joeaboveaverage
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2004
- Messages
- 4
LONG POST - And I can''t figure out the paragraph breaks..
I know, it''s only Thursday, but I have been trolling on the board trying to come to some conclusion on who to trust, where to buy, what to buy for a e-ring. I bought one today, and it might be helpful to those considering a B&M to read my take on the purchasing process. (now that I''m done)
The purpose of this post is to counter some of the anti-Tiffany sentiment, though I did not end up purchasing from them. Sorry, this post is a bit long..
First of all, let me say that I have fairly traditional values, and that I definitely saw this as an emotional purchase, and was aware that I needed to feel comfortable with what I purchased.
I saw Tiffany as a place worth the merit of my interest. Internationally reknown.. and the name has practically become an adjective in the english language to describe things of fine quality. But by the same token, I wanted to do my homework, to make sure, on all fronts that I was making a wise decision. I read many of the Tiffany and anti-Tiffany posts on this website. Some I found insightful, some I found ignorant.
Many other posters considered a person who shops at Tiffany lazy, spendthrift, stupid, unwise, etc. These posters were suggesting buying over the internet based on a GIA (or other) report on the specifications of the diamond and it''s cut. In fact, I found the discussion of the depth percentage in the cut, flourescence, and the other specifications associated with a diamond to be both excrutiating and unenlightening.
Also, I found many of the people posting ''advice'' here have personal agendas in the business - promoting their own goods and services and are hardly objective. But there are a great many people here on the sight who''s opinions I''ve agreed with.
There are many of us who want to go to a place like Tiffany, because we want the safety of dealing with a highly reputable jeweler. I want the jeweler to be versed on the varios specifications both objective and subjective on the gems. I wanted to understand what I was buying but did not want to become an expert - no casual buyer is going to gain an expertise in a matter of days weeks or months leading up to a purchase.
I decided to go into the city (NY) and do some shopping - I went to Tiffany, looked at many fine rings in the Tiffany setting. I was surprised to see the color difference so evident in an "I" color versus a "D" to the naked eye. I was also surprised at the size differece a trade-off in quality made for my budget. Having read many of the posts on here, I confirmed that Tiffany doesn''t really grade their cut - they just assert that they have very high quality standards. I took down some pricing information and a business card and wanted to shop around. While shopping at Tiffanys was nice, I certainly still wanted to see what other options lay out there.
I headed across the street and down to the next corner to Harry Winston. I''m sure those of you buying over the internet don''t care about shopping experience and service, but for those of you who do, this was an eye opener to me. I walked through the doors (which for all the 5th ave window shoppers, many were looking none were going in) and was greeted by a man at a reception desk asking how they could help. I asked to see a sales associate and proceeded through the second set of doors into the main sales showroom, which unlike any other jewelry store was almost completely void of glass display cases. Instead there were desks and comfy chairs to which I was led and seated across from a sales associate. I explained what I was looking for and she asked many questions about my girlfriend, her style, body type, etc., and after a short discussion, left to return with a tray full of several different styles, along with another associate who was to serve for the next 45-60 minutes as the hand model. They were extremely friendly, informative, and willing to share their opinion on different options and choices.
They only stock rings with D E & F color grading and down to a VS2. I did not have an enourmous budget, but as other posters have mentioned, they start around 15k. Although, I had gone into this process thinking the classic Tiffany setting was to my liking, I quickly became enamoured with the HW setting with side stones. I saw both the brilliant and emerald cut, and saw different size and specifications. In the end it came down to a fairly simple decision on a ring that really connected to me. I was surprised by a few facts here, that the rings are actually hand made upstairs in the 5th ave property and they seem to have sales personell with many years experience and many at HW - I think mine had been at HW for 18 years and in the business for 35. Many people may think all this pomp and circumstance is irrelevant compared to getting the best price on a particular specification, but for the amount of money I was budgeting, I only wanted to hand that kind of cash over to the most respectable dealers. I found their pricing not significantly higher than Tiffany, though there wasn''t maybe as much range...
I think that the objective here is to find a ring within your budget, that you love, and that you feel good about the purchase and good about the people you were dealing with. If it is Tiffany, fine, Graff, Harry Winston, Van Cleef, etc great - and you may have a local jeweler who has an outstanding reputation - what''s important is that you feel good about your decision. For some people that means negotiating the best price for a set of specifications, for others it means something else.
The concern I have/had over the internet trade is evidenced by scrolling down the board and reading the posts of people asking if they got a good deal, or the posts of people who bought their diamond from ''XYZ Online'' and took it to a jeweler, and it was a fine gem. I won''t have to take this ring to anyone else, and I won''t need to address the former either. I feel good about my decision, and I would hope other people who post on this board who are going to Tiffany or anywhere else, should not be ostracized by this community for doing so. And by the same token, I see the need that is satisfied by the internet dealers in helping people with more limiting budgets than mine and don''t find fault with them for that, but sometimes the chatter on this board had me irritated and had me driven to write this post.
