what''s the funniest thing that you ever heard from a jewelry salesperson...

[Dancing Fire]

here''s couple of them a B&M salesmen told me.

1- our diamonds come from deeper mines,that''s why they sparkle more.

2- the reason platinum setting is so expensive it''s because,they need to mix gold with lots of palladium to make it white.

3- you always get more fire and brilliance from a colorless stone,it has nothing to do with the cut.

 

[perry]

"We have room to negotiate a bit on the price of this one....." as she handed me a "totally dead" 2 Carat, eye visable inclusions (from across the counter), simple Tiffiny style gold setting with a $63,000 price tag on it.

I believe that the idea was to get me to believe that $18,000 for a G-H/ SI - I/ lowsey cut, 1 carat diamond (or similar mark-ups on their other diamonds) were reasonable.

Of course; everything was on sale. I believe it was "1/3 off "today."



Perry

ps: The follow-up a month later. I wanted to take my GF to this store just to show how bad things could get (this was a normal B&M that was not in a mall); however, we walked in on a "going out of business" sale on almost the last day. Everthing was "1/2 off" and they had sold most of their diamonds and engagement rings already....

 

[Catmom]

"Oh, did you see it sparkle?" after I had gasped out loud when looking at a 2 carat I I2 through the loupe. No kidding, the stone was almost one solid exclusion, many of which you could see with the eye.

 

[tanuki]

I walked in to a jewelry store in a mall one time and was looking at a flimsy, lightweight gold bracelet.

Before I could even look at the price tag, the guy behind the counter was offering to sell it to me for about half of what he was asking on the tag. "for you, special deal today". Yeah, right.

Stuff like that doesn''t make you confident that you are looking at "fine jewelry".

 

[sjz]

"once you take it out of the store with all these bright lights, you won't see black spots at all"

 

[bluedawg]

"It has ''very good'' polish and ''very good'' symmetry. That tells you it''s an ideal cut."

 

[mrssalvo]

Me: Do you have any rings with pear sides?

Salesperson: Pear sides? I''ve never heard of that.

Me ; (very nicely) You know, something like Jessica Simpson''s ring?

Sp: oh I don''t keep up with celebrity or popular things.

another one:

Me; Do you have an shared prong bands with 2 or 3 pointers?

Sp: they don''t make them with such small diamonds b/c all you would see would be prongs..

 

[heart prongs]

"Why don''t you come back with your boyfriend."

Me: "Um, no thanks (big jerk)!"

 

[JCJD]

"Oh, fluorescence can make the inclusions more visible, so we don''t carry any."

"Hmm, pave.... you''re going to have to help me out on my terminology. Is this it?" *Shows me a channel-set band.*

As I was looking for a silver chain for an ebay pendant: "You know, you don''t find silver at too many fine jewelry stores, and that tells you a lot about its quality." Um, Tiffany''s sells sterling silver pieces buddy!

 

[IrishEyes]

" Some women just want size, no matter what the diamond looks like.... an older woman came in here once looking for a 2 carat stone. She didn''t care about the clarity or color or anything, she just said ''give me a 2 carat and all I have in $250''. So I sold her one for $250"

Are you kidding me?! I''m sorry, but unless that thing had been beaten by a hammer, I don''t think it was only $250 for a 2 carat!! And if that is the truth, then why are you carrying diamonds like that? I don''t want to do business with someone like that!

 

[sjz]

Another one I heard recently..."ideal cut, what''s that"?"

 

[IrishEyes]

Sjz - GET OUT!!!

They actually said that?!

 

[ame]

That the half-carat diamond which was dead and lifeless and the color of a chainsmoking caffiene fiend's teeth was as white as they come and worth 5500 dollars.

Oh and that Tiffany is the best there is. There surely is very little worse in my book.

 

[sjz]

Date: 5/7/2005 2:38:15 PM
Author: IrishEyes
Sjz - GET OUT!!!

They actually said that?!

Yup. It was some sales girl that looked like she was still in highschool...lol! Her manager was nearby and hurried over to explain that "their store" didn''t sell "ideal cut" diamonds because that was just a term used by other stores to justify their higher prices. She proceeded to show me a few of their so-called "premium cut" diamonds. Needless to say, I wasn''t impressed. This was in a "maul" store BTW.

 

[sjz]

Date: 5/7/2005 11:43:10 AM
Author: mrssalvo
Me: Do you have any rings with pear sides?

Salesperson: Pear sides? I''ve never heard of that.

Me ; (very nicely) You know, something like Jessica Simpson''s ring?

Sp: oh I don''t keep up with celebrity or popular things.

another one:

Me; Do you have an shared prong bands with 2 or 3 pointers?

Sp: they don''t make them with such small diamonds b/c all you would see would be prongs..

That cracks me up. I''ve gone into jewelry stores before and asked for certain cuts, and they look at me like I''m from outer space...lol. A few years back, I was looking for a blue topaz ring with a pear cut stone, and I stood there for quite a while trying to describe to the salesperson what I was looking for. It finally dawned on her what I was talking about and she said "Oh! You mean a tear drop shaped stone?". I was like "Yeah, now you''re in the ballpark."

 

[sjz]

After reading this thread (and laughing out loud I might add), I realize that it''s both funny and sad at the same time. I say sad, because it''s really too bad that often the customer knows more about the merchandise than the person who is selling it. And even worse (and the one I feel for the most) is the occasional customer who is CLUELESS and is relying on the sales people to be well-versed in the merchandise (or to even have some amount of expertise in the area).

I think back to my early twenties when I first started buying jewelry. I was one of those clueless consumers, and I know that some of my earlier purchases were, quite frankly, rip-offs. I didn''t know what to look for, and I let these uneducated sales people lead me into thinking I was buying the bargain of the century...lol!

