"I" Downgraded........Tiffany and Co. wedding set

[butterfly 17]

Now the fun part, answering all the questions.

Snlee,

Hmm, I got this ring from ebay. I know, I know, but I am positive this is 120 % real. It came with the diamond certificate which is stamped into the piece and I have other tiffany rings and the stamping matches perfectly.

I knew I wanted to get a T&Co. wedding set one day and it was and has always been a dream of mine, but with their prices, etc. I knew it made no sense to buy one brand new from them. So, I just checked out ebay for a few months and I saw this. The price was great, the seller had great feedback, it came with the Tiffany diamond certificate and the appraisal stating that in 1999 it cost $3720 for the ring.
Meaning that if I went to Tiffany''s right now, I am sure it would cost me about $4500 for the same ring, if not more.
I did a price check for a similar diamond on pricescope a .55 - I VVS1 to H VS2 and came up with a price of about $1500 or more. The best knockoff Tiffany setting in platinum cost about $1100 to $1250 for this size diamond, so if I had to make this same ring it would cost me somewhere in the range of $2500 to $2750.
It also came with the band, which currently costs $550 on their website, so think a total of $3000 or more for the same set to make it.

I got the ring for much less and it''s the real thing, so I figure if I ever have to sell, I will have an easier time selling an authentic T&Co. ring than one that is similar to it.

It also happened to be my size, which I did not know about and was pleasantly surprised to find out when I tried it on. I was all set to bring it to Tiffany''s to have it sized, but luckily, I don''t even have to do that!

The ring does need a good polishing so I am going to bring it in for polishing sometime next week.
I found someone on BTD selling an authentic T&co. knife edge band so I bought it from her and I have to have that resized, so I will bring all three rings in next week to get done.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 7/28/2006 1:20:22 PM
Author: Morticia
Butterfly 17, wha?!?! You want to change your Ritani ring? Why? It''s beautiful and looks great on you. But I can understand. I want to change mine as well. I have the halo setting, and now they have a halo setting with half moon side stones (also halo around them) and now I want to change my setting to that one. More bling!

Can''t wait to see your Tiffany setting. Sounds beautiful.

Yes, I thought about it for a while, but I have that kind of on the back burner now that I have this set. I am very fortunate to have what I have and I should be happy with it, so I don''t know what is wrong with me.
I did see that ritani now makes the endless love a prong set diamond in the center of the bezel, not halo. I love that look!!!! I did not see the half moon setting, but I probably wouldn''t have liked it as I am more of a solitaire type girl myself.

I asked everyone I know if I should change my setting or upgrade my diamond and they all looked at me like I was crazy, so I don''t know why I want to do either one. So, no change for now!

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 7/28/2006 9:32:49 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Love your rings! This is actually helpful for me since I am looking at settings! What do you not like about the Ritani? I think it is so pretty!!! And of course, I do love the Tiffany!

I wish the Ritani had slightly larger diamonds and a bit of a wider band so that when I wear the two wedding bands on either side you can differentiate that it is three different rings, not one big pave ring. Oh, and I wish it sat a bit higher as well.
Someone posted this Michael B princess ring and I absolutely love the way the ring looks, like to me it''s perfect. But it is so similar to what I have, it makes no sense for me to spend the extra money to get that.
I forgot the poster, but it''s someone like xxxxRain or something, I can''t remember.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 7/28/2006 9:40:37 PM
Author: february2003bride
So beautiful!!

May I ask, why did you ''downsize?''

Okay, the truth? Way back when we first got married I did not get an engagement ring and I always wanted a Tiffany set.

When my son was almost two years old he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and he underwent surgery followed by chemotherapy at NYU Medical Center.
There was a nurse there who was married to one of the residents and she wore this engagement ring set from Tiffany''s and I knew right away when I saw it that it was from there. This was back in 1996, so not many companies were making copies of the Tiffany solitaire, now, there are plenty. Also, now you wouldn''t be able to tell if someone was wearing a real one or a copy since even the copies look better than the real thing!

It was a small diamond, less than .50 points and i just remember thinking it was sheer perfection. So perfect and so precious.


I wanted a smaller diamond as I wanted one that looked like the nurse''s ring. I actually was thinking of one even smaller, but the price on this was really good and I couldn''t pass it up.

I showed it to my fellow diamond addict at work and she told me she thought it would be much smaller, but was surprised that it looked as big as it did on my finger.
I was actually disappointed when she said that because I wanted a smaller diamond, I don''t want it to look big at all.

 

[mrssalvo]

oh butterfly I love it. What a sweet story and i''m so glad you finally found your Tiffany ring. and girl, you find THE BEST things on ebay. I bought an out of print Sleeping Beauty DVD and was proud

. Can''t wait to see pics with the knife edge band too.

 

[Sundial]

I just love the prongs on the classic Tiffany ring! The new set looks just perfect on your hand. Glad you found what you always wanted. Of course your Ritani is lovely too!

