Frequently Asked Questions

When Will My Order Arrive?

All of our creations are handcrafted to your specifications of ring size, metal, and center stone selections. This means that we do not have your ring in stock and we will manufacture it after your order is placed. Our current production time is approximately 4-6 weeks from the time your order is placed to the time it is shipped. Please refer to our blog post for more information on current production turn times. Our team will contact you within 48 business hours (business days) of your purchase to confirm your expected ship date!

Shipping policy?

DOMESTIC

Orders within the United States will be shipped Fed Ex or UPS with proper insurance and tracking information. Please be aware that all shipments are insured and will require an adult signature for delivery. If you are not able to sign for your shipment please contact the team to make other arrangements.

INTERNATIONAL

All orders shipped internationally are subject to customs/VAT fees depending on the country. We are not responsible for such fees so please research your countries potential fees before placing your order.

International orders are shipped Fed Ex Priority and can take up to approximately 3-6 days depending on customs.

Payment Methods Accepted?

We accept Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover, Paypal, and Apple Pay.

FINANCING

We offer financing through Synchrony Bank for domestic clients. Please contact us for the application and current interest-free options!

Return Policy?

We greatly appreciate your business, and we want you to be thrilled with your jewelry. If for any reason you are not, please contact us at clientcare@thetruegem.com or 214.253.2991 immediately with your concerns.

For refunds within 30 days of delivery:

Clients who decide to return or exchange their engagement ring and/or center stone within 30 days of the delivery date are entitled to a 100% money-back guarantee.* They may choose to remake the ring at no penalty or have the original purchase price returned to them in the form of cashback or store credit. Domestic shipping fees will also be returned to the client; international shipping fees will not be returned. For a full refund, the jewelry must be shipped back to our office within 30 days of notifying our team of the return, be unworn, and accompanied by all warranty cards, the appraisal, the boxes, and the original packaging.

Please contact us prior to shipping so we can provide you with an insured shipping label.

*This policy pertains to “Running Line” pieces only; no modifications or customs will be eligible. If a client returns a modified ring within 30 days, they are eligible for a 90% store credit. Custom-designed pieces are neither returnable nor refundable but they are exchangeable through our Buyback Program. Custom cut moissanites are not eligible for a refund. Custom cut moissanites are defined as any moissanite center stone not available directly through our website.

For returns on engagement rings with center stones featuring lab-grown diamonds or color gemstones after 30 days of delivery:

Please contact us at hello@thetruegem.com for more information on our Buyback Program.

Wedding bands and Lifestyle pieces are not eligible for return or exchange after 30 days.

Ring Sizing?

Most designs cannot withstand sizing more than 1.5 sizes without compromising the structural integrity and potentially causing long-term maintenance issues. If your ring style does not allow us to resize your ring without compromising the structural integrity of the piece, we can remake your ring in our normal production timeline. Not everyone wears an even size, and many even wear quarter sizes such a 6.75, etc. Since we handcraft your rings one at a time with care, we would love an opportunity to get it right the first time! If you are unable to come in and be sized, we highly recommend having your finger professionally sized prior to ordering.

We are happy to resize your ring at no cost within the first year of wear. Please reach out to us prior to shipping to inform us about your resizing needs, and we will provide you with an insured shipping label.

If you have already resized your ring once or are past the year of wear mark, we do charge a fee for resizing. The fee amount is determined by how far up/down the ring needs to be adjusted.

Warranty?

Your purchase comes with a 1-year warranty protecting your jewelry from manufacturing defects. We take a great deal of pride in our craftsmanship and will certainly stand behind our work.

Since all fine jewelry is made with malleable precious metals and is certainly not indestructible, we recommend taking special care when exercising, sleeping, swimming, or showering in your jewelry. We also recommend avoiding harsh chemicals, lotions, hairspray, and detergents whenever possible to keep your gemstones and diamonds clean and sparkling at their best.

Extending the warranty:

We recommend sending in your ring at the end of your purchase year for regularly scheduled maintenance. If you repeat this process every year, your warranty will extend for the following year. This warranty does not protect against jewelry that is intentionally damaged, worn irresponsibly, or altered by another jeweler. For example: If you order your ring in a size 6.5, have a local jeweler size your ring to a 4.5, and then begin to have issues with your smaller diamonds popping out of the setting, we will not be responsible for repairs. We can only guarantee our own work.

