e-ring dilemma.....help!

[musicman948]

oooooo I like that setting as well, although I would want it in platinum or minimum white gold 18k. Anyways, I am surprised Steven would do that to you at Tiffany, did nothing but good things for me.

Well, thanks for all the great ideas guys, I think I am now thinking more about the fact that I can get a bigger and better stone myself and get that Tiffany-like setting from PS than buy a smaller ring simply because Tiffany & Co. is stamped on it, however, we will see. Again, thanks!

 

[musicman948]

Although......

Signed Pieces does have a good Cartier piece for a great price at...
http://www.signedpieces.com/item.cfm?item_id=2390

Although still a little expensive for .41 carats, versus about .60-.65 is what I could get for that price on Whiteflash with the ring. Uggghhh choices choices, lol.

 

[ame]

Date: 8/4/2005 10:19:27 AM
Author: musicman948
Anyways, I am surprised Steven would do that to you at Tiffany, did nothing but good things for me.

I'm not. Not even the slightest bit. They treated us like dirt once they got our money, and we spent about 5-6x times what you did. And it was like pulling teeth to get our refunds.

 

[ame]

Date: 8/4/2005 10:45:40 AM
Author: musicman948
Although......


Signed Pieces does have a good Cartier piece for a great price at...

http://www.signedpieces.com/item.cfm?item_id=2390


Although still a little expensive for .41 carats, versus about .60-.65 is what I could get for that price on Whiteflash with the ring. Uggghhh choices choices, lol.

Go to whiteflash

 

[musicman948]

I''m goin to Whiteflash!

LOL, thinking about it, just sitting here, makes you think. Why pay all that money for a simple stamp on the inside of a ring, when you can get something much bigger for the same price? So, again, thanks guys, I am going to go with Whiteflash I believe since they do both the diamond, ring, and setting it.

As for Steven, I did NOT deal with him on the return, I had a taller guy with a really high-pitched voice, and he was great on the return, simply took it to the back to make sure I didn''t try swapping the diamond or scraping up the band, didn''t say anything bad to me. And I''m glad I dealt with him the last time rather than Steven now that you said that. It makes me sad to hear that someone who I trusted could be so two-faced, but that''s a salesman for you.

 

[moremoremore]

DUH! LOL...just kidding Trust us, your gal will be MUCH happier with larger or knowing that you got a good deal ... more than a brand name which is meaningless!


http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-1358910.htm#

OK PEOPLE, OUR JOB HERE IS DONE. GOOD WORK LOL...

Now if I can *just* get you to do white gold....

 

[ame]

No way. Platinum all the way.

I dealt with mostly women there, other than Steven and the AWFUL HORRIBLE INEPT MORON in the "repairs" dept. Other than the security guys I guess...

 

[moremoremore]

LOL...I hate platinum and how dull and dented it gets. I''m so much happier with my cheapie white gold...if I was doing an intricate setting with lots of stones I may do plat...but when the budget is tight...I''d like to put all of the $ towards the stone...the setting can always be changed

 

[ame]

See I had HORRIBLE luck with whitegold. Replating it every 2 weeks is ridiculous. My platinum has never "dulled" and Id rather pay upfront knowing that I can polish my dents as much as I want and I won''t lose any metal ever. My friend beats the hell out of her bands because she wants it not shiney and loves the wear.

 

[Slykat12]

Oh it was a custom one. That is why it s not on the site- I looked and looked. All I want is an elegant tapered platninum 6 prong. Hard to locate as pics online sometimes don't show the taper well.

You know music- Plat is 3 times the price of white gold but you can find lovely platinums for 600-1500.


That Whiteflash custom completely trumps the Tiffany replica in my opinion. To bad they won't do my setting.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 8/3/2005 11:38:50 AM
Author: musicman948

As for the link moremoremore posted, AGAIN, I am not interested in a Slightly Included diamond. Although the cut seems great on that diamond, as for clarity, I don''t want to be able to see any visible flaws. I suppose this was the original reason I liked Tiffany and why I would probably like Harry Winston or Cartier if I saw them in person, other jewellers you could spot the flaws in the diamond, even if it was bigger, they frequently used SI or even I diamonds.

Anyways, just thought I''d clarify that, I''m not interested in a human-eye visibly flawed diamond I guess. As for diamond suppliers, who do you guys think is the best for quality and price? Might as well set my standards high, thanks!

