Anybody buy their e-ring in a downtown jewelry district?

[kkulbo0]

If so, was it a better deal than purchasing from online vendor?
Can you haggle down the price if you flash cash to their face (not literally lol)
If they show the certificate, can I trust what they're selling me or do I need to take it to another jeweler?

 

[OCgirl]

I almost bought my ring from a jeweler in the LA jewelry district.

In my opinion the seller was not very honest. By not very honest I don't mean he's lying to me or selling me diamonds that don't match the certificates. By not very honest I mean I know he's telling me what I want to hear. He told me a cut of a diamond is not very important because he was trying to sell me a GIA good cut diamond. Thinking back I am not very happy about that. He was also unwilling to bring down the price for more than 5% (we offered all cash). I ended up walking away from the deal.

I think these places are definitely a good place to *see* diamonds in person and educate yourself (how color sensitive you are; what does "eye clean" mean to you). But unless you are very educated about diamonds and know what you are doing, I think you are at risk.

 

[mrs jam]

Two popular vendors here on Pricescope are actually brick & mortar stores in my downtown diamond district, so it's all the same to me. Also, if you find a diamond online that you're interested in seeing in person, it doesn't hurt to ask your jeweler if they can get it in for you to check out. My dad's jeweler does it frequently for my stepmom because Dad's old- fashioned and refuses to shop online.