Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

birks or tiffany''s?

R

rockylove

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 12, 2010
Messages
9
Hi,

Is Birks blue line better or Tiffany better? <-- just between these two!

I will be purchasing an engagement ring from either Birks or Tiffanys. Birks blue is actually a little bit more expensive for the same specs (plus u get the little sapphire).
 
I've never heard of Birks but I see they have a blue box too, so they must be good.
20.gif


Seriously, you can get a better diamond for less that at Tiffany from a PS vendor like Good Old Gold, Brian Gavin Diamonds or Whiteflash.

They also have great policies like trade up and return periods etc.
 
I think it depends on what you are looking for. If you want something that came from Tiffany''s, Tiffany''s is the only place to get it (or secondhand at somewhere like signed pieces)

Tiffany carries a limited number of designs so you may want to take that into account. Also they have pretty high markup, so depending on what your preferences are you may want to buy somewhere else and get larger/better or equal quality for the same money.

Also if you go with one of the PS vendors Kenny mentioned I think many of them can do a custom setting with a surprise sapphire if you really like that look.
 
Depends what you want. If going designer is important to you, then either of those would suit your needs.. if you''re looking to optimize diamond for the price neither is a great option.
 
I tried rings from both places before. If you''re just picking between the two, I would go with Birks. I love their tin box.. and I think they have better style than Tiffany''s
 
You are buying the brand with those two, so pick the brand you like the best.
 
Hmmm thanks for all your input! I have some thinking to do lol!

My girlfriend likes princess cut...not sure if that helps... The Birks blue line has the little sapphire which distinguishes it as bought from Birks. I know this may sound vain, but if brand name is what she wants, i wonder which is considered ''better''
 
Date: 5/12/2010 6:18:44 PM
Author: rockylove
Hmmm thanks for all your input! I have some thinking to do lol!

My girlfriend likes princess cut...not sure if that helps... The Birks blue line has the little sapphire which distinguishes it as bought from Birks. I know this may sound vain, but if brand name is what she wants, i wonder which is considered ''better''
Click to expand...
Has she told you that is what she wants? If it is, then find out which one she likes better. And tell her she can get a MUCH larger diamond if it is not brand name, and then see what she wants
2.gif
 
well, she wants brand name but can''t decide between the two mentioned above
 
I say Birks, because I''m Canadian. ;)

But I will say this: my e-ring is a custom made copy of a Birks Blue e-ring and I paid 1/4 of the price. I personally didn''t want to pay for the brand name. *shrug*
 
oh very interesting, where did you get ur e-ring made?
 
Tiffany''s only has princess solitaire settings AFAIK. Depending on your budget you could get a really nice GOG signature princess or WF ACA princess and an AWESOME custom setting with surprise sapphires or whatever you want. It might be worth checking out the price difference to see if it is worth it to you. Also you have to consider if your GF really wants the Birks or if she just wants a nice pretty diamond
 
yes, she wants a princess solitaire. Thanks for everyone''s help! this is very helpful!
 
I personally had a very bad experience at Birks, and was sold a very very poor quality sapphire. I took it to a couple of jewellers who wouldn''t pay more than $200 for the stone. The ring cost about $4,500 including tax...crazy mark up. However, Birks argued that it was indeed a good quality sapphire and wouldn''t let me return the ring.

My opinion - I wouldn''t put blind faith in a brand name. Just because it is Birks, dosen''t mean that what they are selling is good quality. Expensive lesson learned on my part.
 
Date: 5/12/2010 6:27:17 PM
Author: rockylove
oh very interesting, where did you get ur e-ring made?
Click to expand...

Hannoush Jewelers http://www.hannoush.com/ (Their website is not impressive.)

A friend of mine was a dealer for them, but you could contact them directly. I don''t know about them more than the ring they made for me, but I was very satisfied with the result. I even ordered a 0.25 diamond and they threw in a free 0.33!
 
Not a fan of Birks and as such I own nothing from them. If I have to pick between the two, I will go with T&CO.

Like others have mentiond, I rather get bigger and better and save some money in my pocket.
 
I''m just echoing everyone else, but if brand is important to you go with the brand you like.
Personally, for a princess I would get a Whiteflash ACA or a GOod Old GOld Signature in whatever solitare setting you liked (i love several of the vatche ones...)
 
hmm, i'll have to look into those, but mainly, my gf is having trouble deciding between the 2. I feel like T&Co is more well known in the world than Birks...
 
