best place/process of buying a tennis bracelet

[jeffd]

Hi,

My wife's tennis bracelet slipped off her wrist when we were visiting dc. She has a big birthday coming up and I thought it would be nice to replace the bracelet, maybe 5-7 carats. Using the search feature, I see IDJewelery is oft-recommended, anywhere else I should look?

If I were to use IDJewelry (or any other seller), how does one go about buying a bracelet? Just use the website? Are the prices on the website final? I work in NYC and could stop by but admit to being intimidated by the whole diamond district scene. One of my friends had an uncle who owned a shop there, I spent one afternoon in the shop and saw more sharp business practices in four hours than I've seen in a lifetime.

Anyhow, thanks for any help you could provide.

best,

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I prefer WhiteFlash for tennis bracelets because I think their quality of diamonds is the best. They have it in several different carat weights.

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamond-bracelets/three-prong-diamond-tennis-bracelet-501.htm

A member here just got one from them custom made in a higher weight:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-3-prong-7-8ctw-bracelet-from-whiteflash.185098/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-3-prong-7-8ctw-bracelet-from-whiteflash.185098/[/URL]

You can order from the website or you can call. The prices are as stated. I think there is a $100 discount for first time buyers and a little discount for paying by wire.

 

[jeffd]

thanks! I see by your post count you've contributed a lot to this forum. Have you bought pieces from both places (IDJ and WF) and compared the differences? or is this common forum wisdom? or does it come from looking at photos?

thanks again!

 

[donnabrsd]

I am the member that just got the Whiteflash 3-prong 7.8ctw bracelet. It is the most beautiful bracelet I have ever seen. The diamonds are spectacular and sparkle like crazy.

The 6ctw was just as beautiful. I ordered that size first to see if I liked the style, then exchanged it for the larger ctw bracelet. I highly recommend this bracelet.

Also, Whiteflash was fabulous to work with. They have a return policy on many stock items. Check their website for details.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

thanks! I see by your post count you've contributed a lot to this forum. Have you bought pieces from both places (IDJ and WF) and compared the differences? or is this common forum wisdom? or does it come from looking at photos?

thanks again!

I have several items from WhiteFlash, and my knowledge about ID Jewelry comes from the forum. People choose them because of lower prices. But as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. IDJ generally uses SI clarity diamonds and well cut diamonds, but not the quality of the WF diamonds (they use F-G VS, I think). Recently there has been more than one case of people not being happy with the clarity of the IDJ pieces even though the diamonds were supposed to be eyeclean. I just figure if I am spending a few thousand on a piece of jewelry, I'd rather pay a little more and get top quality. The pieces I buy will be heirlooms for my daughters and granddaughters, so the quality is important to me. I haven't always done this and my only regrets about past jewelry purchases involved settling for mediocre quality. I know longer wear any of those pieces! I do have one bit of personal experience with IDJ and that was to help my sister buy a necklace with diamonds. The stones were very small and it turned out nicely. But I have a similar one from WF because I just prefer the higher quality of the diamonds!

I should add that I owe PS for educating me on diamond quality! I came here 7 years ago when my husband told me we could buy a new diamond for our anniversary. As you can see, I never left! I have some nice things due to being here!

I am glad Donna stopped by because her bracelet is just amazing!

One more thing, I would call and NOT order from a website to be sure the order is processed correctly and to be sure any applicable discounts are applied to your order. Traci is the salesperson that helps me when I shop at WhiteFlash, but any can help you, of course.

 

[orbaya]

Another vote for Whiteflash! I have a three prong tennis bracelet and it's gorgeous!! I've worked with WF several times and have been happy every time.

 

[WillyDiamond]

Also check out Brian Gavin Diamonds, bought tennis bracelet, and could not be happier.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Also check out Brian Gavin Diamonds, bought tennis bracelet, and could not be happier.

BG is about $1000 higher than WF for a 2 ct.bracelet!!!

 

[orbaya]

Also check out Brian Gavin Diamonds, bought tennis bracelet, and could not be happier.

BG is about $1000 higher than WF for a 2 ct.bracelet!!!

 

[danielpclarridge]

Sorry to hear about the tennis bracelet.

I found doing a "double visit" is the best way to go about buying jewellery. The double visit is looking online, as well as visiting the store

I actually recently bought a tennis bracelet for my wife from here: http://www.diamond-heaven.co.uk/jewellery/diamond-bracelets/single-row-tennis-bracelets and did the same thing.

Hope this helps

Daniel

 

[Gypsy]

I'd be using HPD (High Performance Diamonds) or ID Jewelry for a tennis bracelet. Wink at HPD will find you nice stones, mention you are from PS and were referred by us. He doesn't keep stock in, so it will be custom made for you. At IDJ you will need to specify eyeclean and PS quality stones (they have a wide range of qualify tiers and you want PS quality for the best value).

