Show me your biggest jewelry purchase regret!

[braga123]

The heirloom thread has taken on a life of it's own! Too much fun! How about going in the opposite direction and sharing stories and pictures of our biggest jewelry purchase regret! I would start, but I am still choosing.

 

[heididdl]

My third paid of diamond studs. I started at $2,500 for 1.60 tcw . Then upgraded to 1.90 then 2.05 I should have gone right from 1.60 to GIA certified 3x studs. I had to waited sell a bunch of stuff lose money on the 2.05 as trade in to get my current 2.41 studs and these are still EGL certified. If I had taken the money and the upgrade after the 1.60 I would have gorgeous (maybe the same ones I have now) GIA 2.41 studs and have safed a lot of money.

Guess I should havve found PS a couple years earlier

 

[missy]

An aquamarine and diamond ring my dh and I got in Rome in 2004. I was just swept away by the beauty of Rome and drunk with purchasing things all over Italy lol. I tried this ring on at a jewelry store and loved it without knowing a thing about aquamarines or diamonds for that matter. And my dh ever the enabler (g-d bless him) insisted I get it. Well that was a 5K mistake! But live and learn and I have since learned from hanging out on PS that it has a huge window. But since we got it during an idyllic time I will always associate good memories with the purchase despite that fact. However if I had to do it all over again I would use that 5K for a more worthy purchase...

If I have the energy I will take some pics later.

 

[diamondringlover]

I bought this ring on a whim, no cert, I was told 1.24 TCW H-I color, SI1-SI2...I just dont love it and have been thinking about selling it.

 

[SB621]

Almost everything I bought in Asia when we lived there before I found PS!

 

[motownmama]

 

[motownmama]

I also have a sapphire with a big window and a small chip. It is platinum with baguettes and I bought it for $700 - so, maybe that's OK. I definitely do wear it and I do get compliments............... Ah - the regrets!

I also bought an emerald ring years and years ago when I got my first promotion. I got it at Bailey Banks and Biddle. Later I decided I'd been ripped off and hated it and tried to sell it to an estate guy - he had this look on his face like he smelled a bad odor...... Anyhow - eventually I had the stone put in a really pretty halo setting and I LOVE it - the emerald is nothing to write home about, but it is sentimental and I do love it now. There are pics of it here on PS somewhere.

 

[motownmama]

OK - so now this is the exact opposite of your question, but in my own defense I bought this sapphire eternity ( pls excuse the pic) at an estate store in FL for $200 and I took it to an appraiser (kinda antiques road show, but she did have credentials) and she said worth about $2000. woo hoo!

 

[doberman]

My diamond studs. I still wear them every day but they are nothing to write home about. I color, SI1 3.01ctw. Knowing what I know now I would have gone for a much better cut. But they sparkled so much in the store

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Well, I'd say about 90% of everything I bought before PS! But to be fair, when I was younger I couldn't justify buying the quality I buy now. But I would have just not bought some of the things, period, if I could go backwards in time!

I guess I'll say the biggest mistake money wise would either be the oval sapphire Princess Diana ring that I had to have just like millions of other women at the time or my first pair of 1.5 ctw studs! The ring was bought through an upscale department store when we lived in Chicago, I think, and it has a dark blue sapphire that needs light shining on it to see the blue! It does have nice quality diamonds in the halo, however! The studs were bought at a jewelry show and I was SO stupid to believe they were H SI! They were decently cut and were beautiful, but I had no loupe then! Once I found PS, I took the studs to a jeweler who told me they were I1's! So I traded then in for partial credit on an Ebel watch and started over with WhiteFlash studs! I can't get a picture right now of the ring. It isn't ugly but it just has a sapphire that is much too dark!

 

[Laila619]

My original e-ring...a $6500 waste of money and mistake!

 

[sonyachancs]

I'm not nearly as prolific as you guys in teh gems department so i don't have anything to add to this.. except I wish my relatives and parents hadn't bought me such deep yellow jewelry when I was little. it's absolutely old-fashioned, and there's no way i can make it look good next to my skin - which needs whiter tones.


motownmama, wh's wrong with these? I think they look beautiful and very versatile!

