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Anyone familiar with rings from Blue Nile??

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paulc8125

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Feb 10, 2006
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I have been doing some looking around and research for an engagement ring that would be great for my girlfriend and hopefully soon to be fiance''. I am a little tentative to make such an important purchase online but was referred to a site called bluenile.com. You can do the build your own ring thing and I did happen to find something that would be perfect. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about them and/or could give any advice concerning blue nile and purchasing online in general. Thanks.
 
As I understand it, Blue Nile is sort of at the extremes of online shopping. They''re reputable and they''re big. On the other hand, they''re expensive compared to the other online shops and they aren''t particularly personal (because they''re so big). They have very little information on their website and I don''t think they perform many services for you--like getting idealscope pictures or regular pictures (Someone correct me if I''m wrong). I can''t speak to the quality of their settings or anything like that, I''m sure they''re good.

Maybe someone who has had more dealings with them can fill you in better.
 
Thanks for the reply, Gary. Any others that you may be more familiar with and recommend?
 
I know exactly what you are going through. I just made my first internet purchase of a diamond and I was definitely weary of the whole process. I looked at Blue Nile and after comparing their prices with other sites and getting advice from others on PriceScope I decided to purchase at another internet vendor. I purchased mine at JamesAllen.com and could not be any happier with the finished product. If you look through the forums the same internet vendors continue to be mentioned. I would highly recommend JamesAllen, Whiteflash, or GoodOldGold. These seem to be the consensus favorites and I had really good experinces dealing with all of them. I found BlueNile's price to be higher and they would not allow me to send a diamond to an independent appraiser without first purchasing the diamond. All of the internet vendors that I mentioned earlier will allow you to have your diamond sent to an independent appraiser before purchasing the diamond. Hope this helps and good luck with your search for the perfect diamond for your budget. Here is a tip post a topic requesting help in locating a particular shaped diamond and the helpful, knowledgable people on this site will almost always help you find one.
 
We had a great experience with Union Diamond (another Pricescope-recommended merchant).
 
Thanks guys. And James, you were allowed to have the ring sent to you and appraised before you purchased it or how did that work? I really have no idea. And I am looking in the $5,000 range if that helps anyone in advising me.
 
I was just looking at James Allen and the build your own ring setup looks exactly like the one at bluenile.com. Are they related at all?
 
Paul, I had the ring brought in house by James Allen and they sent me pictures of the diamond, performed a megascope report(the same as a sarin it just tells you the measurements of the stones) and an idealscope image (this shows you how much light leakage a diamond has) of the diamond. After viewing the pictures and the other other reports of the diamond I requested that the stone be sent to my independent appraiser. James Allen shipped the diamond to my appraiser who confirmed the dimensions and the grading of the diamond. The appraiser gave me a appraised value of the diamond and answered all of the questions that I had about the stone. After feeling comfortable that I wanted to actually purchase this diamond I contacted James Allen and arranged payment for the diamond. James Allen issued a full release to the appraiser who then shipped the diamond directly to me. JamesAllen has a thirty day refund policy if you are not happy with the diamond once you receive it. WhiteFlash has a ten day return policy and I am not sure about GoodOldGold''s return policy. Hope this helps if I can clarify anything in the process for you just let me know. I had about the same budget as you and feel like I got a really great value for my budget compared to all of the brick and mortar jewelers that I checked with in my area. You said that your budget is 5000 but what shaped stone are you looking for?
 
No JamesAllen and BlueNile are not related, but DirtCheapDiamonds and James Allen are both owned by the same person. I noticed that when I was looking for diamonds that Whiteflash and JamesAllen in particular had alot of the exact same diamonds listed on their sites. This is because these diamonds are not ones that they keep inhouse. I can tell you that BlueNile was about 200 hundred dollars higher than GoodOldGold for the exact same radiant cut diamond.
 