Limited Lifetime Warranty - moissanite & Colored Gemstone Eternity Bands

Moissanite and color gemstone eternity bands are covered by a limited lifetime warranty. Whether it's in moissanite or colored gemstones, the stones on the back of the ring are more vulnerable to damage if it is not worn with care. If a stone is chipped or damaged, the warranty covers a one-time free replacement of said stone or stones. However, if there are additional stones that are damaged after the one-time free replacement, we will still happily replace these stones, but the stone replacement fee, labor fee, and shipping costs are required by the client.

Repairs?

Any repair work performed by jewelers outside of The True Gem must be disclosed to us when sending in your ring for further repairs; otherwise, The True Gem reserves the right to refuse the financial burden of the necessary repairs, because we can only guarantee our own work. Any such damage will temporarily void your warranty until the necessary repairs are completed by TTG and paid for by the customer, at which point the warranty will be eligible for reinstatement.

Tune-ups: Deep cleanings, tightening, and repair work are free of charge during the first year, so please do send us your jewelry before your wedding day so we can make it look perfect for your big day! Call or email for shipping instructions.

Routine Ring Cleaning: We recommend using a household dish soap such as Dawn or Palmolive in a glass of warm water. Allow your ring to soak for 10 minutes and use a soft-bristled toothbrush to gently remove lotion, hairspray, hand soap, etc. from behind and on top of the stones. Rinse and allow your piece to dry. It can also be helpful to use a microfiber lens cloth to remove fingerprints from the tops of your gemstones. TTG also offers an eco-friendly, non-toxic, and bio-degradable jewelry cleaner, which is available to purchase on our site or by contacting the team directly.

Appraisals?

All purchases, with the exception of incomplete pieces, are accompanied by an appraisal provided by The True Gem for insurance replacement purposes.*

Appraisals done by a third-party GIA Graduate Gemologist cost $100.00. Moissanite center stones by Charles & Colvard and Neo Moissanite come with corresponding warranty cards. You are responsible for registering your warranty cards.

We strongly recommend insuring your jewelry against damage, lost and theft. Visit www.jewelersmutual.com for a free quote.

*If you would like to have a loose center stone or a ring setting without a center stone appraised, we are able to offer this service upon special request. Loose center stones or incomplete ring settings purchased through The True Gem are able to be appraised for no additional fee, upon request.

Although we are able to provide appraisal services of incomplete pieces upon special request, it is very important to understand that your ring will need to be re-appraised once the piece is complete in order for it to be insured, as most insurance companies require an appraisal of the full and complete piece of jewelry, not just part of the piece. What this means is that most insurance companies will not agree to insure a piece of jewelry if it is accompanied by an appraisal of the ring setting only, or if it is accompanied by an appraisal of the center stone only.

Discount Program?

We are always looking for ways to give back to the True Gem Community! Enjoy 10% off your True Gem purchase if you are a:

Doctor or Nurse
First Responder
Military or Veteran
Teacher

Contact our team directly to receive this discount.

*Verifying your profession with documentation or identification is required. Discount does not apply to diamond center stones or loose gemstones. Given the size of our small company, we are unfortunately unable to make exceptions beyond the professions outlined above at this time. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to further developing this program as we continue to grow.

Can we use a diamond in a True Gem Ring? What about customizing?

We know that many consumers want to look at completed design before they make that final lifetime decision. However, custom (one of a kind) pieces will always be a huge part of what we do and is the source of our design experience that informed The True Gem. Therefore, we would be glad to customize our own designs to make it your own ring. We are not at all interested in talking you into one stone or another. Since we offer everything, our goal is to offer our customers what they most want, and what is fitting to their unique situation. We like to provide information and a wide range of options and ideas and expect that you will let us know what is best for you. We want to make it your ring!

Choosing a Center stone

The industry has changed a lot in the past few years especially when it comes to engagement rings. These days, more people are choosing to spend their money on traveling, a home, or college and retirement savings. Couples who would have once been diamond buyers are now looking for other options. We have paid close attention to this shift in the consumer’s perception of value, and this is exactly the reason we launched The True Gem.

