Vrai jewelry experience

[muddledmint]

I wanted to share my recent experience with vrai for anyone considering purchasing from them. They are a lab grown diamond jewelry company, and they used to be called Vrai and oro. I’m not 100% certain about this, but I believe that they originally used natural diamonds when they were a new startup company, which is when I purchased from them. At some point they merged or partnered with the Diamond Foundry, which makes lab grown diamonds.

Back in 2016, I purchased a tiny diamond solitaire necklace (dbty style), but never really wore it because I developed a medical condition that made wearing necklaces uncomfortable. That’s resolved now, and I recently found my old Vrai necklace and started wearing it again. However, I noticed that the ring connecting the spring clasp kept opening and when I took a closer look, I could see that it was never soldered closed. All the other jump rings on the necklace are soldered; obviously whoever made the necklace forgot to solder the ring on the clasp. Right? I mean who ever heard of fine jewelry (it’s not a high end piece but it’s still solid gold and diamond) with unsoldered jump rings?



Immediately, I look up vrai’s warranty and repair service and send them an email with photos. How could this not be a warranty repair? It’s obviously a defect in craftsmanship.

This is the response I got:



I’m not even mad because I am so impressed by their temerity. They are telling me that they intentionally made the necklace this way, and they have the balls to want to charge me $50 just to ship it back to them and get it evaluated. The actual repair cost is separate. And if I choose to get it fixed elsewhere, the warranty is void.

TL;DR: Vrai proudly makes subpar quality jewelry and doesn’t stand behind their products.

 

[QuelleFromage]

Try Kimai. They repair and resize for free (at least, so far).

 

[muddledmint]

Try Kimai. They repair and resize for free (at least, so far).

Thanks. Their stuff looks pretty. I’m definitely done with Vrai forever.

 

[QuelleFromage]

Thanks. Their stuff looks pretty. I’m definitely done with Vrai forever.

IMO Kimai is still overpriced for lab stones, BUT they are good quality diamonds (old Belgian diamond family, they know their stuff) and, if you like their designs, worth it. I do really like their design approach, it feels fresh.

More and more I think Etsy sellers have better service than most of these heavily funded DTC brands.

Thanks for letting me know to avoid Vrai. If they had just been nicer and sent you a label at least, they'd have a good brand story instead of a bad one on their hands.

 

[Lifeisgreat]

I purchased a gold curb link necklace and bracelet from Vrai about 18 months ago. No diamonds, faux or otherwise. I noticed that links continuously turn while I'm wearing the pieces, mainly on the bracelet which moves around a bit more. I have to take it off and pull the links back into alignment. I pull the chain taut several times until the links line up again. I've never had a curb chain or any other chain behave this way. When I contacted Vrai they told me this was normal and I could simply continue to manipulate the chain to get it to lay flat. Its not a big deal and I still wear the pieces from time to time. It just seemed like an odd thing to consider normal.

I've purchased a number of items from Kinn, including curb chains and bracelets that do not become kinked, and been very happy with the quality on all. No reason to go back to Vrai.

 

[muddledmint]

IMO Kimai is still overpriced for lab stones, BUT they are good quality diamonds (old Belgian diamond family, they know their stuff) and, if you like their designs, worth it. I do really like their design approach, it feels fresh.

More and more I think Etsy sellers have better service than most of these heavily funded DTC brands.

Thanks for letting me know to avoid Vrai. If they had just been nicer and sent you a label at least, they'd have a good brand story instead of a bad one on their hands.

I’m not particularly interested in diamonds (in fact I really only like teeny diamonds), so the design is much more important to me than stone quality. I took a quick peep at the kimai website and am going to keep an eye on them.

Etsy can be hit or miss. I’ve ordered tiny 2mm diamond studs there and had to return due to poor quality. I’ve also seen some “handmade” fine jewelry that is also sold elsewhere, including saks off fifth. I know it’s the same thing because the Etsy shop used the same stock photo as saks off fifth!

I used to like brands like aurate, mejuri, and Vrai, but I’m kind of over all of them now. Mejuri has too much vermeil, aurate went private equity and prices went up while quality went down. And you know what I think about vrai. I’m curious about quince jewelry quality though since they have some of the exact same stuff as mejuri at significantly lower prices. Nothing I want to buy though.

 

[muddledmint]

I purchased a gold curb link necklace and bracelet from Vrai about 18 months ago. No diamonds, faux or otherwise. I noticed that links continuously turn while I'm wearing the pieces, mainly on the bracelet which moves around a bit more. I have to take it off and pull the links back into alignment. I pull the chain taut several times until the links line up again. I've never had a curb chain or any other chain behave this way. When I contacted Vrai they told me this was normal and I could simply continue to manipulate the chain to get it to lay flat. Its not a big deal and I still wear the pieces from time to time. It just seemed like an odd thing to consider normal.

I've purchased a number of items from Kinn, including curb chains and bracelets that do not become kinked, and been very happy with the quality on all. No reason to go back to Vrai.

I’m planning to buy a Marla aaron heavy curb chain and noticed that it looks kinked in many photos. What you say about links turning by themselves is interesting. Does your Vrai curb chain have a different link shape than the kinn pieces?

 

[Lifeisgreat]

I’m planning to buy a Marla aaron heavy curb chain and noticed that it looks kinked in many photos. What you say about links turning by themselves is interesting. Does your Vrai curb chain have a different link shape than the kinn pieces?