 

[cflutist]

I'd be using HPD (High Performance Diamonds) or ID Jewelry for a tennis bracelet. Wink at HPD will find you nice stones, mention you are from PS and were referred by us. He doesn't keep stock in, so it will be custom made for you. At IDJ you will need to specify eyeclean and PS quality stones (they have a wide range of qualify tiers and you want PS quality for the best value).

I also reccomend Wink at HPD. He made two bracelets for me, a 10.5 ctw one and a Fancy Intense Yellow diamond one.
What I like about his bracelets is that you get the safety of four prongs with the look of three prongs.

https://www.pricescope.com/blog/jewels-week-summer-sparkle-fancy-yellow-and-white-diamond-bracelets

 

[jerichosmom]

I think the OP has bought already as this post is over 3 years old.

 

[Skhii]

thanks! I see by your post count you've contributed a lot to this forum. Have you bought pieces from both places (IDJ and WF) and compared the differences? or is this common forum wisdom? or does it come from looking at photos?

thanks again!

I have several items from WhiteFlash, and my knowledge about ID Jewelry comes from the forum. People choose them because of lower prices. But as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. IDJ generally uses SI clarity diamonds and well cut diamonds, but not the quality of the WF diamonds (they use F-G VS, I think). Recently there has been more than one case of people not being happy with the clarity of the IDJ pieces even though the diamonds were supposed to be eyeclean. I just figure if I am spending a few thousand on a piece of jewelry, I'd rather pay a little more and get top quality. The pieces I buy will be heirlooms for my daughters and granddaughters, so the quality is important to me. I haven't always done this and my only regrets about past jewelry purchases involved settling for mediocre quality. I know longer wear any of those pieces! I do have one bit of personal experience with IDJ and that was to help my sister buy a necklace with diamonds. The stones were very small and it turned out nicely. But I have a similar one from WF because I just prefer the higher quality of the diamonds!

I should add that I owe PS for educating me on diamond quality! I came here 7 years ago when my husband told me we could buy a new diamond for our anniversary. As you can see, I never left! I have some nice things due to being here!

I am glad Donna stopped by because her bracelet is just amazing!

One more thing, I would call and NOT order from a website to be sure the order is processed correctly and to be sure any applicable discounts are applied to your order. Traci is the salesperson that helps me when I shop at WhiteFlash, but any can help you, of course.

Hi DS, would you be able to link some threads about the problems with IDJ quality? I didn't realize there have been some issues. Do you have opinions regarding Wink's diamonds? I admire Cflutist's tennis bracelets (not CBI diamonds from my understanding), but ACAs seem to be the favorite Tolkowsky-style diamonds on PS. Thank you!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I will just say that I have high regard for Yekutiel from ID Jewelry. I almost hate seeing old threads like this bumped up, because more recent history is important when buying jewelry.

There are many happy customers of IDJ here today, and I do think they have listened and realized the desire of most PS members to have very good quality, eye clean diamonds as well as high quality settings. I am sure they can do any level work requested with top quality everything, if desired, but many people go there in order to get very good quality pieces that look great without paying the price premium for hearts and arrows, ideal cut diamonds, for example. One size does not fit all. I still recommend Whiteflash because I do consider everything I collect to be future heirlooms for my daughters and granddaughters, and I like top quality diamond set in platinum for that reason. There was someone who recently said they wanted a diamond bracelet that they could wear 24/7 and knew it would probably get chipped and they didn't care if it would be in condition to hand down in the future. That is kind of the opposite of me, but I realize there are people with different budgets and desires. (I still cannot recommend wearing diamonds with the idea they are going to be inevitably chipped, however! That's like saying I don't care how many dents my luxury car would get because I don't plan on leaving it to someone.).

Skhii...IDJ seems to have corrected most the problems that some had experienced in the past. The most recent situation I can recall involved a piece that had some stones that were not acceptable to the customer, she marked them, sent it back, and IDJ replaced those diamonds and she was pleased. I think Wink is a great jeweler and will also make a bracelet of any quality desired. I just know that in terms of quantity, Whiteflash sells more ACA ideal cut high quality bracelets than anyone else and that is because of consistent high quality and possibly pricing. Besides Donnabrb, m2b had a larger Whiteflash ACA bracelet made in platinum and most recently grateful4life did, and there are others, of course. I like many PS vendors and would use different ones for different things, but I go to WF especially for studs and would go there if buying a tennis bracelet because that is the quality I want for those items, and they consistently have enough diamonds stocked to find matching stones, etc. That doesn't mean I don't like Wink or Yekutiel, because I do like and respect both of them and would certainly buy from either if they have an item I want.