Tiffany experience and the aquamarine legacy

[Emmy*]

Hi! This is my first post on the forum. Hopefully I am following the rules but I'm always scared I don't do things properly, so I am going to apologise in advance just in case.

I have a tonne of questions about the Tiffany & Co. experience and was hoping I could pick any veterans' brains for help in buying my ring, which I intend to buy myself in honour of my 21st birthday and the fact that I recently reached my goal (thought I would never get there!!) of losing half my weight. I've never had a birthday present or celebration in my life so I have decided to just go for it and splurge on myself...don't care if I'm going to have to sleep in a box for a couple months. Lol.

I have been looking around for a while and have seen some beautiful things, but nothing has captured my poor fluttering heart like the Tiffany Legacy with an aquamarine center. I just adore this ring and would love nothing more to be able to be a proud owner of one.

I visited the Tiffany & Co. store in Melbourne on the weekend but they said they didn't have any of the legacy rings with coloured stones (well, except for a green tourmaline.) The lady was so rude and haughty and impatient, and just made me feel like crap so I didn't stay too long. She said if I was serious, to call during the week with the size and budget I was thinking of, and someone would check with the NY store for me because they would have to order it in. I rang today and the lady I spoke to was lovely, but I was at work at the time so after giving them those numbers, I had to go and wasn't able to ask some other questions I had. It's after hours now though so I was hoping I could ask them here. Sorry in advance if they see tacky or ignorant... I don't really know anything about jewelry so this is my first time.

1. My first question is whether it is going to make a difference which store I buy it from. I read in some of the archives that there is quite a large pricing discrepancy between the London and New York stores. Will this be the same if I purchase the ring from Tiffany in Melbourne? It seems strange to me that such a reputable store wouldn't make sure their prices were uniform, even with conversion. I am wary of spending more than I might otherwise be able to get the ring for. I have saved forever - working 80 hour weeks while studying full time to be able to afford this, so this is a big issue for me.

2. When they say they would need to order it from NY, does that mean that I tell them what size I want, they put in the order, and then they send it here and I'm bound to buy it? While my heart's desire is to have this beautiful, beautiful ring, I am worried about not trying it on before I decide. I want to see what different sizes look like on my hand and whether it would be worth spending extra to get something slightly bigger etc. I have told her between 1.75-2.25 in carat size for the center stone but because I've never worn the ring, I don't know how I'll come down in respect to whether a larger version is worth the extra money, if you kwim. Do you think they would send out a couple of different rings in different sizes to let me see? If I needed to think about it (choosing between different sizes) would they hold them for a week or so while I make up my mind? Sorry if this is stupid, I just don't know much about jewelry and what is the done thing and what is not.

3. How easy would the ring be resized? I am worried that if my weight goes up or down, the ring won't fit me anymore and I won't be able to wear it.

4. Just in your personal opinion, is it better to buy the ring to suit my middle or fourth finger? I don't know anything about whether there's protocol for that or what is aesthetically deemed to better. I always envisaged wearing it on the fourth finger of my right hand but when I was trying on rings at the store, they seemed to keep trying to get me to put it on my middle finger. Did I make a faux pas with this? I know I am buying it for myself and I will wear it for myself, not other people, but the woman at the store was so awful, I couldn't tell whether the looks she gave me were because I was doing something wrong or whether she was just rude.

5. Finally, how does Tiffany work in terms of payment? Do you pay for everything outright or could I leave the majority there and pay the rest off in a couple installments? The reason I ask is that by my actual birthday, I will have about 70% of what the ring will cost, but would need another couple months to earn the remainder. I would love to have the ring on my actual birthday but don't know what it's like to buy something this expensive and what the options are in terms of the monies.

Thank you sincerely for reading or helping me.

 

[honey22]

Firstly, welcome to PS!!

Secondly, congrats on the weight loss - it''s not easy I know *at my 25kg mark now!* so well done!!

Thirdly, Tiffany - yummy!! I find that some SAs in Melbourne are nicer than the others, you just have to keep coming back in a lot (poor you hey!). Also, although ridiculously horrible and shouldn''t be the case - but if you dress up a bit, they tend to treat you a bit better, I get great service when wearing slacks and nice tops, heels etc, but when I am in my jeans and work jumpers, I tend to go a little un-noticed.

