Ring Shopping Advice

[Callisto]

Hello ladies! I''m sure this topic has been discussed in the past, but I did a quick search and didn''t find anything that answered my questions. SO and I went ring shopping for the first time today

and it was fun, but not terribly eventful. I think I spent most the time just explaining difference to him so that he knew what I was talking about when I described what I did and didn''t like. This was fine and dandy but I''d be interested to hear any general advice any more experienced ladies here have about the ring shopping experience. How did you get your SO involved in the process... any things you would have done differently....? Any advice or personal experiences are welcome.

Also, I''d really like to try a variety of things on in person before making any decisions. The jeweler we went to today only carried 3 brands (besides their outdated in house line of e-rings) so I''d really like to try on more. Do you suggest making a trip to the big guys (Robbins Bros... Jareds...?) or do you recommend local jewelers?

Also I''m really intrigued by antique rings so if anyone has any recommendations in the north Texas area (I live in a DFW suburb) I''d really appreciate suggestions.

 

[slg47]

hmm...do you know what you want? maybe going to a bigger store would help so you can try on more styles? I just told my BF what I wanted and we went to a few stores...

 

[mary poppins]

Congratulations on starting the process. Ring shopping is fun, but can be daunting and overwhelming at times. I didn''t have a dream ring in mind, so we started with a blank slate. First we went to a jewelry store that is popular for engagement rings in our locale. The saleswoman showed us a variety of shapes of stones in our size range which helped us narrow down what we liked and get an idea of price. FI wanted to buy online for cost savings. I was initially a little leery of purchasing a ring online. Then I looked at the "Show Me the Bling" forum on PS a lot, went to the diamond district, chain stores (Tiffany''s, Jareds, etc. - just to look, but definitely not to buy) and other jewelry stores to look at rings in person and try some on.

Basically, FI thought getting a stone online would be the most cost effective (better quality stone and bigger for less money) so I ended up looking at things online (SMTB threads and vendors) and then finding similar ones in person to try on. Also, if I found a style I liked in person, I looked for something similar online.

Ultimately, I admired a PSer''s ring which she got from WhiteFlash, tried a more expensive designer version on in person to make sure i liked it on my hand, and then FI purchased from WhiteFlash. It is beautiful, appraised well and my FI was able to save some money (the saleswoman from the first jewelry store we went to agreed that the stone was beautiful but could not match the price). My cousin''s now-husband got her beautiful ring online also and said the brick and mortar stores couldn''t match the price for the quality.

Good luck, I know you''ll find something out there! It just takes patience.

 

[mary poppins]

I forgot to mention in my post above that before and during the shopping process, we utilized the tools and knowledge sections of PS and also received valuable input from helpful people in the RockyTalky section.

 

[kagordo4]

I had my dream ring all planned. I had told my best friend what I looooved and she was ready to go shopping with SO.

Anyway, SO, being a former marine, jumped in alone and went to International Diamond Center after work... I think I was in Canada at the time. He was so overwhelemed and realized that although he knew what I liked, he wasn''t sure which "one" was right for me.

So fast forward a month, I get off the plane, hug SO and he almost burst open with: "Will you come ring shopping with me? I have no idea which ring to get you?" 5 minutes later.... "oh I missed you!" haha.

Anyway we went, I figured it would be a short trip to one store, find the setting, go home. So what I learned was: pictures you see online do not always look the same in person. That being said Verragio (the setting I loooooved) was totally out of the question, it just was not me, at all. I started to realize that everything I "loved" online was not me at all. I did almost a complete 180* from where I started.

So that super long-winded explanation was to get me to this advice one of my sorority sisters gave me, "Try on one of everything, girl!" So I did and found out that I was not the type of girl to put a ring on and have the gates of Heaven open, and Angels to fly out while playing harps, yeah that didn''t happen. I also realized I can tell you (and most certainly the nice man at the store) what I did NOT like but what I did LOVE was more obscure. We went to about.. 16 stores? No joke, maybe 17 I lost count somewhere. Then we ended up back at IDC, and I finally took my sister''s advice. I tried on everything and finally put on the last Tacori ring in the case, that I originally did not like and then the man put a princess cut head on (they come as semi-mounts) and I smiled. Yep that simple, it was the first time, and that''s when SO pointed out I "looked happy." I was : ) Now just waiting on him, I know it''s finished and in the safe but I''m being good and not peeking.

