- Rocksbox Review: Is It Worth It? Bottom Line Up Front
- What Is Rocksbox?
- Rocksbox Membership Details
- What Type of Jewelry Does Rocksbox Carry?
- Signing Up for a Rocksbox Subscription
- Shipping and Unboxing
- Buying Rocksbox Jewelry
- Returning My Rocksbox Jewelry and Canceling My Membership
- Rocksbox Pros and Cons
- Rocksbox Alternatives
- FAQs
- Final Thoughts
As a jewelry designer and enthusiast, I have amassed quite a collection of jewelry over the years. Some pieces are my go-tos that I wear frequently, while others are reserved for special occasions. However, I’m ashamed to admit that quite a few pieces in my collection were purchased and then worn once (usually for a special occasion), only to be exiled to the bottom of my jewelry box, where they’ve never been given a second thought (unless they happen to get tangled with a more frequently worn piece).
At this point, they’re not just dust collectors—they’re essentially dust. Shiny, sparkly dust that sits in a layer at the bottom of my jewelry box.
I like the idea of jewelry rental companies like Rocksbox because they allow you to rent whatever jewelry you want (for a special occasion or just because) and then send it back when you’re finished with it. That means more space in your jewelry box for the pieces you’ll wear frequently and potentially less money spent on jewelry—especially if you’re like me and you buy new jewelry for every special occasion.
I signed up for a subscription to check it out. Read on for my full Rocksbox review below.
Recommended read: How to Find the Best Jewelry Subscription Boxes
Rocksbox Review: Is It Worth It? Bottom Line Up Front
For $21 a month, Rocksbox lets you rent three pieces of jewelry for as long as you’d like. You can also exchange them for three new pieces as many times as you want. The $21 fee will also be applied as a credit toward any pieces you wish to purchase. I think it’s an excellent and affordable option for anyone who wants to try new jewelry without cluttering up their jewelry box, and it would be especially convenient during the holiday season or wedding season when you might want special jewelry to match your outfit.
The Ultimate Jewelry Rental Subscription bringing the joy of jewelry to everyone. New trend drops every week.
What Is Rocksbox?
Rocksbox is a jewelry rental subscription service, and it’s unlike any other service I’ve used before. There are plenty of jewelry subscriptions that will send you one or even a few pieces of jewelry each month, and many clothing rental services like Rent the Runway will allow you to rent jewelry and accessories, but it’s rare to find a service that strictly offers jewelry rental, especially for this price.
When you sign up for a monthly membership, Rocksbox will mail you a set of three pieces of jewelry. You can keep them as long as you want, buy them (and keep them forever!), or return them and receive three new pieces. There’s no limit to how many sets you can receive each month, but you need to either return or purchase your current set before receiving a new one.
Rocksbox Safety and Cleanliness
One of my initial concerns when trying Rocksbox was whether or not it was safe to use rented jewelry—especially earrings. I did some digging and discovered that Rocksbox uses medical-grade alcohol and disinfecting cleaners to sterilize their jewelry in between rentals. They also hold their jewelry for a period of time before it is sterilized and sent out again as a way to combat pathogens like COVID-19.
Rocksbox Membership Details
- A Rocksbox membership costs $21 per month.
- Each month, you’ll get $21 worth of credit to put toward purchasing jewelry. Your credit will expire at the end of each month, so you can’t save it up, but you’ll get a new $21 credit at the start of each billing cycle. Essentially, you can put your monthly membership fee toward any jewelry purchases you want to make.
- Shipping is free both ways. There is a return shipping label included in your order.
- Rocksbox offers gift memberships for three, six, or 12 months. You can also add additional shopping credit to the gift membership.
What Type of Jewelry Does Rocksbox Carry?
Rocksbox specializes in jewelry from designers like Kendra Scott, Kate Spade, and Lele Sadoughi. They also have a line called “Demi-Fine,” which are more affordable sterling silver and 18k gold plated over sterling silver pieces. You can browse all of their available jewelry on their site and sort by things like price, type, designer, metal, and color.
One minor thing that annoyed me while browsing was that the above ways to browse are set as filters, not categories, so I kept having to go back and deselect things. I would select “green” then “hair accessories,” and it showed me green hair accessories, but then I selected “necklaces,” and it wouldn’t show me anything until I deselected “hair accessories.” Like I said, it’s a minor complaint.