She originally liked the good old marquis but it looks like the princess cut has taken the lead. I like the princess myself. BlueNile also has a 30 day return policy and even the wooden boxes that the ring comes in are identical on the bluenile and JamesAllen sites.
 
I am only telling you what my experience has been. I would encourage you to do some research and order from the vendor that you feel most comfortable with.
 
I see some things I really like at the James Allen site. How did your financing go out of curiosity. I would want to put a couple thousand down and finance the rest. Do they require money orders and what type of financing did you set up James? Sorry if I am becoming a pest!
 
Anybody else?
 
Hi again Paul
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I am not too sure how all the financing works, but you could secure a diamond with your $2k then organize the rest however you want, pay it into your bank and the usual method of payment to vendors is by wire transfer. Also if you do this, if you purchase from a PS vendor of which BN is one, you can claim a PS discount.
 
Hey, my new buddy Loarlei!! What do you mean by a PS vendor? And what kind of discount are you talking about? With my $2,000 that would secure the ring and then they would obviously finance the rest? Like a payment plan? By June I would have enough to just pay the rest off, but not really until then.

Also, is James Allen a PS vendor as well?
 
Hee hee
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A Pricescope vendor is one who is under the vendors list at the top of the page under resources. Click on diamond vendors and you will see a list, of whom BN is one. If you buy from them and mention you are a Pricescope member you can get a discount if paying by wire transfer. I can't remember off the top of my head what the discount is but I will look into it for you unless anyone else chimes in who knows how much.

Are you looking into a finance plan with BN? If so I am not sure how the discount would apply but you might get something if you pay your $2k by wire - best to ask the vendor.

I was looking at an older post on the discount and it seems that with some vendors, the price they list the diamonds for on the Pricescope list is lower than on their own website, and that is the PS discount. Just check with your vendor to make sure they are giving you their best price. This might be the case with Blue Nile, but ask to make sure.
 
This may or may not help you. I looked up all of my prospective vendors on the Better Business Bureau website and I used the one I feel most comfortable with. Currently I''m designing my engagement ring with WhiteFlash. I would just pick who you are most comfortable with. I almost went with blue nile but they didn''t have the exact setting that I wanted.
 
BlueNile offers financing through MBNA they are one of the few pricescope vendors that does offer financing. I also inquired about putting a downpayment on a diamond and most vendors required a 20% downpayment to hold the diamond and would not release the diamond until the balance was paid in full. I would call to see what the vendors are willing to work out with you. Lorelei is correct about the vendors not listing the pricescope discount on their websites but if you just mention that this ring is listed on pricescope they will give you the discount. My discount was about two hundred dollars. Hope this helps
 
Sorry Paul I do not know if I completely answered your question. I paid for my ring through a wire transfer. BlueNile offers 90 days same as cash with a really high APR after that I cannot remember what it was, but I do know that I would of been better off getting a personal loan at my bank or credit union if I was not going to pay it off within ninety days. Here is another tip Paul check out the ideal dimenstions for a princess cut or whatever fancy shaped diamond you are searching for. You can find this information in the knowledge section of this website. Just select advanced tutorial from the dropdown list and click on the fancy shaped diamonds on the left hand side. These charts proved to be very valuable to me in finding a really great cut diamond. This really helped me narrow down my selections from the thousands of diamonds out there. Hope this helps. This link should take you to the cut grading charts for princess cuts: http://diamonds.pricescope.com/fnc1.asp
 
Hey Paul,

Like others on here, I would recommend that you do more research before deciding where to purchase. My friend''s husband purchased her 2 carat, E, VS2 with 2 ctw sidestones from BlueNile and they are extremely happy with the purchase. Her ring is beautiful and I was catch myself eyeing it, admiring the sparkles. I''ve bought some other stuff from Blue Nile (not as expensive, of course), but was not really impressed with their jewelry.

Their designs, in my opinion, tend to run on the simpler side; with fewer twists to make them unusual and one of a kind. Hope this helps.
 