Music - hey, if you really want a VS diamond, then by all means buy one.

I respond only to your comments above, though, to help you. A fairly significant percentage of SI1 diamonds ARE visibly flawless to the human eye...meaning non-magnified.

I know you said you''ve seen SI1 diamonds at other jewelers and you could spot the flaws in them, but I''d point out that if you were viewing EGL, IGI or ungraded stones, that would explain why.

Folks here know that optimally cut diamonds mask inclusions, making them invisible to the naked eye. I own an SI2 diamond, and it has absolutely NO visible inclusions to the unaided eye. But then again, my diamond is an AGS0, exceptionally cut diamond.

Comparing run of the mill, average cut diamonds at the stores graded by lenient labs doesn''t really give you an accurate picture of what a well-cut SI diamond looks like.

Again, if you really want a VS diamond and that''s what you''re comfortable with, then go for it. But if you''re going VS because you''re under the *mistaken* impressions that SI1 diamonds will always have eye-visible inclusions, then you may want to reconsider and direct your attention to finding AGS0 diamonds to look at that are SI. You''d be mighty surprised.

 

[Slykat12]

Hmm still lookinhttp://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=7213284&ref=PS622

 

[MrsFrk]

Congratulations on your impending engagement!
Several women in my circle have Tiffany diamond rings, I can unequivocally state that you can DEFINITELY find a diamond that is just as sparkly and beautiful elsewhere. Tiff's does have some beautiful stones, but they also have the most phenomenal in-store lighting. I helped my friend Phil buy a stone for his now wife, he was going to drop a bundle on a lovely but small (in my opinion) Tiffany solitaire- he bought a stone online that is twice as big, and just as gorgeous and sparkly and firey as the Tiffany one, for about the same price.
Remember that what other stores (Whitehall, Kay, Zales) call SI stones are more often than not NOT certified by GIA or AGS...they are really I s, not a true SI. Good luck! Can't wait to see pics of what you decide on.

 

[musicman948]

Yeah, I''m a platinum fan as well, I''d rather have a few dents than be scratched up and dulled out after 5 years!

As for Whitehall and the other cheapo jewelers, I agree on the SI thing. Any jeweller that has to sell you a free STAR named in her name to pawn their "White Star" diamonds off on you have to be ripping you off. However, I have looked at a few SI1 stones graded by GIA from local jewellers, and I just liked the VS1-VS2 better. Call me weird.

And yes, I will agree that Tiffany''s lighting is supurb, but I had a cheapo diamond ring in there from Helzberg I bought a year or two ago, it was a POS I''ll give you that, but it didn''t sparkle at all, not even a bit, so the stones do have to be somewhat good to catch their lighting.

I''m still a little shaken and betrayed by your story about the salesman from Tiffany. Makes me wonder what would have happened had I had HIM again on the return.

 

[ame]

A fight. I can PM you a small snippet of what happened with them to give you an idea that they are no better than any other shady mall store with a few "reasonably" naive and "honest" sales folk mixed in with the standard sleezy sales person, then again, I shouldn''t have expected anything out of the FRONTENAC sales force. The only folks I have encountered there worth a crap of my time would be at Saks and J Crew.

Anyway...keep us in the loop!

 

[Slykat12]

Looky at dis one
http://www.goodoldgold.com/0_60ct_g_vvs2_h&a.htm

and

http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=8448855&ref=PS622

annnnd

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=GIA-13466390.

Actually right now using your preferences and excellent cut parameters dirtcheap has the most choices followed by goodoldgold then wf. So I would similtaneously look at settings from all 3 to get a package.

 

[EZ]

Nice finds there. Almost makes me wish I hadn''t already purchesed.

 

[treysar]

Here''s another way to look at it - if someone see''s your fiance''s ring, the first thing they will probably say is wow, that''s a beautiful, shiny diamond. The LAST thing they will say to themselves is, "gee, I wonder if that''s from a brand namestore. hmmmm". Generally, I think most would prefer a well cut stone that''s bigger as opposed to branded. No one has ever said to m, wow, your ring is so pretty, where did he get it? They just say, "wow your ring is so pretty".

 

[Slykat12]

Actually in my experiance alot of folks ask "where did you get it?" But I am proud to say online as I beleive I know alot about rocks and believe most b and m stores sell lower quality and/or have inflated prices. I also hated the way I was treated at b and m stores.