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bellapoo

bellapoo

Rough_Rock
Trade
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
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53
My boyfriend and I have been together for 2 and a half years and he finally gave me the green light to look at rings! I''m so excited and have been obsessively looking at millions of rings online. I found this forum and have LOVED looking at all of the rings! Now I''ve just gotta decide what I want.

I''m thinking... a round brilliant solitaire (hopefully 1.5 carats) on a micropave setting.

OR

I''m still trying to decide how I feel about halos.

The only advice my mother gave me was to choose something classic that will not be outdated in 20 years. She chose a cluster of diamonds 20 years ago and a think gold band. She said she regrets not getting a simple solitaire. I''m afraid if I get a halo, it will either take away from the center diamond, or become outdated in years to come.



What do you all think???
 
Yay for getting the green light!

It''s all about personal preference. With a solitaire, you could always upgrade later and have the stone set in a halo.
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Also, although halos are pretty popular these days, if you take a look at vintage jewelry designs, you will see a lot of halos. That suggests to me that they have made many women happy over the years.

Personally, I''m looking at halos. I appreciate the timelessness of a solitaire, but it''s just not my style.

Have fun shopping!!!
 
Go try some rings on. It is the best way to figgure out what settings and shapes you like, what suits your hand and will give you an idea of the real size of differant ct weights.

Once you figgure out what your dream ring looks like, take those ideas to a pricescope vender and get more bang for your buck.

Good luck!
 
Hi Bellapoo Welcome to LIW!

A RB will always be classic, and Halos are quite a distinctive look that seem to go in and out of style (not a bad thing, just something to be aware of). I suspect micropave may also be one of those things that falls in and out of fashion.

When choosing a setting keep in mind how you will treat your ring.
If you plan on babying your ring an taking it off whenever there is the slightest hint of dirt of the potential to damage it, then a delicate style with tons of micropave could be the way to go.
If you plan on gardening, hiking, baking in your ring, and never taking it off, then a sturdier style without pave could be an option. When you are married will you be wearing your e-ring everyday, or mostly just your wedding band with the e-ring for special occasions? Could the setting you choose accidentaly scratch one of your future children?

In my opinion some of the current engagement ring styles are a little too fancy for everyday life.

Please tell us what you choose, and feel free to join the LIW list.
 
We are going to look at rings Friday! I can''t wait to try some on.

I definitely plan on wearing it every day. I know the micropave is delicate, but that''s why I love it so much! I have small hands, so I want a delicate setting.

What is the difference between micropave and pave....?
 
Date: 1/27/2010 7:07:14 PM
Author: bellapoo
We are going to look at rings Friday! I can''t wait to try some on.

I definitely plan on wearing it every day. I know the micropave is delicate, but that''s why I love it so much! I have small hands, so I want a delicate setting.

What is the difference between micropave and pave....?
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I think micropave just uses much smaller diamonds.
 
congrats on getting the go ahead on looking at rings !

I''m new as well, and I do have to say that when i read your post about getting something timeless and questioning the halo I got a little nervous ! I''ve been drooling over halo''s for a while and i''m pretty sure my BF picked up on it. but thank you chloe for putting my mind at ease a little bit and hope for bringing up questions i think about all the time.

bella i''m sure once you start looking at rings you''ll find one that makes your jaw drop, your eyes get huge and you may start inadvertently drooling. i know that when i first started looking i planned to go in looking for a princess cut solitaire and ended up falling in love with an asscher cut halo setting. (let''s hope the BF picked up on it haha) keep us updated on what you find !
 
Welcome to the LIW board! You should get a much better idea of what you want once you try some rings on. I had always thought that I would want either a ring with sidestones or a halo, but once I tried them on, I realized I loved solitaires! So have fun and enjoy trying on many different rings!
 
Welcome, bella! Make sure you have misskitty add you to the official list!

As for rings, everyone has given you great advice. Definitely take the opportunity to try some on. Sometimes your instincts are right about what you love...and sometimes you fall in love with something totally different than you ever anticipated.

Best wishes to you...I hope your stay on the list is short and sweet!
 
Welcome! Congrats on the go ahead! I also love halo rings and while they do tend to fall in and out of style, from what i have seen, they never fall too far out of style. just out of ''popular''. I love vintage rings and the ones i am always gravitating to have some sort of halo or pave around the center stone.
 