It wasn''t until my sister, who was only a year or so out of high school at the time, got a job working in the DIAMOND section of a big time jewelry store that my eyes were really opened

!!! I started thinking about it, and realized that probably some of the other sales people weren''t any more educated or knowledgable about diamonds than she was.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

When I inquired about the "cut" of their stones, the reply was; "oh, what cut would you like--round, pear, emerald....."

cheers--Sharon

 

[reymyst]

My first post, yay! I''ve been waiting to share this with people who would appreciate the humor in it.



At a ''maul'' store of course. While standing in front of one of those little pyramid things you see everywhere that has the 4 C''s on it: "Cut. That''s nothing but shape. You know round... square..."

I couldn''t keep a straight face after that and had to leave..

 

[jellybean]

I actually had a sales lady tell me that an I colored diamond was more rare than a G! She also told me that white gold and platinum were old lady looking!

 

[Jennifer5973]

ME: "What isthe quality of the stones in this ring [wedding band]?"

THEM: "they are all grade A stones."

ME: "What does that mean in terms of cut and color?"

THEM: "They are Grade A."

ME: "Yes, but what color are they, as in F, G, H, etc., and clarity grade, like Si1 or 2."

THEM: "They are Grade A, like I said."

ME: "OK

..........but what does 'Grade A' mean?"

THEM: "Our store grades them as Grade A. That's our top class of diamonds."

"ME: What does that translate to in standard diamond grading for color and clarity?"

THEM: "They're Grade A (clearly getting impatient now)."

ME: "Thanks. I think I'll pass."

***

I am NOT even kidding--this is how it went. I'll never forget it.

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 5/7/2005 6:39

4 PM
Author: Jennifer5973

''They are Grade A, like I said.''

HI:

Thiis a hoot. Did the ring come packaged in a twelve section styrafoam "case"?

cheers--Sharon

 

[IrishEyes]

I just remembered another time I was at a small jewelry store for the first time, and the salesperson started bashing this other store on the other side of town. He spent a good ten minutes trying to tell me how awful that store was and how overpriced. He spent more time talking s**t then trying to show me diamonds. I didn''t stay very long....

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 5/7/2005 6:39

4 PM
Author: Jennifer5973
ME: ''What ae the quality of the sotnes in this ring [wedding band]?''

THEM: ''they are all grade A stones.''

ME: ''What does that mean in terms of cut and color?''

THEM: ''They are Grade A.''

ME: ''Yes, but what color are they, as in F, G, H, etc., and clarity grade, like Si1 or 2.''

THEM: ''They are Grade A, like I said.''

ME: ''OK

..........but what does ''Grade A'' mean?''

THEM: ''Our stores grades them as Grade A. That''s our top class of diamonds.''

''ME: What does that translate to in standard diamond grading for color and clarity?''

THEM: ''They''re Grade A (clearly getting impatient now).''

ME: ''Thanks. I think I''ll pass.''

***

I am NOT even kidding--this is how it went. I''ll never forget it.

sounds like Macy''s jewelry dept.they go by Grade A,AA,AAA.

 

[Jennifer5973]

DF, you''re right!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 5/8/2005 4:56:14 AM
Author: Jennifer5973
DF, you''re right!

Jenn
i''m never wrong.

what are you doing up at this hr? can''t sleep because of something big is comming.

 

[Jennifer5973]

Oh, brother...

No--I have severe seasonal allergies and pollen is released in the morning...I am sick as a dog, in spite of being on 6 prescriptions meds.

I get up between 4 & 5 AM, suffer and then try to get back to sleep for a couple of hours after my AM doses of medication.

 

[noobie]

VS2 inclusions are not black .....

Asked for radiant, given a cushion.... yes that''s a radiant

 

[fountainfairfax]

at a store in an outlet mall in FL after I commented to a friend how small a .75 faced up: "we cut our stones really deep like that so they'll stay in the rings better"


what???!!!!!

edited to add: an associate recently told me that when she & her now fiance were ring shopping a local jeweler told them RBs were "out of style, unpopular, and would probably only be used in earrings in the future."

 

[pearcrazy]

This conversation overheard while shopping with a good friend looking for a 3 stone emerald cut diamond ring.

Friend: "I''m looking for your emerald cut diamond rings."

Salesman:"Do you mean and emerald and diamond ring?"

Friend: "No I mean emerald shaped diamond, you know rectangular cut."

SALESMAN PULLS OUT A PRINCESS CUT RING

Friend: "No, that''s not what I mean, that''s a different look."

Salesman: "Oh, well these come rectangular too."

FRIEND HAS NOW SPOTTED AN EMERALD CUT SOLITAIRE RING AND POINTS AT IT

Friend: "See, like that one there, see how it''s cut"

Salesman: "That''s a radiant cut, it''s only an emerald cut when it''s a green stone."

Me:

 

[Jennifer5973]

Date: 5/8/2005 8:30

1 PM
Author: pearcrazy
This conversation overheard while shopping with a good friend looking for a 3 stone emerald cut diamond ring.

Friend: ''I''m looking for your emerald cut diamond rings.''

Salesman:''Do you mean and emerald and diamond ring?''

Friend: ''No I mean emerald shaped diamond, you know rectangular cut.''

SALESMAN PULLS OUT A PRINCESS CUT RING

Friend: ''No, that''s not what I mean, that''s a different look.''

Salesman: ''Oh, well these come rectangular too.''

FRIEND HAS NOW SPOTTED AN EMERALD CUT SOLITAIRE RING AND POINTS AT IT

Friend: ''See, like that one there, see how it''s cut''

Salesman: ''That''s a radiant cut, it''s only an emerald cut when it''s a green stone.''

Me:

That''s almost too unbelievable...almost.