The secret’s out: my newest gold and gemstone jewelry is from our favorite “affordable luxury” brand, Quince.

In this review, you can learn all about why I chose to replace my fine jewelry with the pieces from Quince, if it’s worth it, what you should know as you shop and a few reasons to consider for if Quince is beating the competition in necklaces, rings and diamond bling.

Read on, to see how I found myself wearing Quince jewelry as I’m writing this.

Shop my top picks (best affordable Quince jewelry)

Why I decided on Quince jewelry

It starts out as a sad story: I was in the car, and touched my Tiffany & Co. necklace that I’d been wearing since I got it as a gift at age 13, and, oh my: the sterling silver chain snapped and broke. The charm on my necklace actually fell underneath the front passenger seat where I was sitting and to this date, I still haven’t had the energy to look for it.

Wait, it gets worse: with my bare neck (I always wear a necklace) I put on a gold necklace that I got for a gift when I was 16 years old. It has always had a faulty clasp, and this time, the clasp broke and that was the end of that necklace, too. This was a bad month for the longest-surviving necklaces in my life.

With no other good-enough-for-every-day necklaces in my jewelry box, I was excited to pull the trigger on the Quince Fine Jewelry necklaces that I had stored in my Quince Wish List for when the right time came. I chose one, and then another, and within a few days, they were on my doorstep in white mailers.

Why did I decide on Quince fine jewelry? The answer is simple: Quince has become a lifestyle brand in the past few years for both me and Dan, as well as our home, and even our two kids. I wear Quince denim jeans, we tried the entire Quince home collection, we have Quince rugs in the house and Dan just got a haul of Quince men’s clothing.

While Quince doesn’t make infinite styles of fine jewelry, the styles (and prices) had already caught my eye. I was going to try the two sapphire necklace styles from Quince, at prices that didn’t have my brain spinning: they were affordable.

What I got from Quince’s fine jewelry

I chose two necklaces, with an interest in “stacking them,” and that’s exactly what I did.

Truth be told, I also had the Emerald Cut Topaz Sol Pendant Necklace in my cart at one point, but opted for the more unique designs of the two pieces above.

You’ll notice that the two necklaces I got are under $100. If I had wanted to spend more, I was also into the 14K Gold Diamond Bezel Necklace, which also comes in a few carat size choices.

What is Quince fine jewelry?

Quince fine jewelry is an assortment of gold and silver rings, bracelets and necklaces, with gems, diamonds and pearls in timeless designs. There are a few bold pieces, like some of the statement earrings and rings. As for the necklaces and bracelets, most are pieces to have for life, like tennis bracelets, single-diamond necklaces, gold chains, stackable bracelets and and choker-length necklaces.

My explaining does not stop there, though: what’s interesting is that Quince is selling both “ethnically-sourced” diamonds and gems (sapphires, topaz, ruby and emerald), as well as lab-grown varieties.

If you’ve looked into lab-grown diamonds versus natural diamonds, you probably know there is a gigantic price difference. I too have looked at the page for the lab-grown diamonds from Quince, and lo and behold, you can get a gigantic sparkly showstopper for a third of the price of a naturally-sourced type.

In any case, Quince fine jewelry sure looks a lot like fine jewelry from other retailers; I mean to say that I sure can’t tell the difference, and I’m proud to wear Quince fine jewelry on my neck right now. I’m positive that it makes for some of the best gifts from Quince, no matter the season.

My thoughts on the designs

There are some pieces I like, and some I don’t. But that’s jewelry for you: it can be polarizing.

I like super minimalist stuff: my engagement ring is a single diamond, and my wedding band is a simple gold band. I’ve always worn classic necklaces and bracelets: nothing overly flashy, gigantic or bling-bling. Most jewelry I own is jewelry that I hope will stand the test of time—things I can pass down to my kids as family heirlooms.

So while Quince has some super-minimalist necklaces like the ones I chose to add to my jewelry collection, there are some designs I’m looking past and have no interest in. I’m not into earrings with twists or pearls, and I’m not fond of gigantic pearls and diamonds that take your breath away. Just not my thing.

I do love the classics, and I’m glad Quince is selling those: single modest diamonds, beautifully simple gemstone earrings and baguette diamonds. I also like the tennis bracelets: those never go out of style—ever.

What are the prices like?

I mostly started learning about the price of jewelry when we went shopping for my engagement ring. I learned that the cost of diamonds varies greatly, as does the type of jewelry in general, depending on brand name.

We are well aware of the fact that Quince’s price model has less markup than traditional brands. That is how the company keeps costs competitive. Take, for example, my Quince denim review; I talk at length about how the prices are really hard to believe.

So it is no surprise that Quince made jewelry with prices that’ll make you pleasantly surprised, not shocked and sad. You can pick up earrings or a gold chain for under $100, and diamonds at a fraction of the price for what you’d see elsewhere online.

Just to quickly compare prices of something like the Gemstone Solitaire Studs to a company like Blue Nile, you’d see around 70% savings. And for the same thing: 4mm gemstones and 14K gold.

Types of gems, diamonds and metals

Quince is making jewelry with an assortment of gems and diamonds. Here is what I found:

  • Quince is using both ethically-mined and lab-grown diamonds. Make sure you read what you’re buying, if you’re after one or the other specifically.
  • Some earrings and necklaces have pearls, and a few have opal.
  • There are precious gems like sapphire, emerald and ruby, in some of the earrings and rings.
  • A few items have rarer and slightly-softer gems like topaz.
  • The large majority of the jewelry from Quince is sterling silver, 14K gold or gold vermeil. Currently, there is one platinum item and it is a (outrageously affordable?!) wedding band on their website.