Sorry this was soooooooooo long, but I felt like you needed to know the back story first. Oh Oh Oh and Congratulations : )

 

[Callisto]

Date: 6/20/2010 11:24:30 PM
Author: kagordo4

Anyway we went, I figured it would be a short trip to one store, find the setting, go home. So what I learned was: pictures you see online do not always look the same in person. That being said Verragio (the setting I loooooved) was totally out of the question, it just was not me, at all. I started to realize that everything I ''loved'' online was not me at all. I did almost a complete 180* from where I started.


So that super long-winded explanation was to get me to this advice one of my sorority sisters gave me, ''Try on one of everything, girl!'' So I did and found out that I was not the type of girl to put a ring on and have the gates of Heaven open, and Angels to fly out while playing harps, yeah that didn''t happen. I also realized I can tell you (and most certainly the nice man at the store) what I did NOT like but what I did LOVE was more obscure. We went to about.. 16 stores? No joke, maybe 17 I lost count somewhere. Then we ended up back at IDC, and I finally took my sister''s advice. I tried on everything and finally put on the last Tacori ring in the case, that I originally did not like and then the man put a princess cut head on (they come as semi-mounts) and I smiled. Yep that simple, it was the first time, and that''s when SO pointed out I ''looked happy.'' I was : ) Now just waiting on him, I know it''s finished and in the safe but I''m being good and not peeking.


Sorry this was soooooooooo long, but I felt like you needed to know the back story first. Oh Oh Oh and Congratulations : )

Thanks for sharing! I agree things look totally different in person so I''d like to have tried my setting on before purchasing, though the main stone will either be vintage or from GOG.

I''m not really a "gates of Heaven" person either, which is hard sometimes. We''re so used to the chick flick movies and fairy tale stories that you "just know" when you see "the one" so it''s hard sometimes when I don''t feel that way. I know those are unrealistic standards in some cases but it''s hard to ignore them. Glad you found a ring that made you happy, even if there were no angels

. I hope I can find the same!

 

[Callisto]

Date: 6/20/2010 10:41:24 AM
Author: mary poppins

Basically, FI thought getting a stone online would be the most cost effective (better quality stone and bigger for less money) so I ended up looking at things online (SMTB threads and vendors) and then finding similar ones in person to try on. Also, if I found a style I liked in person, I looked for something similar online.


Ultimately, I admired a PSer''s ring which she got from WhiteFlash, tried a more expensive designer version on in person to make sure i liked it on my hand, and then FI purchased from WhiteFlash. It is beautiful, appraised well and my FI was able to save some money (the saleswoman from the first jewelry store we went to agreed that the stone was beautiful but could not match the price). My cousin''s now-husband got her beautiful ring online also and said the brick and mortar stores couldn''t match the price for the quality.

If I end up getting a new setting (as opposed to an antique ring) I think I''d like to do something similar. Look in stores but purchase online. Did you find that any of the chain stores were especially helpful in that? I''m a bit nervous to go to any ma and pa jewelry stores because I don''t want to deceive them into thinking I''ll buy there, it doesn''t bother me as much with the chain stores though. The last (and only haha) one I''ve been in, I felt like the salesgirl thought I was wasting her time so I didn''t feel too guilty.

 

[kagordo4]

Date: 6/21/2010 8:33:16 AM
Author: Callisto

Date: 6/20/2010 11:24:30 PM
Author: kagordo4

Anyway we went, I figured it would be a short trip to one store, find the setting, go home. So what I learned was: pictures you see online do not always look the same in person. That being said Verragio (the setting I loooooved) was totally out of the question, it just was not me, at all. I started to realize that everything I ''loved'' online was not me at all. I did almost a complete 180* from where I started.