Here’s an idea of some of the things you’ll find from Rocksbox:
- Earrings
- Necklaces
- Bracelets
- Rings
- Hair Accessories
- Holiday Jewelry
- Celestial Jewelry
- Ear Party (coordinated ear jewelry for those with multiple piercings)
- Gender-Fluid Jewelry
- Tennis Bracelets/Necklaces
- Vintage-Inspired Jewelry
Most of Rocksbox’s jewelry is silver or gold-plated over brass or sterling silver. They also use a lot of cubic zirconia and semi-precious stones like opal and amethyst. Some of the designer brands may be higher-quality, but it’s unlikely that you’ll find solid gold or precious stones on their site.
Signing Up for a Rocksbox Subscription
When you sign up for a Rocksbox subscription, you start with a relatively extensive questionnaire to help determine your taste in jewelry. Below are the preferences I had to set when creating my account. I could choose as many answers as I wanted for most of the prompts, and for many of them, I could opt out. For example, when asked about necklace preferences, I could select that I don’t wear necklaces.
- Preferred metal tones (gold, silver, and/or rose gold)
- Necklace styles (statement, short/long pendants, delicate, chokers, layered, etc.)
- Bracelet styles (statement cuffs, natural stone, sliders, etc.)
- Earring styles (studs, hoops, drops, huggies, climbers, etc.)
- Ring styles (statement, delicate, sets, natural stone, etc.)
- Which jewelry trends are you open to trying? (statement earrings, ear party, celestial and spiritual, layering, ring stacks, etc.) — for this question, I was required to choose at least one answer.
- Your ring size(s)
- Finally, there was a place box to enter in any metal allergies you might have, any upcoming events you want your stylist to know about, or anything else about your preferences you’d like them to know.
I was very impressed by how thorough this questionnaire was.
After you sign up, you’ll be able to preview the set chosen for you. You can accept the set and have it sent or swap pieces. You can even choose from things you didn’t select as preferences (like silver, in my case) when swapping. I ended up swapping a rose gold ring with a rose gold/champagne druzy stone for a gold celestial ring with an opal and cubic zirconia star and a pair of cool but simple geometric hoops for a textured, structural cuff (though I would have been happy enough with the hoops).
You can also create a wish list to keep your favorite items organized and give Rocksbox a preset list to choose from when curating your next selection of jewelry. They don’t guarantee that all of the pieces they select will come from your wishlist (it’s based on availability), but they will try to honor it as much as possible.
Shipping and Unboxing
Within a few hours of signing up, I received an email that my order was on the way. It was shipped in a simple plastic mailing bag.
One tip: When you get your Rocksbox order, open the mailing bag along the perforated line. Don’t just tear into it like a rabid raccoon—that way, you can reuse the bag when it’s time to send your jewelry back.
Inside the bag was a sturdy paper box. Each of my three pieces of jewelry was packaged in a tiny plastic bag (the necklace was also bubble-wrapped) and tucked into pretty individual cloth bags within the box. There was also a packing slip, a prepaid return label, a welcome letter with tips and FAQs, and an info card about jewelry care in the box.
What I Got in My Order
My first Rocksbox delivery contained the Rocksbox Redefined Aspen Adjustable Cuff, the Dusk Lyra Sun Ring, and the Rudiment Union Half Sun Pendant. Overall, I was pretty happy with the quality of two of the three pieces. The ring was slightly more delicate than I expected it to be, which I thought made it look even more expensive.
The bracelet was the only one that fell short for me. It didn’t look terrible and wasn’t overly flimsy, but it reminded me more of something mass-produced that I would buy at Target than from a specialty jewelry place.
Buying Rocksbox Jewelry
If you like any (or all) of the pieces in your set, you can purchase them from Rocksbox rather than returning them. When you log into your Rocksbox account, they’ll show you your current set along with their prices. Just click which once you want to purchase and Rocksbox will charge whatever card you have on file.
You can also purchase some jewelry directly from Rocksbox without renting it first by clicking “Shop” at the top of the page. However, not all of their jewelry is available for purchase. If you send something back and then change your mind and decide you want to purchase it, you can reach out to Rocksbox, but there’s no guarantee that it will still be available.
The jewelry that you buy from Rocksbox is discounted from its retail price, but not significantly. Some of the pieces were only $2 or $3 cheaper than I found them elsewhere online, and a few were the exact same price (like the Kate Spade “Toi et Moi” studs, which were listed at $48 on both sites and were even an additional 50% off on katespade.com).
Most of the available jewelry costs around $50 to $125, with a few pieces costing less and a few costing upwards of $600. You probably won’t find a piece for $21, so your monthly membership fee won’t exactly result in a “free” piece of jewelry.
I ended up buying the necklace from my set—I thought it would make a lovely gift for my sister-in-law. Rocksbox happened to be running a sale, so I got $20 off in addition to my $21 monthly credit, which meant the necklace only cost me about $20. I don’t think that I would have purchased it if it had cost more, though.