I am Canadian but I hate Birks... It is a MAJOR rip off. I would go non-brand name (you could get a 1.5 carat for the price of a 1 carat at Birks... Most people will notice the quality, size and cut of the diamond before they would even realize or care if it were brand name). Check out Brian Gavin diamonds, whiteflash, ID Jewelery, or good old gold.com. If your FI really wants brand name - I would go with Tiffany (even though it's still a rip off- it's world renown) or Cartier or something. Birks is such a wanna be company and their designs are not that nice (for the price).

PS: If you live in Toronto, check our Damiani Jewelers. That is wear my FI got my ering and they have great prices. You can even bargain with the diamond prices with the owner, Claudio. They carry very nice brand names like Ritani, Michael B etc...
 
I am not familiar with Birks so I would say Tiffany. As you can see most will steer you away from Tiffany because they have a higher mark up but I definitely do not feel like my FI overpaid for my ring. If she likes designer items theres nothing like getting that little blue box!
 
Date: 5/13/2010 2:21:15 AM
Author: jn4
I am not familiar with Birks so I would say Tiffany. As you can see most will steer you away from Tiffany because they have a higher mark up but I definitely do not feel like my FI overpaid for my ring. If she likes designer items theres nothing like getting that little blue box!
Click to expand...


Haha, I think my FI would agree with you lol
 
(mistake, sorry)
 
I'd personally go with neither...but.....it sounds like you are buying for the brand name, and your SO cannot choose between the two. Obviously she does not have a strong preference either if she cannot choose between them! So I would just go with either one, whichever you are more comfortable with and whoever has the stone/ring you prefer.

I don't think one is necessarily *better* than the other. More people on here may be familiar with T&Co as they are in the U.S. but not sure that makes them *better* necessarily. Again, you are going for brand here. T&Co has lovely things and a more recognized name....but you are paying a big markup for that blue box compared to what you can get if you buy the stone and setting separately or even have a ring custom made with it's own lovely box (and have a surprise sapphire put in). Personally, I would get something custom done and if you really like the surprise sapphire - someone can set one in there for you. I would not pay Birk's markup for their own marketing (hint....that small "rare diamond-cut sapphire" would likely cost less than $50 to have inset at most PS vendors).
 
I agree with RaiKai if you''re set on going with one of these two. If you''re down to two choices, and you don''t know which to select, I would toss a coin. Heads one store, tails another. If you don''t like what you get, choose the other store. Sometimes when the choice is made for you do you really have an opinion. This always works for me when I can''t decide between two things.
 
I''m Canadian. I know Birks, and Tiffany all the way in terms of brand name. Actually I would probably get Harry Winston, then Cartier, the Tiffany, and then Birks. And that is ONLY if brand names were important to me.
 
go to both stores, see what you can get in your budget, compare that to prices of WF ACA princess and GOG princess cuts, and then decide.

no wrong answer, but you will probably be able to get a larger diamond with one of those vendors who carry top of the line princess cuts for the same $$. you just have to decide what''s worth it to you/
 
Date: 5/12/2010 5:32:53 PM
Author:rockylove
Hi,

Is Birks blue line better or Tiffany better? <-- just between these two!

I will be purchasing an engagement ring from either Birks or Tiffanys. Birks blue is actually a little bit more expensive for the same specs (plus u get the little sapphire).
Click to expand...
I live in Montreal for value I would choose neither. However, Birks is an distributor of the Royal Asscher which are gorgeous diamonds and excellent settings as well.
I also think the Amorique rings (a patented 70 facet square cushion in a split shank setting) are beautiful as well. In general their refined taste on many of their pieces is excellent especially by Canadian standards the pricing not so much.

However these is nothing in Birks or Tiffanys you can''t get quite similar or superior quality at a much reduced price from an online diamond retailor and custom setting maker on who advertise on Pricescope.
 
Fellow Canadian,

I would buy from neither as well. If I truly wanted the brand name though, I would buy from Harry Winston, or maybe, Cartier. HW definitely comes first though, and that name carries cache Everywhere.
 
Another Canadian...

Very familiar with Birks not b/c I was buying an engagement ring but b/c I was looking for other pieces was not at all impressed with their policies and for that matter ditto to what others have said I feel they are over hyped.

When I was looking for my engagement ring I never thought about looking at Birks or Tiffany''s I''m not into brand names I just wanted a super pretty well cut sparkler that I could look at all day long and be happy and that''s exactly what I got.

So to answer your question...neither but at the end of the day get your girl what she wants most and will enjoy and wear.

Good luck!

PS ditto to what others have said if you change your mind you can get an amazing princess solitaire from any of the awesome PS vendors: WhiteFlash, BGD, GOG etc...
 
hmmm so i guess generally, Birks and T&Co are on par? So T&Co isn''t better than Birks?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top