Welcome!!!
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No longer a LIW but I still hang out around these parts
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Thanks everyone!

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Here''s a question.
Several people on here have said not to go retail when buying an e-ring. I understand that they probably jack the prices up...but where else would we buy one?
I don''t want to get it online- I want to try it on in person and actually talk to the jeweler face to face.

Any suggestions?

Independently owned jewelry stores?

We are going tomorrow (we were supposed to go today but a huge ice storm hit Memphis) to try some on at Zales, Jared, etc...
 
My BF and I went to Kay and Zales and honestly they just tried to sell us whatever they had...I felt like they didn''t really know what they were talking about and if they did, they weren''t about to say anything to us. We''re relatively young (22 but high school sweethearts) so people never took us seriously. Then we went to jared. If you''re going to go retail, go there. Not only did they seem really knowledgeable, but they actually cared about helping us find the perfect ring that would be the best value. While they have their own vault of diamonds (pretty extensive and you can look at them online too!) the guy mentioned that if we found a diamond elsewhere that we absolutely had to have, they would use that one. They will also customize any ring you want as well. Personally, I was really happy going to Jared to look because they work with you and really want you to get the best there is out there, not just what they have in their display case.

I hope this helps! I may seem bias, but when you''ve had a good experience, why not share ?! I hope you have an amazing time looking !
 
Thanks for sharing your experience! We are young too, I''m 21 and my BF is 23... So I was worried about them taking us seriously, also. I''ve been to Jared once to try on rings, and I loved it. (This was before my BF gave me the green light and I was being a crazy LIW...)

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Date: 1/30/2010 12:08:34 AM
Author: bellapoo
Thanks everyone!


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Here''s a question.

Several people on here have said not to go retail when buying an e-ring. I understand that they probably jack the prices up...but where else would we buy one?

I don''t want to get it online- I want to try it on in person and actually talk to the jeweler face to face.


Any suggestions?


Independently owned jewelry stores?


We are going tomorrow (we were supposed to go today but a huge ice storm hit Memphis) to try some on at Zales, Jared, etc...
Click to expand...

If you don''t want to go online, independently owned jewellery stores are generally the way to go. Chain stores like Zales tend to be of poorer quality, overpriced, and without knowledgable staff (of course there are exceptions).

It may be that as you get more of an idea of what you want, and how much more you can get online, you''ll be open to taking this route, so don''t rule it out! But I totally understand you wanting to try things on and speak to a jeweller in person first.
 
Welcome to LIW!
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I''m very excited for you getting the green light to look at rings. That''s very exciting!

As for your question about halo or solitaire, I agree with the other ladies that it''s a personal preference. Just see what you like and try them all on. As for me, I own a halo and I love it! I thought I''d love a solitaire, but on my finger, the halo just "fit" much better and I fell in love with my ring. It''s true that round brilliants are classic, hence it''s very popular and a lot of people have them. I think that halos have been around for a long time and it will come and go in style for many many more years to come and I think of halos as vintage and classic at the same time so it''s all a matter of taste. Good luck on choosing! You may be surprised with what you fall for when you actually try them on!
 
Hello bellapoo! I am also new on here and around your age, I am 22 and my SO is 26 so we are a few years apart, alas I am still a LIW... :S Ah well! Around Dec of last year my SO gave me the green light to have us go out and get my ring finger sized, while I was there I fell in love with a hearts on fire rounded square cut past, present, future ring but it was around 6,000 bucks! Other than that i haven''t really gone out to look anymore, and nothing has happened since..

So excited though that your bf has given you the green light! Have fun and soak it all in when you are there trying on rings, I only went to one place (Lee Reed Jewelers) but I had so much fun going that I didn''t want to leave when they were closing. That was the very first time for me putting on a diamond engagment ring on my left finger so when I slid the first one on I was speechless for a bit, I just couldn''t believe that I was there actually trying on rings! Well have tons of fun and let us know how it goes!
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And thanks for the advice on here ladies I am going to go to Jared if given the opportunity! Maybe I will go and just not tell the SO :) lol
 
Well, our experience at Zales and Kay was typical. I wanted to try on round, cushion, and pear shapes and ALL they had at Zales were round and princess. I felt like the lady didn''t know what she was talking about and tried to sell us something totally different than anything I had described (a cluster of princess cut diamonds). And at Kay...no one even offered to help us.