I found the same price discrepancy when I was purchasing earrings for my sister. The prices were much lower from the states (even accounting for the exchange rate) but when I emailed Tiffs they told me they do not ship internationally to Australia, so basically us Aussies have to purchase from Australian stores and cop the higher prices.

I think that they should be able to get a few in for you to view, especially if you are about to drop serious money in the place. I don''t know if they do some sort of finance arrangement but I can''t see them letting you take the ring home without paying in full using either cash or some form of credit. I''m not sure if you are stuck into the purchase when you order it, but I doubt that Tiffs would be that strict honestly.

Why don''t you try going back there and discussing some options. If you feel like you are not taken seriously, politely ask to see the manager and voice your concerns about the lack of customer service. I am sure this will help you!

Good luck with your search - and don''t forget to post pics when you get it!!!!!

 

[Deelight]

Hi Emmy* and welcome

Firstly congrats on reaching a personal goal that''s quite an achievement and happy 21st birthday in advance . I will try to answer your questions below .

1) Tiffany''s in Australia in my experience is quite a bit more expensive then the US stores, I am not sure of the exact margin but it is definitely higher, have you tried calling up the NY store and inquiring about some prices direct?

2) All of Tiffany''s rings that are on show (as far as I am aware) are a standard US size 6, I know they can order them from anywhere in the world but I am not sure on how many at a time they can order, I also don''t think that you are obliged to buy it but it would be best to check . Ask them (or you can call them yourself) to check the Brisbane store I know there was an Aquamarine Legacy there very pretty .

3) I say within 1-2 sizes it should not be an issue , but again the SA should be able to tell you .

4) The SA you dealt with sounds like a complete horror and I would seriously complain to her manager about her complete lack of customer service and how she showed a complete lack of respect to you. In terms of finger wear I don''t believe there is any protocol so I would wear it where you feel comfortable and where you like it and where you think it looks best .

5) I can''t help you with the last one sorry but I would assume they have lay-by.

 

[D2B]

Hi
Welcome to PS. I am not an old timer, but I do have a question. Are you determined to have a Tiffany ring?? If you post a picture of the ring in show me the ring, some of the others might be able to tell you about cheaper options for the same look either through other designers or someone like WF who will make it for you.

I started out wanting a tiffany eternity, (celebration ring), but once I researched the price difference and what I could save I went with one of the pricescope vendors. Although my final look was different from the original ring I wanted, as I changed my mind countless times through the process of researching. But I saved heaps and got some studs with the money I saved.

good luck and make sure you show us the ring you get. Tiffany does have some wonderful stuff.

Oh, yes I have also been in the Melbourne store and didnt feel it was particulary welcoming, mind you neither was the store in London (although on a subsequent visit I got a great guy to help me). It is amazing, how varied the sales assistants are, you would think good customer training would iron out those sort of issues.

d2b

 

[RxTechRN2b]

Congratulations on losing weight -- what an accomplishment, and an extremely difficult one at that! Also, happy birthday, I have a son that turned 21 this year my daughter will turn 21 on her next birthday as well. The SA should never be rude to anyone regardless of age or income, the only reason I can come up with is that maybe they thought someone so young could never afford that ring so why bother to waste their time. But there''s no excuse for that kind of behavior. Anyway -- I absolutely LOVE the tiffany legacy and if you want to wear it on your middle finger, it will look stunning there! An aquamarine center will be absolutely divine! You''re the customer, so you tell them what you want, no the other way around. As for Tiffany''s having layaway or credit options, I highly doubt it. I never asked, at the store where I shop I just use my checkbook. Once I wanted to use my debit card because I often don''t carry my checkbook, and even though the money came out of the same account, they wouldn''t let me purchase more than $2000 dollars in one day with it. The only option they gave me was to use a credit card, so I ended up splitting the cost with my debit and a credit card. I think if they had store credit they would have pushed that on me.

 

[Love Street]

Congrats on your milestones!! I have to say I've recently become obsessed with the aquaramine Legacy - aquamarine is my hubby's birthstone and I think the Legacy is one of Tiffany's most beautiful rings - I hope you're able to find one so that you can come backand post tons of pics! IMHO, I think wearing it on the fourth finger of your right hand would be perfect - it's what I would assume and I don't see a faux pas at all in trying it on that finger versus your middle finger - no idea why the SAs mighthave been pushing for the latter.

