellers do not provide diamond imaging, instead they use generic images for their products making it impossible for buyers to see the diamond before buying – a recipe for disaster.