Antique engagement ring on a budget

[innerkitten]

My boyfriend and I are looking for a ring. I really like antique jewelry so we''re looking for an antique ring but we''re having a hard time finding rings in our price range. We would like to spend less than $3,000. Luckily I like the more delicate styles and actually prefer smallish diamonds in general. A .50 or .60 diamond is perfect for my hand.

Anyway we have been to a few local stores but the prices were pretty high. The stores online seem to have better prices. We had one shipped out for a private viewing two days ago, but it turned out to be... well not as described. They had said it was an antique but my jeweler said it was a reproduction, plus it had a chip in the stone, and it was supposed to be an I but was more like a K. So we sent it back. They have a very good money back policy which is one of the reasons I decided to have them send it out, I wouldn''t have ordered anything online if I knew I couldn''t return it. I didn''t have to pay anything to see it just the price of postage sending it back. But I''m not so sure I want to have anything else sent out from any other sites.

There are a few rings in my price range at one of the local jewelry shops here here in San Francisco that are really nice, but although they have the platinum top where the diamonds are mounted, the shank is yellow gold and I wear a lot of silver, would that clash??

If anyone has any tips or ideas for me as far as getting the right ring for the right price please let me know.
Thanks.

 

[cmcwill]

Hi!
I'm looking at antique settings as well. Were you looking to spend $3000 for the complete ring? I assumed so because you said you were on a budget...but if I'm wrong, there are a lot of antique settings below $3000 out there, for just the setting. Coast is one of them, they hand engrave everything.
You might try to find a jewler that can do their own hand engraving. My friend purchased a setting and then had a leaf design engraved on the band. Another good place would be estate sales. My other friend found her engagement ring (complete diamond and setting) at one, and just fell in love with it. They were on a very strict budget and I think you might be able to get that lucky too! I think that if you wear a lot of silver jewelery you should hold out till you find a white gold setting. You want to love it from the beginning, not settle for something your not comfortable with.

Good Luck!
Colleen

 

[glitterata]

I assume you're looking for a completely antique ring, right, not just an antique-style stone in a reproduction setting? That's my preference, too.

I know there are some sites that claim to sell antiques, but I don't have much experience with them. Valeria, I think, recently posted one that had me drooling. I think Nelson Rarities was one site that looked legit to me, though perhaps pricy? I know there were others. I bought a repro setting from Antiqueengagementrings.com, but they also sell some genuine antiques.

I've had a lot of success with one rather unconventional method: Surf ebay for a genuine antique setting, then select a stone and have it set. If you keep obsessively checking ebay, you can find a lovely old platinum setting with diamond pave for under $300. It takes persistance. You have to look for a setting that someone removed the center stone from to reset it. Then you might have to have the prongs rebuilt--in one case, I had the entire head replaced--which can cost up to another couple hundred dollars or so. This way, your risk is limited to the cost of the setting, not the cost of the whole ring including the stone. I felt perfectly fine risking $250, where I would feel less comfortable risking $3000.

Of course, the hard part is to make sure you're getting the real deal--somebody's grandma's setting, not some badly cast reproduction. But if you look at enough of the things, you start to get a feeling for it. If you have luck and find a nice setting that way, you could then ask the Pricescope community for help finding a lovely old-cut stone to go in it.

Would that do--would you be happy with a genuine antique setting and a genuine antique stone, even if they didn't start life together?

You should also check out pawnshops, antique shops, and flea markets.

 

[glitterata]

Kitten, I PMed you.

 

[innerkitten]

Thanks for your ideas . Yes I want a whole ring with stone, but I wouldn't mind taking the other route. I guess I just need to keep looking around.