Total waste of time. I still have no idea what shape I want.

I really want to go to Jared.
 
Welcome, Bellapoo! You''ve gotten some good advice so far. Of the major chain retailers, I think that Jared is the best. But I would highly recommend the independently owned jewelry stores. In my metropolitan area (hint: Geaux Saints!) I think there''s 1 Zales and 1 Jared''s. Everything else is independently owned. Visit them all! You''ll see who carries better quality stuff, whose customer service is better, and whose pricing is most reasonable. Also, you may see a completely different style at one place than you would at another, or if you find that you need to custom or semi-custom make a ring, that one store''s style would lend itself better to making your ring than a different store would.

As far as halo vs solitaire, I don''t think either will look out of style at any point, though it may be obvious to people in 20 years when you happened to have bought your ring. I would, however, recommend searching these forums for info about pave, plus general durability of rings and styles that are better for real-life. That might also end up shaping your thinking.
 
everyone here is amazing at giving advice ! i''m sorry to hear about your bad experience at zales and kay
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since i''m obviously very pro-Jared (although independently owned is amazing as well!) i hope you get to go very soon. I think since you''re unsure of what you want, Jared will be a great learning experience whether you buy there or not. The best part I found about going (since I had no idea when I walked in either) was that they found me a setting I loved BEFORE they even showed me stones. I loved this because it allowed me to look at the setting and try on every different shape stone there was with a setting I was already drooling over. then, if you decide to go elsewhere for your ring, at least you got the face time with the jeweler like you wanted and hopefully a better idea of what you want. and the cappuccino they offered while i was looking wasn''t half bad either haha ;) good luck with the rest of your search !
 
Hi and welcome!
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You must be so excited! I agree that the quality at most retail jewelery stores is poorer than the independent ones. You''ll also pay a lot less at the independent stores or online for better quality. The online route has worked for many of the PS ladies. Just browse around and you will see many jaw dropping creations. Many pick the diamond and then pick the setting, or ask one of the vendors to custom design a setting for them. They will assist you every step of the way, and you can be sure that you will get amazing quality.
However, it is important to try on rings to see what feels and looks best in terms of size and settings.
Keep in mind that smaller diamonds in halo settings etc sometimes fall out when knocked about, so you also need to think about what daily activities your ring will have to endure before picking a setting.
Happy shopping!
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Thanks everyone for the great advice!

Another question: What about the warranty? What if, for example, I choose a micropave setting and one of the diamonds falls out. From what I''ve seen, and I could be completely wrong, online jewelers don''t offer warranties like, say for example, Zales. I own a diamond necklace and a pearl ring from Zales, and I can take it there for free cleanings, and if something falls out, they replace it for free. Do independently owned jewelers offer that as well? Am I right or wrong about online?

I would just hate to get one and have a diamond fall out without a warranty to replace it.
 
I can''t speak to what the online dealers do. As far as the independent jewelers I visited, all offer free cleanings. There were only two stores where I got down to talking about stone replacement (melee) and one will check the prongs/ring as often as you want for free, but does not replace the stones if they fall out, while the other will replace the stones so long as you bring your ring in every 4-6 months for them to check the prongs. I think this will be on a case-by-case basis as far as independent stores go. I can''t speak to what the PS jewelers do though, so hopefully somebody else will chime in.
 
Hi and Welcome to LIW!!
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Whiteflash has a lifetime warranty, as does Brian Gavin and I''m sure a lot of other vendors also do.
 
Finally had a good experience... make that great! I went to Diamond Brokers of Memphis, and they were great! They were very helpful, knowledgeable, and determined to help me find the perfect ring within our budget. I called my BF immediately after I left and could not stop babbling!
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I fell in love with a 1.3 carat round brilliant solitaire on a simple white gold setting, with a diamond eternity wedding band. I never considered myself to be that simple, but when I tried on a micropave setting with a matching wedding band, it all seemed to be too much and I thought it took away from the center diamond. I love the idea of pairing a diamond band with a simple setting... and it also allows us to spend most of the money on the diamond!
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I can''t wait to go back with my BF!
 
I''m glad you had such a positive experience. Keep us updated on your plans!
 
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