I stumbled on PS and have been amazed at the wealth of knowledge and friendliness of the community here. As someone completely new to jewelry/colored stones, I have been pretty overwhelmed trying to learn from other threads, and decided to just go ahead and post my own.
My gf is a very different girl -- she's not girly at all and doesn't wear jewelry (doesn't even have pierced ears). The e-ring to her feels like a necessity that she doesn't really want or have strong opinions about. Her only request is to have no diamonds, and for something that isn't flashy or gaudy. But I still want to get here something nice, that is good value but not very expensive ($2k-$4k total budget -- she specifically asked for something not too $$), and that she may grow to like wearing over the years.
Because she doesn't want diamonds, and because she loves the color blue, I've been looking into sapphire rings. Before ever coming across PS, I originally bought (and later returned) a sapphire ring from James Allen. I liked their website and the ability to look at many sapphires up close, and ease of use of having a completed ring from one vendor (free engraving was great also). However, I wasn't too happy with the sapphire color when it came (looked pale and purplish in certain lighting), and so I returned it. And I later found out via PS that the quality of sapphires at JA isn't that great.
So I'm now trying to look for a better sapphire via PS, but the number of vendors seems overwhelming -- and it seems riskier to buy the stone and ring separately and fit them together. Also my experience with JA makes it hard for me to trust any of the pictures.
Would appreciate any advice you can give! To sum up, the parameters I'm working with is:
- $2k-$4k total
- vibrant, colorful sapphire that is of good value
- simple, classy setting with no extra diamonds (not gaudy)
- prefer one vendor for both stone and setting if possible with quality, easy-to-use service
To be honest, even after reading this forum a bunch, I'm tempted to just go back to JA and pick a more $ sapphire, discussing more with their staff, and hope it turns out better -- to me their service is top-notch and easy to use. But I'm perhaps hoping people here will try to convince me otherwise.
Many thanks in advance!
My gf is a very different girl -- she's not girly at all and doesn't wear jewelry (doesn't even have pierced ears). The e-ring to her feels like a necessity that she doesn't really want or have strong opinions about. Her only request is to have no diamonds, and for something that isn't flashy or gaudy. But I still want to get here something nice, that is good value but not very expensive ($2k-$4k total budget -- she specifically asked for something not too $$), and that she may grow to like wearing over the years.
Because she doesn't want diamonds, and because she loves the color blue, I've been looking into sapphire rings. Before ever coming across PS, I originally bought (and later returned) a sapphire ring from James Allen. I liked their website and the ability to look at many sapphires up close, and ease of use of having a completed ring from one vendor (free engraving was great also). However, I wasn't too happy with the sapphire color when it came (looked pale and purplish in certain lighting), and so I returned it. And I later found out via PS that the quality of sapphires at JA isn't that great.
So I'm now trying to look for a better sapphire via PS, but the number of vendors seems overwhelming -- and it seems riskier to buy the stone and ring separately and fit them together. Also my experience with JA makes it hard for me to trust any of the pictures.
Would appreciate any advice you can give! To sum up, the parameters I'm working with is:
- $2k-$4k total
- vibrant, colorful sapphire that is of good value
- simple, classy setting with no extra diamonds (not gaudy)
- prefer one vendor for both stone and setting if possible with quality, easy-to-use service
To be honest, even after reading this forum a bunch, I'm tempted to just go back to JA and pick a more $ sapphire, discussing more with their staff, and hope it turns out better -- to me their service is top-notch and easy to use. But I'm perhaps hoping people here will try to convince me otherwise.
Many thanks in advance!