Today there are more options for engagement ring center stones than there were 5-10 years ago. More often people are choosing a colored stone, a lab grown diamond, or a moissanite. It is astonishing just how many are rethinking tradition and creating a new way. This shift is undeniable, and is coming from more than just millennials! This is nothing less than a complex and multifaceted transformation of the jewelry industry. Once these facts are understood, the whole shift will appear to be much more logical than astonishing. Many in the industry are afraid of this change but The True Gem has embraced it!

What are Lab Grown Diamonds?

An accessible, affordable and truly ethical diamond option is long overdue. Today, we can finally say with confidence that science has caught up with nature and we are now able to grow real diamonds in a laboratory, and the benefits are limitless! The production process of a lab grown diamond is socially responsible, greatly reduces the negative environmental impact of traditional diamond mining, and allows diamonds to be more affordable than ever.

However, the most important difference between these diamonds is about much more than the dollars. We are passionate about creating jewelry with integrity, and that mission extends into our manufacturing process, use of recycled metals, close relationships, as well as providing gemstones for our clients that are unassociated with labor trafficking, human rights abuses, and poor environmental impact. Each lab grown diamond produced by The True Gem contributes to the unstoppable wave of change and progress that is washing over the industry as we know it!

Rest assured, lab grown diamonds and earth mined diamonds have the same physical, chemical and optical properties. They are the same material (carbon), and they act the same way under the same conditions. Lab grown diamonds are cultivated through the same crystallization process as earth mined diamonds and they are both faceted and polished in the same exact manner by skilled diamond cutters around the world.

What is Moissanite?

Moissanite was first discovered in a meteor crater in Arizona in 1893 by a French scientist named Henri Moissan. More recently, very large naturally occurring moissanite crystals have been found in Israel, however the quality of this mined moissanite are not suitable for the purpose of jewelry. Today, the moissanite you see on the market is grown in a laboratory making it a socially responsible and eco-friendly gemstone option. It is not a diamond, nor a fake diamond. It’s just a different, naturally occurring or lab-grown gemstone. And what a stone it is!

Chemically, moissanite is completely different from a diamond. While a diamond is entirely carbon, a moissanite is silicon carbide. Regardless of its chemical make-up, it looks very similar to a diamond. And best of all, a moissanite actually out-performs a diamond in terms of optics, and is still durable and scratch resistant enough to be worn every day and last a lifetime. On the topic of affordability, moissanite costs substantially less than diamonds (earth mined or lab grown). Moissanite affords the buyer an opportunity to scale the size of their gemstones to the visual scale they prefer on their hand without this decision being completely overshadowed by price. What a concept!

It is our mission to bring our clients several beautiful, affordable and ethical engagement ring options. We aren’t here to talk you in or out of anything, but rather present you with the facts and allow you to determine what fits your lifestyle, values and budget.

Why Recycled gold & Platinum?

Gold and platinum are naturally renewable resources, as they can be repeatedly recycled without degenerating the quality. Choosing recycled gold and platinum decreases the global demand for mined gold as well as reducing the use of fossil fuels, deforestation and catastrophic health threats to the local mining communities. While recycled gold and platinum are not 100% free of pollution it is a far cleaner option, especially when partnering with a modern refinery who is committed to keeping emission to the absolute minimum.

Traditional gold mining can lead to polluted water ways with toxic waste containing metals, arsenic, cyanide, mercury and petroleum by-products threatening both biodiversity in the eco-system as well as the waterways for vulnerable nearby communities.

Many gold mines are operated by criminal cartels and corrupt governments, often in third-world countries, which can lead to abused children and forced labor in mining communities. Indeed mining as a whole is responsible for a multitude of human and environmental atrocities. These issues are complex with the need for action on many fronts. These issues have no simple resolutions.

Offering recycled metals is a step towards reducing the demand for mining, and therefore reducing the devastating affects of mining. This solution is an imperfect one, however it is a step towards a more mindful and responsible approach to consumption. We look forward to new developments in the area of gold-mining alternatives as we work together towards healthier communities and a recovering planet.