So that super long-winded explanation was to get me to this advice one of my sorority sisters gave me, ''Try on one of everything, girl!'' So I did and found out that I was not the type of girl to put a ring on and have the gates of Heaven open, and Angels to fly out while playing harps, yeah that didn''t happen. I also realized I can tell you (and most certainly the nice man at the store) what I did NOT like but what I did LOVE was more obscure. We went to about.. 16 stores? No joke, maybe 17 I lost count somewhere. Then we ended up back at IDC, and I finally took my sister''s advice. I tried on everything and finally put on the last Tacori ring in the case, that I originally did not like and then the man put a princess cut head on (they come as semi-mounts) and I smiled. Yep that simple, it was the first time, and that''s when SO pointed out I ''looked happy.'' I was : ) Now just waiting on him, I know it''s finished and in the safe but I''m being good and not peeking.


Sorry this was soooooooooo long, but I felt like you needed to know the back story first. Oh Oh Oh and Congratulations : )

Thanks for sharing! I agree things look totally different in person so I''d like to have tried my setting on before purchasing, though the main stone will either be vintage or from GOG.

I''m not really a ''gates of Heaven'' person either, which is hard sometimes. We''re so used to the chick flick movies and fairy tale stories that you ''just know'' when you see ''the one'' so it''s hard sometimes when I don''t feel that way. I know those are unrealistic standards in some cases but it''s hard to ignore them. Glad you found a ring that made you happy, even if there were no angels

. I hope I can find the same!

I hope you find something beautiful and perfect without much hassle : ) only the fun

 

[Anonymous]

Ok so I had this HUGE, long winded thing typed out...then re-read your post and realized you didn''t ask about the shopping experience and that I''d missed the mark. So to save you all, I''ll summarize.

My FI had never been shopping for diamonds, I had but was still pretty darn clueless at the time. So we went to a B&M store (Shane Co)and both got a little "diamond tutorial", knowing there was *no* way we were buying that day. We wanted to see some sizes in our price range, and colors. At this point we touched on cut, but not very much. Interestingly, we did have that "THIS is the one!" moment actually with the setting. Ultimately we didn''t chose that *exact* ring, but a very similar (better!) style. It was the sweetest thing because she put the ring on my finger, then set a stone in it...and both of our faces LIT UP. It was a very reassuring "hey he''s serious about this marrying me business!!!" moment.

Anyhow, after that it was about 3 months of researching online for both of us - him the more technical (he''s a ceramic engineer, so it was easy to get him into the cut aspect of the research) and I looked up the different online vendors, found PS (yay!!!) and learned about the HCA calculator. I agree 100% with the "try them all on" comments for settings. Even though we''d found the setting on our first outing that we loved, we wanted to explore all of our options...and wow, did we! We looked online, and in B&M stores for a couple of months. We finally found exactly what we both wanted from a local jeweler a week before he bought the stone. It took a while, but once we had the money (literally that week!) FI bought the stone online from Blue Nile and had it set by our jeweler here.
The one "bad" thing he did was he told the jeweler that we''d already bought the stone because we KNEW that we were going to buy it online by that point. It allowed us to focus ONLY on the setting. The jeweler did ask us to let him check it out and run a sarin report on it to make sure that we were getting a stone that was what it was advertised at...and we happily agreed because we wanted to know too. So FI took the stone from BN to our jeweler, and it checked out GREAT. As in, 99% on the light return great. He set the stone for us for free since he was the manager and had done bench work for 15 years, and gave us the setting for $500 vs the $700 price tag (which I admit was inflated, but was well worth the final price).

I loved that compromise of buying the stone online and the setting in a B&M so the maintenance is covered on the ring (biggie since I wanted white gold and they do the replating for free every 6 months). We had it appraised, and when we told the guy how much we paid (after he finished) he jaw dropped!

The tip that we got from PS was that you can find the "signature ideal" quality stones at "ideal" prices (at least on BN) by doing your homework. Maybe we got lucky, but I''d like to think that it was good preparation! Also, the same is true for all stones - don''t just accept their label of "ideal", etc., you want to check it out for yourself and don''t buy a stone unless you can get those numbers. /end long winded post

Good luck, we really enjoyed our ring shopping experience, even with the minor bumps along the way with some TERRIBLE customer service from other B&M shops *cough*Jared*cough* and struggling to find a quality setting in the style that we liked.