Malabar Gold & Diamonds: Are they trustworthy?

The Malabar stores are bright, pleasant, and mainly focused on displaying gold items instead of diamonds and engagement rings. This is fairly common because gold is more highly traded there than diamond.

Customers will be required to look around a bit to find the diamond display, though they should not expect to be offered any help by a customer service agent unless they ask for it. Customer service is not a strong point at Malabar, though it will greatly improve their overall rating if they could work on this. Understandably, it is hard to manage staff, especially for a company as large as Malabar, but the salespeople are at the forefront of the business, and impressions do last.

Diamonds: The diamonds sold at Malabar are very hit-and-miss, implying that one would be required to have a good eye for diamonds to be sure not to buy a subpar one. Although finding a good quality diamond can still be difficult, some are still available if enough time is taken to look for them.

Bridal Lookbook: Customers can find the Malabar Bridal Lookbook online. This brief document contains all the jewelry a bride could need, and there are some stunning pieces in the collection for both the traditional and modern bride.

Lifetime Product Service: Malabar offers their customers a Lifetime Product Service with polishing, cleaning, or repairing an item once purchased.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds pride themselves on providing value to their customers, but this does not ring true with the pricing of their diamonds and engagement rings. For such a large retailer, it can be expected that their business costs would be much higher than that of an online retailer, but Malabar seems to have pushed their prices to the extreme.

When comparing two similar diamonds and settings from Malabar and Blue Nile, the Blue Nile engagement ring would come in at nearly half the price. That is a whopping saving, and for the same budget spent on a subpar diamond and setting at Malabar, a decent diamond engagement ring from Blue Nile would be a much better buy.

Malabar offers a fairly comprehensive custom design option for clients. Using their online site, a customer can either upload a dream design or choose one on the site and add any desired changes. Malabar service agents will get back to them with an estimated price and the duration of manufacturing. Afterward, payment is made, following which the jewelry is crafted and shipped for delivery. This is a much more modern way of customized jewelry, making life easier for the client.

The Malabar Gold & Diamonds website is pleasant. It is interactive, full of great imagery of their different jewelry, and enough information to assist the client in purchasing.

It is also incredibly easy to view engagement rings on the site, which is an extremely helpful feature. Many other rings are also advertised on the site, implying that there is something for every taste. Only a few pictures are offered per ring, but to make up for it, a vast amount of information and product detail is offered.

Different links explain all aspects of the business, including helpful FAQs and other important information for customers.

Malabar might not have the best reputation for its in-store service, but they have good after-sales services that make up for it slightly.

Free Product Insurance: Items bought from Malabar come with free 1-year insurance against loss, damage, riot, strike, malicious damage, burglary, accidents, and theft.

Returns: There is a 14-day return policy for items purchased, which will be refunded in full or for an exchange of another product.

Certified Jewelry: Malabar uses BIS Hallmark, IGI, and PGI to certify its gold jewelry.

Malabar offers scheme payment to customers that can be applied online, but this is only available to customers in India.

• Bright and appealing stores
• Large range of gold jewelry
• 250 stores across 10 countries

Malabar is a good place to look for a gold item or a piece of jewelry, but, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for purchasing a diamond engagement ring from any of their stores. The diamonds are overpriced and often of subpar quality. A customer would hence be better off spending the same amount online at James Allen or Blue Nile and receiving a far superior diamond engagement ring instead of spending the same—or, worse, more—Malabar.