 

[motownmama]

Thanks Sony, but here's the truth: the ruby/diamond band(Amazon.com) is just not good quality, probably $300, and I've got a couple other ruby bands each @ $700 - so waiting would have been better. The diamond band (JTV) - is 18K, full eternity and came in my size 4.5, which some cheepies don't - it was $200 - I kinda consider it a beach ring - the diamonds are kinda milky - duh! The bar-set amethyst ring is pretty well made, and I guess i fell for it b/c I love purple and it was from a local, long-standing B&M and I like to throw some of my support that way. I almost never wear it. I think if the bars could be smoothed down a bit that would help, but I'm sure the labor is not worth it.

 

[madelise]

I bought a 1ct+ solitaire off of eBay once. It was clarity enhanced yet still looked like warm puddle water. It was disgusting, and it arrived the day after I got my Lasik, so I still had blurry vision. I just saw sparkles. Two days later, when my blurry vision waned off a bit, I saw what a hideous thing that "diamond" was. This was obviously prior to PS. I didn't know what CE was.

 

[ringbling17]

Surprisingly, I don't have any. I loved each and every piece I purchased, no matter how big or small.
They seemed appropriate for what I wanted at the time and I would never have changed anything for something else.

My style has definitely changed over the years, ESP the past 11 years I have been on PS, so things that I would have purchased then, I might not necessarily purchase now. I have been lucky enough to sell some of the things that I no longer wear.

There are probably only two things that I have sold that I really regret selling. But that's another story!

 

[-Bella-]

Yeah my engagement ring...... The amount we spent we could of gotten something with a higher carat and more to my taste. But in scything that we did buy this when we were 18 (26 this yr) so my tastes have changed dramatically but i think it is time for an upgrade (much to the husbands dismay ha ha) and to sure my DSS and get something more bang for your buck

Hindsight is a pain isn't it ;D

 

[missy]

An aquamarine and diamond ring my dh and I got in Rome in 2004. I was just swept away by the beauty of Rome and drunk with purchasing things all over Italy lol. I tried this ring on at a jewelry store and loved it without knowing a thing about aquamarines or diamonds for that matter. And my dh ever the enabler (g-d bless him) insisted I get it. Well that was a 5K mistake! But live and learn and I have since learned from hanging out on PS that it has a huge window. But since we got it during an idyllic time I will always associate good memories with the purchase despite that fact. However if I had to do it all over again I would use that 5K for a more worthy purchase...

If I have the energy I will take some pics later.

Here you go. I love the setting and the profile but that window .
Please excuse my irritated and red hands...was just doing some house cleaning and washed hands and they are quite irritated.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I purchased a .80ct OEC in a BGD Barbara setting on LT last year and it's got a horrible fish eye It faces up huge and I still wear it. The only regret is that I hadn't really looked at the stone more closely. But it was an impulse buy and the price was good. I doubt I could have afforded a better cut stone of the same spread.

 

[iluvshinythings]

I've made a couple of huge mistakes recently. I won't even talk about my stupidity prior to PS!!!

I bought a "blue" diamond on "sale" during a cruise. The purchase was made after the hubs and I had shared a bottle of wine. I asked the sales lady if it was a genuine diamond and she said it was and I asked if it had been treated and she said it wasn't. The original price was $2599, but I talked them into discounting it to $1750. When I got home and did some research I found out that it was irradiated. I've listed it on Ebay for $350 and can't get rid of it.

I'm still not thrilled with the setting for my CC garnet. I've tried to love it and I just can't. The setting is super sparkly but it's a halo and the garnet didn't fit inside the halo so the jeweler stuck a basket on top of the halo. I love the CC garnet though. One of these days I'll re-set it.

 

[Roxy]

Surprisingly, I don't have any. I loved each and every piece I purchased, no matter how big or small.
They seemed appropriate for what I wanted at the time and I would never have changed anything for something else.

My style has definitely changed over the years, ESP the past 11 years I have been on PS, so things that I would have purchased then, I might not necessarily purchase now. I have been lucky enough to sell some of the things that I no longer wear.

There are probably only two things that I have sold that I really regret selling. But that's another story!