Criticisms

Of course, Quince jewelry as a product category is not perfect, and here are my thoughts as to why.

Necklace clasps

Currently, my only gripe is that the clasp on the Bezel Drop Choker is a bit hard to use, especially when I’m putting the necklace on with two hands behind my neck. I wanted to get the clasp on the very smallest setting on the chain, and I had to take a few times to do that because the clasp on the Bezel Drop Choker is different from the one on the Bar necklace.

In any case, that’s actually my only complaint. I was glad to see the two types of clasps available (in my experience).

Available ring sizes

A little known fact is that I am a size 3.5-3.75 ring on my left finger where I wear my wedding band and my engagement ring (from Catbird, and they were able to custom-size down to a 3.75). My wedding band, from Philadelphia and NYC boutique Bario Neal, is a 3.5!

Quince makes rings with the smallest size as a size 4. This is normal, and I accept this. I don’t expect every retailer to make fine jewelry in ring sizes smaller than a 4. I’m probably in the 1% of women who have fingers this small!

In any case, I can consider Quince rings for my middle fingers and pointer fingers, as well as for my right hand. I need to get measured so that I know my sizing and then I can move forward with shopping!

Availability (out of stock items)

I think it might not be a secret that things go out of stock really quickly at Quince.

Case in point: I bought my two Quince white sapphire necklaces the same day, and like I said above, I nearly got the topaz necklace (and I chickened out). A few days later I checked back, and the topaz piece was out of stock completely.

This being said, you have to act fast if you see something you want at Quince! Putting it on your wish list won’t save it from being bought up and becoming unavailable.

As of when I’m writing this, there is more on the Quince jewelry page that is out of stock, than back in stock! (But of course, there are some really good jewelry pieces to pick up, and the ones that are “Low Stock” are noted too, on the thumbnail image.)

As I noted in my guide to Quince, called “Is Quince Legit?”, this is a frequent issue if you are shopping at Quince and expect 100% of the things to be in stock at all times.

Regrets

My only regret is truly that my engagement ring is not from Quince. Dan and I shopped together for my engagement ring back in 2019, and of course I LOVE (!!!!!) my Catbird engagement ring, but getting a quiet luxury ring for half of what we paid probably would’ve made me feel more at ease, budget-wise.

Had Quince engagement rings been around back then, I might’ve even said yes to a lab-grown diamond. At the time, lab grown diamonds were oh-so-new, and now, they’re basically the norm! It’s still unbelievable that for exactly half of what we paid, I could’ve gotten a 1-carat diamond ring from Quince, totally online and hassle-free.

You can jump straight to Quince’s Bridal Jewelry page to see what I could’ve gotten myself (haha).

What sets Quince jewelry apart

For now, I think Quince jewelry is different from the competition because of the price, and the sustainability factor.

But mainly the price. It’s what inspired me to write about shopping at Quince on a budget in the past.

I say that because I don’t typically peruse other jewelry websites and make a wish list or a mock “add to cart.” At Quince, though, I found two casual everyday gold and gemstone necklaces and told myself they were as affordable as a dinner out in NYC. And this checks out ($60-70!).

I think Quince is also very transparent about natural versus lab-grown diamonds, where as other brands have hidden the fact that diamonds are lab-grown, to rope you in with low prices and then tell you as you’re hitting Buy Now.

I think with lab-grown diamonds you should know off the bat, or be specifically searching for that, because there are consumers who want the ethically-mined gem and want to know that that’s what they’re shopping for.

Compare Quince jewelry to….

If you decided to shop from Quince and you can’t find what you’re looking for, I’m providing a few other retailers that make similar designs. I think it’s a given that their prices may not beat Quince’s completely.

The Real Real

Actually, my first recommendation is shopping for jewelry at The Real Real, if you want to hit Quince-level prices.

Truth be told, the rose gold earrings I’m wearing at this very moment are from The Real Real and I got them at a bargain price. They were in mint condition. TRR has lots of styles, and most are dainty ones you’d find at Quince.

VRAI

I have gotten incessant ads on Instagram from fine jewelry company VRAI, which makes wedding bands, women’s and men’s jewelry, tennis bracelets and a lot—truly a lot—of engagement rings with lab-grown diamonds.

Catbird NYC

My engagement ring is from Catbird, like I mentioned. Dan and I got it in-store. You won’t find prices like the ones at Quince by any means, but you can shop online and find similarly-vibed designs.

Is Quince jewelry worth it?

You will not be shocked that I say yes: Quince jewelry is worth it. The timing could not have been better for me: in the weeks that came after TWO of my longest-surviving favorite go-to necklaces breaking, I replaced them both with daily-wear Quince gold necklaces.

And the results are great: I love my gold and sapphire jewelry stack. I sleep in both necklaces, and can wear them separately as well.

I’m looking forward to buying the other Quince jewelry products on my Quince wish list soon: these include single-diamond necklaces, gold earrings and stackable bracelets. (If you visit my wish list, which I’m always updating live, you’ll see I’m much more into gold than into silver, and I like minimalist designs!)

Sustainability

Head to any product page for a Quince jewelry item with a gemstone or diamond and you’ll be able to read the fine print on the left-hand side about the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), ethical supply chains, traceable practices and more.

How to start shopping for your Quince jewelry

Quince jewelry is only available at the Quince website, where you can check which items are available, sold out (a lot of them, as I write this) and also ‘Back in Stock.’ Head right to the Quince jewelry: Shop all page.

If it’s diamonds you’re after, my tip is to avoid overlooking that you can immediately sort by ethnically-sourced natural diamonds versus lab-grown diamond jewelry.