I can't answer your other questions except to say that in the U.S., Tiffany DOES have a "Tiffany Time Account," similar to a department store credit card but it generally requires a certain amount up front and is limited in the time you have to pay it off - similar to lay away. That's how we paid for my engagement ring there: I think it was 40% or 50% up front, and then we had 9 months to pay the balance with zero interest. I'm not sure whether they would have something similar in Australia, but you shouldn't feel bad about asking since it's a service they offer it in the US.

HTH - congrats again and good luck - and please keep us posted!!!

 

[diamondfan]

How amazing that you lost all that weight, and congras!

A legacy can be size since the shank is not pave''d if I am correctly remembering the ring.

I think Tiffany''s offers a non interest one year to pay plan, but I am NOT sure. I heard this a few years ago when I was in the store, I overheard the SA telling it to someone but cannot recall all of the details now.

Shame the cost is higher is Oz, that does not make a lot of sense but I hope it is not the case.

 

[bee*]

ooh I love the aquamarine legacy! Congratulations on getting to your goal.

I went to New York last year (from Ireland) to pick my ring and there was a huge selection in the New York store and it was much better value than in Europe. As far as I know, you can give them your specs and they''ll get it into the store that''s closest to you.
We had to pay for ours up front-I know that you can pay it over a year when you''re in the US but as I was from abroad, we didn''t avail of that option. I''m sure that your local store can go over options with you.

 

[Emmy*]

Thank you so much to all of you for taking the time to help me out! I really appreciate it. I feel a lot less disoriented after reading the advice and your experiences. And thank you for the kind comments about my weight loss. It is so strange to finally have gotten there. (From 100kg to 50kg.) People say annoying things like "It''s as simple as ''eat less, move more''" as if it''s that simple and that''s the end of it. LOL. Way easier said than done...

I am going to try ringing the NY store to just see what the difference would be and I will ask the Melbourne store if they have a version of the time account thingie. I will definitely share pictures when I get it and I think I will just write off that first visit with that awful sales person as just a bad experience.

It is also so nice to see Aussies on the board! When I was reading some other posts, I assumed it was a predominately American board because of the spellings of certain words. It is nice to see that we are slowly infiltrating the world. Lol.

Thank you again!

 

[cup_of_t]

Hiya Emmy!


I work at Tiffany''s in London so may be able to answer a few of your questions! Firstly, congratulations on the weight loss, thats some hard work you''ve put in there - and working 80 hour weeks? ouch!

The aqua Legacy is a stunning ring - all the coloured stones are actually. I''m going more down the green route myself but I can still appreciate the other stones! The stones tend to be a pale blue in colour but obviously each stone is different so you could get different colours in to see. The company work very, very hard to source beautiful stones though so whichever colour you go for it will be a good quality stone.


1) The pricing discrepancy: the prices are set at the ''ideal'' exchange rate to the dollar, which means that obviously due to fluctuations in economy sometimes some countries are higher than others. Also, countries have different customs/hallmarking issues which add to the price. Another thing is tax. In NY the tax is added at the till (and should ideally be legally declared at customs to pay tax if you want to get it insured) whereas especially here in the UK, tax is included in the price (and people travelling out of the EU may be able to claim some of it back). Our prices here are higher because of tax and customs - we have stricter hallmarking and assay so we have to prove how it came into the country to be able to legally sell it. (Obviously!!)

2) Its difficult to answer this because each country is different, but there is a hope of you buying it if the sales person is putting in the extra work to get something transferred. From NY to London we quote up to 12 weeks, and we have to put in a lot of paperwork to do an international search. Having said that, unless you''re having something custom made, sized or engraved you are under no obligation to buy it!!!!! Size wise you need to see different sizes to see how they go on your finger - and if theyre ordering from NY they will hold it for you. Maybe a week maybe not, it depends on the policy of the store.

3) Legacy is very hard to resize. We sell all the engagement rings in a US 6 (average) but I am an 8 and I''m about to get a Legacy for myself. In the UK we can size up to one size up or down but anything else must be sent to NY to be completely reset as the shoulder stones cause trouble with any larger resizing. Having said that, up should be easier than down - it depends on the workshop conditions in Australia and you would need to check.