I was thinking the same thing, but hesitated posting it. In my case though it's because DH purchased all of my jewelry, I didn't own anything when we met. So from the first ruby/diamond ring he surprised me with, he's bought me something every year for either an anniv or birthday or mother's day or something special, so it all means so much and I don't have any negative feelings towards any of it.

That said ......... awhile back I was taking a picture of my current wedding set to post on another thread and I pulled out my original wedding set for comparison and DH and I were both cracking up. OMG, the chips in the first semi-mount compared to the H&A melee in my current rings is insane. We defiinitely don't regret the original ring, but he's trying to help me capture the difference in a photo because it's just too funny !

 

[Bailey_Lou]

Roxy: Awww, that's so sweet of your hubby. Also sweet of him to understand that your taste in jewelry is moving up due to PS LOL

 

[soxfan]

MANY things before I found PS. God, if I could ONLY go back in time...

 

[GliderPoss]

This is a hilarious thread! I regret nothing now but PPS (Pre-PriceScope) lots of regrets! Most of it is now worn for purely sentimental reasons so I keep it but umm yeah.. massive windows, synthetic stones, ebay finds, overpriced junk...

In fact I really wish I could go back and find PS before my first ering - think it would have made such a difference! Now my family give me flack for having so many "engagement rings" (I basically only wear rings on that finger so they are all the same size) and kinda make out like I'm so spoilt/shallow about it. They'll never understand the drive for gemstone perfection!

 

[Roxy]

Roxy: Awww, that's so sweet of your hubby. Also sweet of him to understand that your taste in jewelry is moving up due to PS LOL

Thanks ! He really is a sweetheart in a lot of ways, and being "very understanding" is one of a very long list of them LOL .

 

[LLJsmom]

Half eternity pave band. Need FULL eterntiy...

 

[Acinom]

A very very expensive huuuuuge bezel halo for my 5.3 ct OEC. The design looked so pretty with 1 ct stones, but with mine it looked like a huge flying saucer. I had it then transformed by the same jeweller into a simple bezel which was a nice modern setting but a complete mismatch with my antique stone

I then started a thread on PS and my stone is now set into the Sophia with french cut sides by VC the art deco setting is a great match with my stone. I have found a forever home for my diamond love:

 

[missy]

A very very expensive huuuuuge bezel halo for my 5.3 ct OEC. The design looked so pretty with 1 ct stones, but with mine it looked like a huge flying saucer. I had it then transformed by the same jeweller into a simple bezel which was a nice modern setting but a complete mismatch with my antique stone

I then started a thread on PS and my stone is now set into the Sophia with french cut sides by VC the art deco setting is a great match with my stone. I have found a forever home for my diamond love:

3rd times the charm Acinom and so glad you found the setting of your dreams to match the diamond of your dreams...a perfect match!

 

[MarionC]

These are pretty but they never really worked for me - the ruby was an impulse buy 20 years ago and shortly there after I had the second one made to stack...the ruby was the roof of the house and the diamond was the "house" : )
I guess I had too many setting ideas back then too!
I should sell them, but have been lazy about getting an appraisal.

 

[hathalove]

These are pretty but they never really worked for me - the ruby was an impulse buy 20 years ago and shortly there after I had the second one made to stack...the ruby was the roof of the house and the diamond was the "house" : )
I guess I had too many setting ideas back then too!
I should sell them, but have been lazy about getting an appraisal.

I think they are nice. Not my personal style but lovely. I have seen people in CS making rings similar to this. You might be surprised at how quickly you may be able to sell them. Especially since they are sitting!

 

[hathalove]

A very very expensive huuuuuge bezel halo for my 5.3 ct OEC. The design looked so pretty with 1 ct stones, but with mine it looked like a huge flying saucer. I had it then transformed by the same jeweller into a simple bezel which was a nice modern setting but a complete mismatch with my antique stone

I then started a thread on PS and my stone is now set into the Sophia with french cut sides by VC the art deco setting is a great match with my stone. I have found a forever home for my diamond love:

3rd times the charm Acinom and so glad you found the setting of your dreams to match the diamond of your dreams...a perfect match!

And it's forever home is amazing!