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Buying a stone and setting from seperate online stores

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cjaama

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 23, 2010
Messages
44
So, I found the ring I want to buy my girlfriend at Zales.com. It is a halo style ring and it is exactly what I want to get her. Unfortunately, the diamonds I’m interested in for the center stone (.97-1.03 ct, excellent cut, H color…) are about $1,000 more on Zales than on Blue Nile.
Should I just buy the setting from Zales and the diamond from Blue Nile and then have it set at a local jeweler? Can a local Zales store order the ring for me and then set it with the stone?

I hope this is the correct forum to be posting this under, I wasn’t sure. :loopy:

Thanks in advace!
 
can you post a link to the setting you are interested in? also I think it's fine to get setting and stone from different places but you will need to check on the policies (is it covered, is there a mounting fee, does this invalidate any warranty, etc)
 
unfortunately, there is no way to link to the setting when you're using zales' "design your ring" feature, but here are pictures:

r2.jpg
r1.jpg

i love the way it looks from the side. very different from most halo settings i've seen.
 
FWIW, whatever diamond is being offered for sale by BlueNile can be found for less from another PS vendor. IMO. If cost is an issue, I would go another route for the center stone...

And I really like the halo. Actually, it's pretty similar to a Hearts on Fire halo that someone else posted here recently...now, where is that thread?
 
any particular online vendor you would suggest for the diamond? i know there are a ton out there, i'm just not sure what ones are reputable and which aren't.
 
For a RB in particular, I would be totally ok buying online. In addition to carat, cut, clarity, color, and cost you need to figure out if you want H&A or a more traditional symmetry. Then, I would go to the PS search tool and input the parameters that you want. Those merchants are pretty safe, IMO, because they advertise on the forum and they know that there is a reputation cost if they screw someone over and don't make it right.

Sometimes, the same diamond will be listed by multiple sellers (you can tell by the # on the cert, and also the carat, clarity, color, table %, crown % -- if the only thing that differs is the price/vendor, chances are it's the same diamond), so you can literally see that BN charges more than other online merchants.

Some diamonds are actually purchased by vendors for their inventory (click "in-house" in the search bar) and I would stick to those so you can ask the seller to examine it for you and send you photos (which you can post here for feedback from the experts).

Good luck!
 
I think you can find a setting similar to that elsewhere as well. Zales really ins't MY favorite store (bad experience). I would trust and of the online vendor to makesome thing similar.

Here is on that is close that they might be able to modify to look like the Zales ring, It is at whiteflash. The have stones as well.

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/diamond-settings/halo-prong-diamond-engagement-ring-521.htm

Did you have an idea of what stone you are looking for?? Size, Color, clarity??

:D
 
thanks a lot for the link. i'll email them and see what they have to say.
the required stone for the zales setting i posted is .97-1.03 ct.; i'd actually prefer something closer to .90 ct, as i think there is a significant price difference.
most important to me is cut. i'd prefer at least a "very good" or excellent cut. i'd like maybe G or H for color and i'm not particular about the clarity.

one last question, is there any movement on price with online vendors?

thanks for the responses :twirl:
 
cjaama said:
one last question, is there any movement on price with online vendors?
Click to expand...

Depends on your negotiating skills.

I always say, every rule made by a human can be bent by a human.
 
As it turns out, Zales doesn't sell that setting without a diamond, so that is no longer an option.
I found a diamond at Zales (.91 ct, SI2, F color, Excellent cut) at a good price, however it doesn't meet their requirements for a .97 ct stone minimum. How important is it that the ct size meet their requirements? Do you think they could be talked into setting a .91ct stone in a setting that they say requires a minimum of .97ct?
 
I would be wary of buying a SI2 sight unseen unless you have a trusted vendor who can verify that it is eye-clean for you. What about going with a different vendor for both the setting and diamond? the halo is a popular design
 
really? are si2 stones that risky?
as i said earlier in the thread, i was originally intending to buy the setting and the diamond seperately, but the setting i really like from zales can not be purchased without a stone.
 
The likely reason why Zales has these carat weight restrictions is that the setting is pre-made and the diamond has to have a particular diameter to fit into the setting.

The diameter is closely tied to the ct weight of the diamond, but some diamonds are cut shallow spread more than others. So you could have the same face-up size, with a smaller ct weight so a smaller diamond could fit into the same stock setting if spreadier -- note that a spreadier is not better for light performance in most cases. (If you went from ideal to spreadier, it would look much worse!)