Hi, Paul, you''ll be so glad you found this site before you make your purchase! I don''t know a lot about princess cuts, but there are those that do, so once you narrow down your selection a bit, you can post the statistics on here and get some feedback. In my own search, I found Blue Nile a bit higher than some others, but if their financing is important to you, then that might be the way to go. Otherwise, you could charge the difference on a credit card and buy from one of the lower priced vendors and surely not pay as much in interest as the increased price at BN. I have been shopping on the James Allen, WhiteFlash, Good Old Gold, and Winfield''s sites, and they have all been very nice and willing to answer questions. Good Old Gold also has some very nice diamond education on their site aside from what is here. I love looking at all the diamond shapes on their homepage, too! Several people who started out looking for a princess cut changed to one of the other square shapes after learning about the others! But princess cut is popular, so you shouldn''t have any trouble finding one you love! I just wish I had found this site before I bought my diamond earrings a couple of years ago!
 
I love my BN ring. My huband did alot of looking around (although not alot of PS type research) and although he did pay a more than he would have at some other places, we are very happy with the ring and purchase process, 4 years later.
 
I ordered my setting from Blue Nile and so far, I''ve been really impressed with them.
 
I have a Blue Nile ring and am very happy with it. The 30 day return policy is generous, and more than enough time to get the ring checked and appraised.
 

As a serial Blue Nile shopper I think that I can speak on this subject. My fiancé and I have been purchasing from Blue Nile for about 3 years now. The center stone in my engagement ring is from there. Also my preset diamond stud earrings and pendant that I recently had reset into white gold. I have pearl earrings and a pearl pendant from them. I have purchased some gifts for family members. I plan on purchasing a pearl bracelet from them for my wedding. Last week I just returned a chain that was bought for me from there. I also had a co-worker who's engagement ring was one of the pre-set platinum 1 carat diamond ring that Blue Nile offers and she was very happy with them. Lastly, fiancing. Fiancing is very important to some who don't have the cash up front. I have to say that purchasing, returning, and exchanging products from them has been a very pleasant easy experience.


As far as them being pricey, I believe that they are very competitive and my center stone was an absolute steal! As far as quality, I've been very happy! Recently when I got my earrings and pendant reset I was worried that the inclusions would be visible but they were not. My local jeweler didn't even know that they were SI2 clarity until I told him. I also like the fact that they don't have a restocking fee. You can also buy another setting from them and have them reset the original diamond that you initially bought from them. Lastly they have a 30 day return policy and my fiancé likes this the most. On the other hand, they do not have a trade in policy that other online vendors have. So depending on what is important to you, you can weigh and evaluate what you want. Good luck.
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I absolutely LOVE Blue Nile! Between my DH and I, we''ve purchased three items from them.

We bought my engagement ring from BN in November 2002. It''s a 1.06, F, VS2 princess cut set in their platinum cathedral setting. I love love love my e-ring! In Feb. 2003, I bought my wedding band from them, a 3mm plain plat band. DH knew I really wanted the .50ct. princess channel platinum diamond band and surprised me with it for our first anniversary. I now where that one as my w-band and my first w-band on my right hand :)

We were pleased with BN on my engagement ring and recommend them to all. My brother bought his wife''s e-ring there (RB 1.60ish ct. H, VS 1-2 Ideal cut, simple gold 2mm setting- it''s gorgeous!) in March 2003 and a good friend of ours bought his wife''s e-ring there after seeing mine in March 2003 as well.

I don''t think you can go wrong with BN :) To be on the safe side, we did have my e-ring appraised by Martin Fuller within the 30 day return period. He said it was more E than F and said we got a good deal and a beautiful diamond.

Good luck!
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Carrie
 
Thanks guys. And what exactly does Blue Nile do with the finacing??? I wish they had a little better selection of settings with sidestones. THere is one at James Allen that I love.
 
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