 

[butterfly 17]

Here is an interesting picture of size-

From left to right-
.55 ( 5.3mm)

.75 (6mm)

1.0(6.5mm)

1.25 (7 mm)

1.5 (7.5 mm)

2.0 (8.2 mm)

 

[ivanadiamond]

Butterfly, what a great story and I love your rings! GAWGUS!

 

[mrssalvo]

love that shot of all the rings with the various stone sizes

 

[E B]

Morticia,

What size stone do you currently have in your halo?

Oh, and Butterfly, it''s a darling set!

 

[bling*diva*]

~~The "new" set is gorgeous, as are the other diamonds as well!!!!

 

[snlee]

butterfly, I love your new T&C wedding set!

I''m glad you got the wedding set you''ve always wanted. And what a great deal you found!! Love the comparison picture too. You have quite a collection of diamond rings going on there!

 

[Mara]

i love it, what a find!!

i am so smitten lately with the ritani set...my girlfriend''s ring looks huge on her finger and it''s so delicate. tempting tempting!!!

she may return the band to BBB and see if ritani can make her one to match her e-ring exactly since as i kind of thought she would, she wants the EXACT same ring as her e-ring for her w-ring, depth and width and all. so we''ll see what they say. also her finger size seems a little smaller than a 6 after all so she needs to get them sized anyway and the eternity band can''t be sized...so hopefully they will agree to take back the w-ring and make one from scratch to her size and a slightly smaller width and smaller stones.

i always catch glimpses of her head in the side view and it''s divine. definitely no pictures do it real justice.

 

[butterfly 17]

Thanks guys,
I got the knife edge band in the mail today and it is thinner than the e-ring. I actually think I like the 2 mm. comfort fit band that came with it rather than the knife edge, but thanks to BTD, I only got the knife edge for $125 and a small trade, so I will keep it regardless as at least now I have a true matching set.
I am such a matchy matchy girl.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 7/29/2006 2:26:45 PM
Author: Mara
i love it, what a find!!

i am so smitten lately with the ritani set...my girlfriend''s ring looks huge on her finger and it''s so delicate. tempting tempting!!!

she may return the band to BBB and see if ritani can make her one to match her e-ring exactly since as i kind of thought she would, she wants the EXACT same ring as her e-ring for her w-ring, depth and width and all. so we''ll see what they say. also her finger size seems a little smaller than a 6 after all so she needs to get them sized anyway and the eternity band can''t be sized...so hopefully they will agree to take back the w-ring and make one from scratch to her size and a slightly smaller width and smaller stones.

i always catch glimpses of her head in the side view and it''s divine. definitely no pictures do it real justice.

It sounds like your friend is like me! I really wanted all three rings from Ritani to match and hated that the e-ring was so thin. I like thin, but not as thin as the one I had.

If only Ken was still working there, he would definitely help your friend if BBB gives her a hard time. Anyway, the exchange policy is 90 days at BBB, so she should have no problem exchanging it or at the very least returning it for store credit and then reordering it if they won''t let her exchange.

I have to say, I wore the Ritani for the first time today after wearing the Tiffany set for the past week and it looked gigantic on my hand!!!

I am so surprised what not wearing a ring will do for DSS. I swear, I felt like I had the biggest diamond in the world on my hand. I guess it also helps that it is hot and my bony fingers are a little swollen so the rings fit better, but still, what a pleasant surprise.

anyway, off to take pictures with the knife edge band. Maybe I will go outside!

 

[butterfly 17]

I am back with more pictures with the knife edge band I got...
Here is a hand shot.

 

[butterfly 17]

I finally figured out why my pictures were coming out large, I had the camera on postcard mode..

 

[butterfly 17]

 

[butterfly 17]

 

[butterfly 17]

 

[butterfly 17]

 

[butterfly 17]

Last picture for now.

 

[butterfly 17]

Uugh, I just realized how dry my skin looks, oh well, next time I will moisturize better!!!

 

[february2003bride]

Butterfly-

What a sweet story! It''s amazing how some things leave lasting impressions on us.

There''s just something about the Tiffany solitare... so pure, so classic... to me it just has that SOMETHING that can''t be duplicated.

Gorgeous!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh yay, new pictures! That is a sweet story about your memories of the Tiffany set. Are all those solitaires yours? They are beautiful!

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 7/29/2006 11:27:42 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Oh yay, new pictures! That is a sweet story about your memories of the Tiffany set. Are all those solitaires yours? They are beautiful!

Yes, but some of them are not real, shhh!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Lol!!! I surely can''t tell which ones are which! What a great picture for size comparison, though!

 

[AndyRosse]

Thanks for adding more pics!!! The set is stunning!

 

[msdarlinjoy]

Hi Butterfly 17 ~

Wow ... congratulations on your newest blingy!

You definately have a very gorgeous

collection!

Each ring with it''s own personality ... is just very beautiful!

Enjoy, and have a super day!

 

[mrssalvo]

love the new pics...i can see why the tiffany solitaire is one to be replicated. it truly is beautiful and looks great with the bands and looks great on you too. congrats again on a wonderful and meaningful find..