Also, I just checked out the prices on the Zales setting that you like. $1100 for 14K WG! $2300 for PT! Whaaa? For that price, I really think someone can make you that setting. Then you can put whatever size diamond you want in it, and the halo will fit the diamond.
 
the halo setting someone posted above from whiteflash was $1,500 for WG, so i didn't think $1,100 was that bad.
are there any reputable places online that do custom work like you described that are reasonably priced?
 
What's wrong with the whiteflash setting above? In PT, it's $300 less than the Zales setting and -- with a halo or any pave, I'd really recommend the harder metal.

Also, you have pictures of what you want -- so you could just call / email a few people and see what they say as to cost. There are several vendors that are mentioned frequently that have good reputations -- me personally, we got a great price on custom work from ERD. But there are many PS merchants who can do the Zales setting.
 
great, i'll look into it, thanks a ton!
 
also, does everyone agree that PT is the best bet when using a halo setting?
 
'Better' is a word I try to avoid because it contains an element of what YOU like. Platinum is more durable than 14k, it's more secure for setting stones, it's more popular and it costs more. 14k, on the other hand, takes a better polish, for most designs it's easier to work with so the labor charges are usually less, and it's cheaper in terms of the material itself.
 
so, how likely is it that a stone will come out of a WG setting under normal wear? or is that too broad of a question?
 
cjaama said:
so, how likely is it that a stone will come out of a WG setting under normal wear? or is that too broad of a question?
Click to expand...
That's way too broad a question. The biggest variable is the craftsmanship of the setter, not the material used. Properly done, either WG or platinum will be fine with that design.

'How likely' is a tough call. Most insurance companies include this as a covered peril and charge a premium of about 1%/year to cover this and an assortment of other possibilities. They seem to be making money on this deal so, presumably, the risk is, on average, substantially below that.
 
I think if you chose Whiteflash or Brian Gavin or even James Allen, you will be happier in the long run with the quality over Zales. Both with the stone and the setting.

Most people if they can chose Plat over WG. I think that if you get the whiteflash setting and one of their stone it will turn out to be a Beautiful ring and again HIGHER quaility. Whiteflash will tell you if a SI is eyeclean.

Good luck :bigsmile:
 
thanks a lot for the feedback!
 
so, i am most likely going to proceed with having this setting built. my one question is, if i have the centerstone bezel set instead of prong set as it is in the picture, how will it effect the diamond's performance (if, at all)?

r1.jpg
 
If you get an ideally proportioned stone then bezel setting will not affect its optics at all.

I want to say that the setting you have posted looks a little chunky (i.e., thick on the metal) to my eye. Some people like this, but I have noticed that men tend to pick thicker and chunkier settings than women would pick. Has your gf told you her preferences? As a rule of thumb, choosing a delicate halo setting with less metal is safer than choosing a chunker more metal setting, unless the wearer has expressed her preference. For example, the WF setting is much more delicate and likely better quality, hence the price.

For inexpensive halo setting eternity diamonds gets good reviews. Something like this in a halo is more appealing to me: notice how little metal you see compared to the one you posted?: http://www.eternitydiamonds.com/eng...ng-with-Diamond-Band-Shank-(.50-ctw.)-207.htm
 
did you just call my girlfriend chunky? :loopy: kidding of course.
thanks a lot for the info and input. i can definitely see what you mean about guys picking out chunkier jewelry because it appeals to them, however she is very into big, "chunky" jewelry. this thing will look like a feather compared to the cinderblock she's currently wearing.
 
cjaama said:
did you just call my girlfriend chunky? :loopy: kidding of course.
thanks a lot for the info and input. i can definitely see what you mean about guys picking out chunkier jewelry because it appeals to them, however she is very into big, "chunky" jewelry. this thing will look like a feather compared to the cinderblock she's currently wearing.
Click to expand...

haha!

I personally really like "substantial" jewelry too. That said, I still like less metal and more diamond. One of my favourite halos is by Verragio and they use larger diamonds in the halo than is typical -- like 5 pointers instead of the usual 1 point diamonds. BLINGBLING. But less metal. Like this one: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/its-here-my-verragio-0363.132804/?hilit=verragio

Just food for thought! Any halo will be a substantial look on the hand, but some look more fluid, even if they have more substance.
 
thanks again for your feedback. i am taking your comments into consideration. i might end up with a more subtle shank and gallery/bezel area.
 
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