Jewelry purchase?

[Dan Long]

Has anyone ever purchased any jewelry online or know of any sites with better than average pricing? I'm looking at upgrading my wife's engagement ring for Christmas/her birthday and am going through a bit of sticker shock.....:blink: Not to mention the huge variation in price depending on the quality of diamond. I want a princess cut (square) solitaire diamond in a simple white gold setting, at least 1 carat. I've found them from $2k (low quality) to around $8K (pretty high quality). Any advice?

 

[Tom Schindler]

I got Theresa's ring from Blue Nile. I was very impressed with the quality. Took it to a local jewelery store to get it appraised and it was close to their appraisal, but much higher than I paid for it.



The quality was top notch. Though hers is only .51 ct, it looks bigger and shines brighter than many 3/4 ct. rings. It is worth the price.



A good quality small diamond is MUCH better than a cheap large diamond.





Tom

 

[Jerry Abson 3]

I upgraded my wifes from 1/1 carat to a full, and yes, you will pay for it! This was several years ago, and with the trade in from my wifes ring, we had to fork out another grand. Its near flawless, couldn't remember the color rating, but it was way up there. It's appriased now at over 4. check with your original dealer and see what the trade up value is for the older ring, and hagle with them.



Let them know if you have to fork out more than you think you should, you will go with someone else. They need the money just as much as the next!



Whatever route you take, the upgrade will be worth it. When we picked out our rings, she though (at the time) that anything as big as a carat was too big. But ever since we got it, she loves it, especially since she still gets compliments from the ladies that have seen it many times already! And the lady friends will be telling you "good job" for picking it out!

 

[Dan M 3]

I know some guys have had luck on line, however having a dear friend as a jewler, one thing I learned is, it is ALL about the naked eye when it comes to diamonds and you can DEAL better with a local than on line. If it was me, i would head down to a local shop you can trust, bring your reseach with you (prices online) and look at EACH stone with your naked eye. Yes the three C's are fine, however when searching for a larger stone, expect some flaws. The less flaws the more rare and higher cost. You can get a dang good price on diamonds, worry less about what YOU can see with a glass, and more about what you can't see with the naked eye. Last I looked, few people grab a diamond ring and examine it that close. So unless you are looking for resale, get the best bang for the buck and worry ONLY about size and what you can SEE with the naked eye... my .02

 

[Jenn D]

I second bluenile.com





My hubby bought my ring there and it's amazing. I get MANY compliments on it. The cut and clarity are fantastic, and generally it is more "sparkly" then other rings with a similar-size stone. I couldn't be happier.

:wub::wub::wub:

 

[Bill Barber]

Dabbling in the jewelry buis for 15 yrs has taught me one thing (NEVER PAY RETAIL)

 

[Kevin Palmer]

You are fighting the RAISING price of gold...



We had the updated part of my wifes ring made at a local store. They made a wax mold of her ring and then built the upgrade to fit into it perfectly.



We spent some money but we got a lot.



There are three bands total, the main setup, (which has a row of diamonds below the main diamond you cant see in the pic) was the original.

We added the other two bands as well as the additional diamonds. I want to say I spent about 4 grand on the two bands and the diamond. Then two years ago we replaced the center diamond as a prong broke, so updated the diamond at the same time. It is now a 1.47 carrot diamond with a tiny little black spec at the bottom of the diamond. That was about 1500 dollars at the time.



This will give you a clue at least...



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Dan Long]

I'll check out Blue Nile tonight, thanks. The original ring was my great grandmothers and was passed down, so I don't want to change it at all, and there won't be any trade in. I totally agree with the whole naked eye thing, as does my wife. I really don't care if its flawless under a scope, as no one will ever be looking at it that way.

 

[Bo Loo]

I've used Macy's before with good luck. I've gotten pretty good deals on their clearance items.

 

[Todd Z]

I learned a less a while back with a lost ring.....



When insuring that ring or any jewelry, remember the INS company will pay WELL below the appraisal to replace the item..



So if you get a Ring appraised at $7,000 and the ins company can replace for $5,000 your paying a policy premium for a $7,000 ring not a $5,000 ring !!!!



Check what your ins company can replace an item for before you insure it !!!



a high appraisal can be a bad thing..



Todd Z

 

[Kevin Palmer]

On that,,, I changes all of my jewelry over to "replacement" policies. It literally cost $1 to $1.50 for each item for the entire year. So I am now paying $11 to 11.50 per thousand dollars of worth to insure it for he year instead of $10.00 per thousand and it may not have covered the cost to replace the item...

 

[Gavin Allan]

Appraisal means nothing. What has meaning is what the other party will give you for it now. Anything else is just fluff.

 

[JohnnyB]

Russ and Nancy at AwesomeGems.com are awesome!

I have bought a number of things from them over the last 10 years.

Including my wifes engagement ring in 1999. It appraised for double what I paid for it.

check'em out. I have absolutely no interest or anything in the company, just a happy customer.

I got my wife a beautiful ring for her up coming b-day this month from them.

 

[Bill Barber]

gavin is correct, appraisals are worthless,unless you pay an independant (not the seller) Gemnologist that can laser map the stone for insurance purposes.

That being said, say you buy a stone for say 5K Retail, you get it appraised for 8 K by a certified Gemnologist that maps the stone and gives you the paperwork.

The stone go's missing one day, will your ins company give you 8K, not on a bet, will they give you 5K, not on a bet, will they offer to replace the stone like and kind, absolutly, and they will pay 10 over w'sale, maybe 2500 hun for the stone.

Than when all is well again you call allstate to get extended jewelry coverage, the agent will ask what is the stone appraised at, you say 8 K, okay the coverage will cost X.

So you pay for coverage on a stone that is in reality is worth 2500, to them.

Is all a game, Thats why insurance companys make hugh profits, thats why I said never pay retail, your markup on jewelry is 50%, the price of gold has nothing to do with squat, most people have more gold in there teeth than a wedding band has.

If You have an interest, i have w;sale dealers in San Francisco that can help.

 

[Dan M 3]

Good post Bill... however the mark up is WAY more than 50% on Jelwery.... I know for fact that 100-300% on the average. Meaning from wholesaler to your hands. A 5K diamond cost the first person less than a grand!

 

[Dan Long]

Well, I think I did pretty good today! I placed an order with BlueNile.com last night for a 1.02 carat (SI2, F, VG cut) Radiant diamond in a simple 18K white gold band. The stone alone was about $2700 plus another $300 or so for the setting, so just a little over $3K total.



As an afterthought and mostly just for kicks, I decided to browse Craigslist for a few minutes this morning.... I found a 1.03 carat Radiant diamond (SI1, G, VG cut) in a 14K yellow band with a matching men's band with diamond inlays, asking price of $1500!!! I called up and went to check it out, all looked good to me, so I took it to a local well known jeweler (with the owner in tow) and had them evaluate it also. They agreed on the paperwork that was present and estimated retail at $6K for just the solitaire ring.



I talked the owner down to $1300 and gladly forked over the cash! I then took it back to the jeweler and he's changing out the band to a white gold band, as well as fitting it to my wife's current ring guard and resizing that for me. About another $250 for all that work, then he's going to give me credit for the old yellow band and men's band, so I should owe very little on that bill, if anything. I promptly came home and called BlueNile to cancel my order.



Overall, I came in at less than 1/2 the price of the one that I had ordered!!:smile0006: