$5K to spend-new ring or secondhand Tiffany?

welcome gracey! If you can find a second hand Tiff soliare you love in the 1 ct range in your budget and you love the blue box I say go for it.

If not, I would work with a PS vendor to pick your perfect diamond and design the ring you want. (Excel and Brian Gavin especially have gorgeous Tiffany solitare replica settings...)

If the blue box is appealing to you, then why not hunt down a second-hand Tiffany?  Sounds like that''s what you want to do yet feel like you are suppose to consider other options.

If you really love Tiffany, I think buying a ring from them secondhand is a wonderful to purchase the sure to be heirloom rather than pay the traditional mark-up on a new one. Although there are very good Tiffany reproduction settings out there the original is still the best IMO. Please be careful buying on ebay though. There are a lot of fake Tiffany rings out there that look very authentic. Signedpieces is a pricescope vendor who sells secondhand tiffany items and are very reputable so you might checking with them when you are ready to see what they have or wait until the find what you are looking for, then you don''t have to worry about a fake. Finding a seller who can meet you at tiffany''s isn''t a bad way to go either so they can authentic the ring b/f any money changes hands.

I also agree going with a second hand T&CO.

I think you will be surprised to get another ditto for buying the second hand ring!

I don''t think you''d get a carat at Tiff''s for 4-5K so buying one secondhand seems to be a great alternative.  Second the thought about SignedPieces - just keep watching their website.

I think that Tiffany rings drop in value at about the same rate as others. 5k is about half the value of a new one, and that is about what you would get if you tried to sell any other ring of similar specs (50%).

But get one if that is what you want! Five thousand is a good price for a 1ct diamond.

Date: 1/31/2010 8:10:10 PM
Author:gracey
I have been lurking on this board off & on for years and appreciate all of the information that is shared!
I am torn what to do...we are already married so there is no time deadline, this is an upgrade for no special reason-I have about $4-5k to spend.

I have a Tiffany wedding band & 2 other T & Co. items, so I do like the appeal of the ''blue box''. I am trying to decide on a new stone (close to 1ct, eye-clean, that faces-up white, not worried about paper specs as long as it looks good) with a simple platinum setting vs a second hand Tiffany solitaire. Resale Tiffany rings seem to be priced about $5k from reputable sellers on ebay from time to time in the 1 carat range.

I realize that some of the vendors here have great buyback policies, but what if they ''close shop'' in a few years...at least the Tiffany name seems to have held some value over they years. (I don''t plan on upgrading/selling, it is just a matter of conversation about the implied value).

Any advice? THANK YOU!

Seems a bit low priced and I''m not sure what you mean by reputable dealers selling Tiffany rings. TIffany a couple years ago tried to sue ebay and lost for the use of the Tiffany name by ebay vendors but if it is a genuine tiffany ring, (as checked and appraised by TIffanys) and the vendor has a reasonable return policy and excellent feedback(and the purchase is fully insured by Paypal), I''d say getting a 1 carat tiffany ring for 5k is a fantastic deal, beware of fakes and scams though this pricing sounds a little too good to be true.

i''m in a similar boat as the OP,

its like tiffany''s is the be-all-end-all

I''m eyeing a set from JA, and i''m curious if someone can point me in the direction to get the PS discount as well as how buying from Canada works.

Date: 2/1/2010 2:22:18 AM
Author: diabolical7

its like tiffany''s is the be-all-end-all

and to some folks it is and to others it isn''t. it''s all dependent on the opinion of the recipient.

QUOTE]Date: 2/1/2010 2:22:18 AM
Author: diabolical7

I''m eyeing a set from JA, and i''m curious if someone can point me in the direction to get the PS discount as well as how buying from Canada works.

If the Tiffany name is special to you, you are happy with it being second-hand (and FWIW I would be), and you can get a comparable ring for the same price, then go for it!

Signedpieces is where we got my ring but it wasn''t 5k.  That sounds low for a 1 ct. Tiffany ring, unless you''re under a carat.
Also, they are under new management and seem to rarely, if ever, have second hand Tiffany rings.    

The good news is you can have the ring appraised at Tiffany''s for about $200 to confirm that its authentic.  Just be careful on Ebay, its a pain to deal with if you have problems.  I would try to find a jeweler with a B&M store that was selling there.     

Thank you all for your advice & encouragement!  

We went for it & got it....  .97ct I, VS2.  I took it to Tiffany's for confirmation, they wouldn't look at it. (The drama of that trip is worth a whole other post).  It is too bad that Tiffany won't do it for a fee, I would have paid, it could be a source of income for them since they can't stop secondhand sales.  I feel it is a material item, what's the difference.....anyway...

I took it to an independant local jeweler that we trust & had them look at it under the scope for $20. They confirmed the laser inscription on the stone & the specs were legit.   Yippee!!  
THANKS AGAIN!!  (Sorry pic is large & blurry--the ring was on the car's dashboard and my focus was off)

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Looks great Gracey!

Try again at another Tiffany, just tell them it was given to you by a family member or something and they will take care of it for a small fee. Many others here have done it.

Congrats on your new ring!

Buying second hand sounds like a great way to maximize your budget. I''m sure you can get something great if you are patient and look around for awhile.

HOWEVER some thoughts about Tiffany''s generally,

From what I have seen, buying from Tiffany''s is liking flushing money down the toliet:

1. They have worse diamonds than other top vendors, for higher prices
2. While their settings are obviously very nice, they are not as detailed or intricate as other top designers, but again, cost as much.

Tiffany diamonds are only better when they can objectively be measured to be better. While admittedly, they may be generally better overall than a mall jewelry store or average B&M, they should not be compared to them because they do not have comparable prices.

Tiffany''s does not compare well against the H&A diamonds you can get at Whiteflash, Gavin, GOG, etc for comparable money. In many cases, Tiffany''s costs as much or more, and you are getting an objectively measurable, obviously worse diamond.

If you look at things objectively, you see that Tiffany highly specializes in nothing. They do not specialize in H&A diamonds like Whiteflash, Gavin, James Allen, GOG. They also do not highly specialize in intricate detailed settings like Tacori, Beverly K. You pay money like you are buying both specialties, and get neither. Instead you overpay $2,000 for a marketing campaign + a $10 box OR get a worse ring than you could have gotten for the same $ elsewhere + a $10 box.

Now, obviously Tiffany''s has nice rings, they are just not good value for the money.

In short, you will get less for your money buying Tiffany''s when instead you could be focusing on diamond quality paired with a setting you love. Either a designer setting (with some actual detailing for the $, Tacori, Beverly K)or a design similar to the Tiffany''s options (leading to a lot of saved $). You will end up with a nicer diamond paired with a nicer settings for the same money OR a nicer diamond paired with a similar setting + spare $.

Now that I''ve done my preaching, I will say that I do not know if overpaying for value extends to the ''preowned'' Tiffany market. I have no idea how Tiffany''s used rings compare to say H&A diamond rings set in designer settings, or H&A diamonds set in comparable Tiffany''s-style settings.

Enjoy your new ring! A new piece of jewelery that you actually want is ALWAYS fun!  

Well said, Matt

I still think you should try Tiffany again, I don''t know why they didn''t help you (other than they go crazy about eBay sales) unless you were just asking them to authenticate it for you (which I kind of understand, because from what they told me they have people coming in asking about doing that for eBay items several times a day, most being counterfeit silver charms/bracelets, etc.). I bet if you go in (and you might want to try a different Tiffany if they already know you) and say you bought from a "friend" rather than online they would treat you much differently, and don''t ask for authentication. You can pay to have them issue you a new revaluation certificate in your name for insurance purposes, and they will do all the cleaning/servicing for you as if you were the original buyer.

I just did this with my eBay Tiffany ring. I took it in to get the band changed from Plat to gold and get a revaluation certificate. I didn''t bring up that I wasn''t the original owner. It might be easier to have a girl do this because they don''t expect the girl''s name to match the original buyer anyway. When the buyer''s name came up and she assumed it was my fiancee, I just said flatly that my fiancee''s name isn''t the one registered with the sale and that was that.

Congrats on your ring!