chicago-where to go to find a ring

[kit0110]

my boyfriend wants me to go w/ him to find an engagement ring. Where
should we go? I see a lot of posts saying Tiffany is overpriced.
btw, I would like him not to spend too much. any advice would be helpful.

 

[boilermakerfan]

If you are looking for sheer volume of designs, you can''t beat jeweler''s row down on Wabash. It might not be the most pleasant of places to visit, but they had a lot of different stores, with a lot of different styles. We tried a lot of the ''chain'' jewelry stores in the burbs as well, but they pretty much had all the same type of stuff.

Once you have a style you like, you can shop around for the cheapest price (be careful though, sometimes price sacrifices quality).

 

[Racer811]

In my experience, those street level shops on Wabash sell only junk (yes, despite what they''ll tell you) and use some pretty high-pressure tactics. We checked out a few places for ideas, but ended it at that. I also went into some upper-level shops down there, but never found ANYONE who would address cut quality. It was VERY frustrating. The extent of the conversations were: "yes, cut is the most important factor. We sell the best quality, you''ll just have to trust me on that." My other favorite was "ahh, all the cuts out there nowadays are really fine, so you don''t have to worry about it." What a bunch of theives. Pricescope was a godsend, and I ended up buying from a pricescope vendor. I HIGHLY recommend the same.

 

[RN18]

My husband is from Chicago and many years ago (!), we went to Goldins on Michigan Ave. and had a great experience dealing with them. Members of our family still purchase special items from them on occasion. I would advise checking them out, if for no other reason that to experience the store itself and the great service. You do need an appointment, I think, so call ahead. We dealt with Terrance, who is still there and is very helpful and nice to work with. Good Luck!

 

[jimhwu]

Try Dimend Scaasi. www.dscaasi.com

Isaac is a great guy and honest. He might not match what some internet dealers in pricing, but comes pretty close in my experience and of course there is tax. However, he has a high power microscope to check out inclusions, firescope, idealscope, H&A viewer, and etc. all for you to use to make your decision. Bring some printouts from pricescope and see what he can do. The store is located in 5 S. Wabash (17th floor, I think). I bought both the engagement ring and wedding bands there with my wife.

Another plus is that PGS is located in the same building, so you can get a diamond appraised before making any decision (you pay for it of course).

My wife actually bent her wedding band on our wedding day

to the point of 3 little diamonds popping off and disappearing. It was a pretty delicate looking floral vine band. He fixed it for us for free without question. I can''t really complain about that kind of service.

Jim

 

[lindsal]

Totally second the Dimend Scaasi suggestion. I had a terrific expereience with Isaac and his staff. He will really work with you to make sure that you get the stone you want. He shipped mine in from California for me to review with a few other stones he had in house already. Great guy, Great service, Great Staff. Check him out.

 

[tv77]

We spent time at two different places in Chicago:
Steve Quick Jewelers on Clark St (@ 2400 North)
and
Holtzmann on Clark St (@ 2400 North as well)

They both had both beautiful stones and beautiful settings, and the prices seemed very reasonable. They both took time to explain anything we wanted, and both made efforts to acquire the stones we wanted to see.

At Steve Quick - ask for Marsha, and at Holtzmann''s - ask for Michael.

-Teresa

 

[kit0110]

thank you all for your help. we''ll be checking out the stores in the next couple of weeks.