4) The lady at the store sounds absolutely awful and I am ashamed that she works for the same company as I do. You can wear it on any finger you want to - thumb, toe, whatever! I think it looks better on the fourth (and mine will be engagement - but not a diamond!!) but whichever finger you wear it on, you need to think of the size of the stone proportion wise with your fingers. The pave around the edge changes slightly with different size stones and its personal preference.

5) I don''t know about Australia but in the UK you have to pay for it all in one go, I''m afraid.


I hope this has been even slightly helpful, if you have any more questions please let me know and I''l do my best!

T

 

[loriken214]

Hi Emmy!

Have you gotten your aqua Legacy yet?

Lori

 

[hknapp]

Hi cup_of_t,

It looks like Emmy has stepped out for awhile, but I wanted to thank you so much for your post! It was very informative and helpful. I hope she comes back and posts pictures of her aquamarine Legacy!

I have a question for you, if you''re still around. I see that you''re going with a gemstone instead of a diamond for your Legacy engagement ring, and I''m curious as to why. I assume you see all the most beautiful rings on a daily basis, so is this a matter of personal style, of finances, or something else? I ask not to be nosy, but because I''m thinking of doing the same but feel a little awkward about breaking with the diamond tradition. I''m intrigued by others who have decided to go this route. The Legacy setting is so gorgeous that it can support nearly any type of center stone!

I hope I haven''t hijacked Emmy''s thread too badly. In retrospect I should have started a new thread, but your reply to Emmy is what inspired my question. I''m apologize if I''ve irritated anyone.

Eva

 

[cup_of_t]

Hey Eva,

Your question isn''t nosy at all, in fact I think everyone who sees it once I have it will probably be thinking it but not brave enough to ask it!

I do indeed work with the most stunning stones - and I grew up assuming that for an engagement ring I would have a diamond, probably solitaire, etc etc.....and that was until I first saw the Legacy with the green tourmaline. It physically winded me and quite literally made my jaw drop and I knew from that moment that I wanted that ring and only that ring. I went home and phoned everyone in my family and told them about this stunning ring that I''d seen and my poor boyfriend heard about nothing else (we weren''t discussing engagement at that point, and I nearly bought it for myself as a cocktail ring before he hinted that it could be used on the other hand!)

When engagement became an option, we had may many discussions about the fact that it wasn''t a traditional diamond solitaire and he wanted to go for the Tiffany Classic. Don''t get me wrong, on some people the classic looks fantastic and I can stare at them in the caseline all day long - but on my hand? It just doesn''t look quite right. I''ve tried on diamond rings from .20 to 5 carats in colours of white, blue, pink and yellow and I kept going back and trying on the green legacy. All my (poor, poor) bored workmates have to put up with me trying it on and asking them what they think 50 times a day but quite honestly have said that it just suits me more than anything else and I glow when I have it on. My boyfriend and also my mother, having come round to the idea that it isn''t a diamond, think its perfect for me and all my friends think that it could have been designed especially for me. Even my boyfriend''s mother has been brought round to the idea!

There were (and are, every now and then) doubts as to the tourmaline being strong enough and I''ve asked the advice of 3 gemmologists at work who say that if I''m careful with it, there is no reason why it shouldn''t be worn every day but obviously to treat it as a tourmaline and not a diamond and that i''ll probably need to get the table polished every now and then.

I was also tempted by a stunning 1.01 novo but after hours (and hours) of trying the green, the novo, the green, the novo....the diamond just didn''t cut it on my finger. I actually think that it has something to do with my skin tone because one of my colleagues was trying on an I colour and it looked amazing but as soon as an I colour goes on my finger it looks so yellow its unbelievable. I do have quite a yellowy/pinky tone to my very very pale english skin so maybe thats why? Don''t know. I can still appreciate the beauty of diamonds but my finger just seems to kill them and they look dull and boring....and these are Tiffany diamonds and some of the most beautiful in the world!


As for prices, I obviously get a staff discount that I can''t really discuss (but its pretty good!) so I''m not looking at the retail prices. My boyfriend was really worried that if it wasn''t a diamond then people would think he was cheap and couldn''t afford a diamond for me. The retail price of the legacy I''m looking at is over £4200 which is enough to buy a rather large diamond at most places, and quite easily a .60 or .70 carat from Tiffany. So ok, the centre stone isnt a diamond but it has 42 diamonds around it and it knocks the socks off some of the diamonds available on the high street as engagement rings....so he''s come to see that it doesn''t look like a cheap ring by any stretch of the imagination!