I would wish everyone the same satisfaction with their purchase as mine, regarless of your decision of dealer, online or other.
I know, it''s only Thursday, but I have been trolling on the board trying to come to some conclusion on who to trust, where to buy, what to buy for a e-ring. I bought one today, and it might be helpful to those considering a B&M to read my take on the purchasing process. (now that I''m done)
The purpose of this post is to counter some of the anti-Tiffany sentiment, though I did not end up purchasing from them. Sorry, this post is a bit long..
First of all, let me say that I have fairly traditional values, and that I definitely saw this as an emotional purchase, and was aware that I needed to feel comfortable with what I purchased.
I saw Tiffany as a place worth the merit of my interest. Internationally reknown.. and the name has practically become an adjective in the english language to describe things of fine quality. But by the same token, I wanted to do my homework, to make sure, on all fronts that I was making a wise decision. I read many of the Tiffany and anti-Tiffany posts on this website. Some I found insightful, some I found ignorant.
Many other posters considered a person who shops at Tiffany lazy, spendthrift, stupid, unwise, etc. These posters were suggesting buying over the internet based on a GIA (or other) report on the specifications of the diamond and it''s cut. In fact, I found the discussion of the depth percentage in the cut, flourescence, and the other specifications associated with a diamond to be both excrutiating and unenlightening.
Also, I found many of the people posting ''advice'' here have personal agendas in the business - promoting their own goods and services and are hardly objective. But there are a great many people here on the sight who''s opinions I''ve agreed with.
There are many of us who want to go to a place like Tiffany, because we want the safety of dealing with a highly reputable jeweler. I want the jeweler to be versed on the varios specifications both objective and subjective on the gems. I wanted to understand what I was buying but did not want to become an expert - no casual buyer is going to gain an expertise in a matter of days weeks or months leading up to a purchase.
I decided to go into the city (NY) and do some shopping - I went to Tiffany, looked at many fine rings in the Tiffany setting. I was surprised to see the color difference so evident in an "I" color versus a "D" to the naked eye. I was also surprised at the size differece a trade-off in quality made for my budget. Having read many of the posts on here, I confirmed that Tiffany doesn''t really grade their cut - they just assert that they have very high quality standards. I took down some pricing information and a business card and wanted to shop around. While shopping at Tiffanys was nice, I certainly still wanted to see what other options lay out there.
I headed across the street and down to the next corner to Harry Winston. I''m sure those of you buying over the internet don''t care about shopping experience and service, but for those of you who do, this was an eye opener to me. I walked through the doors (which for all the 5th ave window shoppers, many were looking none were going in) and was greeted by a man at a reception desk asking how they could help. I asked to see a sales associate and proceeded through the second set of doors into the main sales showroom, which unlike any other jewelry store was almost completely void of glass display cases. Instead there were desks and comfy chairs to which I was led and seated across from a sales associate. I explained what I was looking for and she asked many questions about my girlfriend, her style, body type, etc., and after a short discussion, left to return with a tray full of several different styles, along with another associate who was to serve for the next 45-60 minutes as the hand model. They were extremely friendly, informative, and willing to share their opinion on different options and choices.
They only stock rings with D E & F color grading and down to a VS2. I did not have an enourmous budget, but as other posters have mentioned, they start around 15k. Although, I had gone into this process thinking the classic Tiffany setting was to my liking, I quickly became enamoured with the HW setting with side stones. I saw both the brilliant and emerald cut, and saw different size and specifications. In the end it came down to a fairly simple decision on a ring that really connected to me. I was surprised by a few facts here, that the rings are actually hand made upstairs in the 5th ave property and they seem to have sales personell with many years experience and many at HW - I think mine had been at HW for 18 years and in the business for 35. Many people may think all this pomp and circumstance is irrelevant compared to getting the best price on a particular specification, but for the amount of money I was budgeting, I only wanted to hand that kind of cash over to the most respectable dealers. I found their pricing not significantly higher than Tiffany, though there wasn''t maybe as much range...
I think that the objective here is to find a ring within your budget, that you love, and that you feel good about the purchase and good about the people you were dealing with. If it is Tiffany, fine, Graff, Harry Winston, Van Cleef, etc great - and you may have a local jeweler who has an outstanding reputation - what''s important is that you feel good about your decision. For some people that means negotiating the best price for a set of specifications, for others it means something else.
The concern I have/had over the internet trade is evidenced by scrolling down the board and reading the posts of people asking if they got a good deal, or the posts of people who bought their diamond from ''XYZ Online'' and took it to a jeweler, and it was a fine gem. I won''t have to take this ring to anyone else, and I won''t need to address the former either. I feel good about my decision, and I would hope other people who post on this board who are going to Tiffany or anywhere else, should not be ostracized by this community for doing so. And by the same token, I see the need that is satisfied by the internet dealers in helping people with more limiting budgets than mine and don''t find fault with them for that, but sometimes the chatter on this board had me irritated and had me driven to write this post.
I would wish everyone the same satisfaction with their purchase as mine, regarless of your decision of dealer, online or other.
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