The Ultimate Jewelry Rental Subscription bringing the joy of jewelry to everyone. New trend drops every week.
Returning My Rocksbox Jewelry and Canceling My Membership
As long as you didn’t lose the poly bag your jewelry was shipped in (or tear it to shreds—see my tip under “Shipping and Unboxing”), you can put any jewelry that you want to return back into the bag and reseal it (there’s a tape strip already on the bag). If you don’t still have the bag, you’ll have to get a new one from the post office or use a small box or padded envelope. Then, all you need to do is attach the return shipping label that came with your order and put it in the mail.
I do wish there was some way to indicate online that you’re starting the exchange process. You just have to drop the package in the mail and hope for the best. That being said, Rocksbox seems to receive a notification once your package is scanned at the post office. I got an email informing me that my next set of jewelry was being prepared (and that I had 48 hours to swap pieces out) within a few hours of dropping off my return.
Since I wanted to cancel my membership, I went to the “manage my account” page to start the cancellation process. (You can do this either before or after mailing back your jewelry. If you do it before, you’ll receive an email telling you that your membership will be canceled once Rocksbox receives confirmation that your return has been initiated.)
I was able to cancel online, but I had to click that I wanted to cancel about half a dozen times before actually canceling my membership (a lot of “Are you sure you want to cancel”), which is a personal pet peeve of mine.
Rocksbox Pros and Cons
Pros
- I love that when you sign up, there’s a place for you to note any metal allergies you have and that they encourage you to let your stylist know about any upcoming events you have.
- I think that $21 is a pretty good price for a service that allows you to try as many pieces of jewelry as you want and keep up to three of them for as long as you want.
- The $21 membership fee is added to your account each month as a credit toward purchasing jewelry, so you can use Rocksbox as a “try before you buy” service rather than just a rental service.
- The return process was ridiculously easy.
Cons
- I think that they could use better images on the browse page of their website—a lot of the pendant necklaces were shot from the same distance and looked the same.
- Their entire selection of jewelry isn’t available at all times, which means you might need to wait for popular pieces to be returned before you can rent them.
- I do wish that they had more variety when it comes to designers and styles.
- I wish they had more precious gemstone jewelry and fine jewelry available for rent—the kind of stuff that I would love to own but can’t necessarily justify spending money on purchasing.
Rocksbox Alternatives
- Switch: Switch is a jewelry and handbag rental company specializing in designer pieces. If you’re looking for higher-end pieces than what Rocksbox carries, look here. Many of their pieces retail for hundreds or thousands of dollars (think Chanel purses and Cartier bracelets). Membership starts at $55 per month for one “core” piece at a time and goes up to $295 per month for one “select” and three “core” pieces at a time. Just like Rocksbox, you can keep pieces for as long as you want before returning them.
Borrow designer accessories and exchange them anytime, as often as you want.
- Adorn: Adorn isn’t a subscription service, but it is a jewelry rental service specializing in bridal jewelry. If you want to wear diamonds on a special occasion without shelling out thousands of dollars to buy them, this is the site for you.
- Rent the Runway: Rent the Runway is primarily a fashion and clothing rental service, but they do also rent out jewelry. If you want to rent clothing and accessories along with your jewelry, this might be a better option for you. Membership starts at $94 per month for five items and goes up to $235 per month for 20 items.
Elevate your style with Rent the Runway, your go-to destination for renting designer clothing and accessories. Unlock a world of fashion possibilities while saving money and reducing your environmental footprint. Join the fashion-forward movement today!
FAQs
Question: What if I lose the return envelope included in my Rocksbox order?
Answer: You can reprint your return label for free under “My Account” on the Rocksbox website.
Question: Can I buy jewelry from Rocksbox even if I don’t sign up for a subscription?
Answer: You can buy jewelry from the Rocksbox shop without being a member, but you won’t receive the same discount as subscription members.
Question: Is Rocksbox worth it?
Answer: At only $21 per month (which can be put toward a jewelry purchase), I think Rocksbox is worth it—especially if you want to try new jewelry styles or have a lot of weddings or events coming up.
Final Thoughts
I think Rocksbox is a great deal for anyone looking to try out some new jewelry styles without cluttering up their jewelry box. I wish I had known about the company when I was in my mid-20s and going to what felt like one wedding every two weeks! And while I wish they had more fine jewelry options, I do like how affordable membership is.
The Ultimate Jewelry Rental Subscription bringing the joy of jewelry to everyone. New trend drops every week.
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Lauren is also a bona fide mixologist, bringing her professional bartending skills to the table as one of our resident drink testers. In Lauren's world, life is a celebration, and her home is the party hub.
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