I think I was always worried about what people were going to think of it not being a diamond - as much as you can pretend you dont care, I think theres always a niggly part of you that does. But I read a lot of posts on this site which made me see that as long as its the right ring for me, it shouldnt matter. And from the oohs and ahs that my friends give when I show them a picture of the ring (having to order one in as theres none in the UK at the moment apart from one which is too big for my hand).....who cares that its not a diamond. Its totally the right ring for me and as I''ve tried to convince myself to get a diamond as its the ''right thing to get'' but I just can''t convince myself - they just do not look as good as the green does!


What sort of ring were you looking at? Have you looked at any yet - or were you trying to convince yourself that a diamond is the only way to go? I know I am very lucky in that my boyfriend ''gave in'' and agreed that it was the ring that was to make me happy, not the ring that tradition dictates - and I''m quite spoilt and stubborn so I didn''t give up - its taken me nearly a year!

I''ll try and post photos of mine but because it has to be reset for my chubby hands, I probably wont have it before christmas (so long to wait!)

Do you have any other questions? As you can see, I keep going off on tangents and I just love talking about my green ring so I could type for hours and hours!



T

 

[arjunajane]

cup of t, I know you were speaking to hknapp, but I just wanted to applaud you on such on honest and informative post!

Welcome, and what a nice way to start at PS - I''m sure you will quickly get popular here with many people loving to hear the inside goss of Tiff''s

 

[Maisie]

Hi Cup of t. Your post was fab to read. Its nice to know you are following your heart and not tradition! I hope you will post lots of gorgeous pictures of your ring when you get it

 

[cup_of_t]

Emmy never came back to reply again, I hope she''s ok and that the horrible sales person didn''t put her off buying the ring, they are stunning -and theres a few new colours and stones being used now, like rubellite and spinel.

I finally have my ring (!) but haven''t sent it off to be re-sized yet but have taken a few photos and will try and attach them to this post for the people who were kind enough to show an interest!

I am so, so happy with this stone as it has so many different colours, yellow and green from one side, blue and green from the others and almost a slight green glow in low level lighting.

OK, here''s where I try to attach them!

 

[cup_of_t]

can you only add one photo per post?

 

[cup_of_t]

one more to go...

 

[cup_of_t]

There, I have many many more but I don''t want to overload the server!

The photos aren''t amazing, theres a dark window showing and the ring doesn''t have that when you look at it- but hey!

 

[Lurchie]

Ka-thunk.

That was

My jaw

Congratulations on your stunning ring. I loved your description of the first moment you saw it! I felt that way when I saw the Legacy with a Spessartite. And that was on line. I cannot wait to see hand pics!

 

[violet3]

Date: 9/29/2008 8:49:14 AM
Author: cup_of_t
There, I have many many more but I don''t want to overload the server!

The photos aren''t amazing, theres a dark window showing and the ring doesn''t have that when you look at it- but hey!

Please...more pics more pics!

it''s amazing and i am sure you just love it! I tried on the aquamarine legacy in the Las Vegas, NV store and it was a really teeny one, but it was INCREDIBLE....they also had a pink sapphire. There is just something so special about the legacy - no matter how many recreations or similar halo bezel rings i see, nothing can quite capture the proportions and elegance of that ring. Congratulations!

 

[MMT]

Cu of t your ring is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing

 

[loriken214]

AWESOME LEGACY.....LOVE IT....CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Lori

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Gorgeous, just gorgeous!!!

Oh, how I need to get a job at Tiffany''s!!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

On second thought, you really should start a new thread and post your pictures in Show Me the Ring. You''ll have to rename your pictures to repost them.

 

[lesco]

Cup of T ~ Come on you gotta give us some warning here!!!! I open this thread expecting something different and here you are with this beauty. WOW.

Thank you for sharing pictures and your story. I agree with DS, you should start a thread of your own to show off this gorgeous ring.Congratulations and enjoy in good health.

ETA. I so need a job at tiffany's.

 

[cup_of_t]

Thank you for all your lovely comments - although they''re making me want to have the ring on right now and I can''t!

I''ve just opened up another topic in ''show me the ring'' but there won''t be any new photos until its back from NY!

 

[katebar]

Gorgeous gorgeous ring. I can''t wait to see it on your finger. Well done!