It really doesn't look different to me when laying in the jewelry tray next to my Kinn pieces. I have a Kinn Capri curb chain bracelet and petite curb chain necklace (which is very similar in size to the Vrai necklace) and they wear beautifully. I have no idea why the links in the Vrai chains move!

 

[muddledmint]

Soooo I have an update. According to Vrai, it is normal to leave these jump rings on clasps unsoldered. The rep responding to me has 20 years experience in fine jewelry, apparently.



And YET, when I look at all my other necklaces, they all have soldered rings on their clasps.

Like this Ariel gordon necklace and this Dana rebecca necklace:

The BS that Vrai is trying to feed me is unbelievable!

 

[limom]

She is not wrong. I have piece of jewelry that are not soldered and they are 18k made in Italy pieces.
Did it bother you before?

 

[muddledmint]

She is not wrong. I have piece of jewelry that are not soldered and they are 18k made in Italy pieces.
Did it bother you before?

The reason I even noticed and wanted it repaired is because the ring keeps opening by itself. I could easily lose the necklace entirely. And it is clear that she is wrong when I see all my other necklaces (which are all made in US) manage to have soldered rings on their spring clasps while still having functioning mechanisms. Made in Italy is not necessarily a sign of quality. I see a lot of made in Italy jewelry sold in generic and discount places. In fact, my Vrai necklace is stamped as made in Italy!!!! An unsoldered ring anywhere in fine jewelry is sloppy and low quality.

 

[limom]

The reason I even noticed and wanted it repaired is because the ring keeps opening by itself. I could easily lose the necklace entirely. And it is clear that she is wrong when I see all my other necklaces (which are all made in US) manage to have soldered rings on their spring clasps while still having functioning mechanisms. Made in Italy is not necessarily a sign of quality. I see a lot of made in Italy jewelry sold in generic and discount places. In fact, my Vrai necklace is stamped as made in Italy!!!! An unsoldered ring anywhere in fine jewelry is sloppy and low quality.

Next time, spend the money and buy made in America.

 

[cia_vie]

Long time TPF reader but first time poster here (Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced my original log-in details so I had to newly register).

While I do not own any jewellery from Vrai I wanted to add in that unsoldered rings in fine necklaces are not necessarily a fault or sloppiness (but also could be of course). Many manufacturers at least in Europe - where I am based - use it as a sort of safety mechanism. This way, especially with more massive pieces, if your necklace gets caught on something and there is some strong pull, the unsoldered ring opens up and your necklace falls off - rather than causing any injuries to your neck.

Here is also an animation explaining it that I found on the website of one of my trusted local jewellers.

Hope this provides some useful insights

 

[Sleepytini]

I’ve purchased from Vrai multiple times over the past 5 years and I’ve loved everything I’ve purchased. My most used piece are my 2 cttw diamond studs!

 

[muddledmint]

Long time TPF reader but first time poster here (Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced my original log-in details so I had to newly register).

While I do not own any jewellery from Vrai I wanted to add in that unsoldered rings in fine necklaces are not necessarily a fault or sloppiness (but also could be of course). Many manufacturers at least in Europe - where I am based - use it as a sort of safety mechanism. This way, especially with more massive pieces, if your necklace gets caught on something and there is some strong pull, the unsoldered ring opens up and your necklace falls off - rather than causing any injuries to your neck.

Here is also an animation explaining it that I found on the website of one of my trusted local jewellers.

Hope this provides some useful insights

View attachment 5702976

I’m sorry, i still think that’s completely absurd excuse for poor finishing of a necklace. That’s like saying all finger rings should have a split in the back as a safety mechanism so that they can easily be twisted off instead of having to be sawed off in the emergency room. And on a very thin chain like my Vrai necklace, it’s entirely unnecessary to have such a safety precaution. The chain would snap way before causing any significant damage to anyone’s neck.

Moreover, if the unsoldered jump on the clasp STAYED SHUT with normal use, I wouldn’t have noticed it or cared. BUT since it keeps opening even when no special force is applied to it, it is clearly defective and Vrai should be responsible for correcting the problem under their (entirely worthless) warranty.

I am not rough on my jewelry. I have never broken a necklace chain or had any issues like this with any other brand, only with this necklace. I checked all my other necklaces, and the only other one besides my two Vrai necklaces that has an unsoldered clasp is a cheap 14k chain I got from a findings wholesaler, and even that one hasn’t opened by itself. If anything, this is showing me that maybe made in US is superior, at least for necklaces!

What’s bad about Vrai is not that they used this (stupid) clasp, but that they refuse to acknowledge that there is something wrong with it and tried to shift responsibility. In the many emails they sent me, they tried to excuse it as something that they did not manufacture themselves (irrelevant), necessary because the heat from soldering can damage the spring inside the clasp (not true, they can solder it with a laser as they themselves informed me, and plenty of functional spring clasps somehow manage to have soldered rings), and also tried to blame me for applying to much force (I barely even wore it and have never had problems with other similar necklaces). They no longer even use this type of clasp in their jewelry, which makes me think they had issues before. I wouldn’t mind getting my necklace fixed elsewhere if they didn’t say that would void the warranty. They are just really a despicable brand. Maybe some of their products are nice, but I would stay away just because of the customer service.