I was trying to find the correct section for my question/story, whatever you want to call it, and decided that since I am "a lady in waiting" that this would do.
In April (2011), my boyfriend was given a promotion at work that would require him to relocated 2,000 miles away from the west coast to the east coast. He asked me to move with him. I, of course, said yes. About 2-3 weeks after I arrived and we finally got all the boxes unpacked and the house organized I got the biggest shock. We were driving to the movies on a Saturday afternoon and a conversation about a friend who was married, or just got married lead to the question "what type of ring do you like?". I was in shock, literally. I'm not easily surprised but he totally swept the ground out from under me on this one in the best possible way.
I already had an idea of what I loved. I had fallen in love with halo styles long before I ever thought someone would propose or think about proposing to me. At that point of the conversation (our movie theater is about 30 minutes from our home) we discussed style, budget and the other basics. He didn't really know what I meant when I described it so when we got home a showed him a couple pictures. I spent the next month looking online, reading about diamond standards, what to look for, what not to look for and anything else I could think of. I was overwhelmed to say the least. It came to a point where I was in love with a style of ring (that I found through someone's pricescope topic) and decided that to go anywhere else I should probably start looking at real rings, on my finger. I was so excited! haha.
I wanted him there through every step. Every idea, choice, interaction, you name it. So we picked a day that we were free together and I looked up some local jewelers and your mall-chain jewelers and made a game plan to embark upon. This was the hard part for me, we haven't lived here very long at all, we don't know anyone in the area to ask opinions so we had to go based on what we felt when we met the people and what others had rated them online. We made it to our last stop which was a long-standing, highly rated local jeweler and just laid it all out. What I wanted, what our budget was, and she went to work. We picked a diamond closest to what I wanted that they had in stock (an elongated cushion). We sat at the computer and she took a halo ring from the cabinet and altered it in the computer to get as closely to what I wanted as she could. Keep in mind that I know what I want is something uncommon and most likely going to be custom. We found out the setting would end up being around $1,300 and that a diamond would have to be under a carat to stay in our price range ($5,000). I really didn't like this. My little heart was crushed. I didn't need a huge rock but I wasn't in love with it.
After this revelation they told me they would look for diamonds with their suppliers that fit our budget and would call me when they had a few sent in. When I got home I decided to start looking at alternatives, mostly gemstones. My favorite color in the whole world is teal. So I started there. That is when I found alexandrite. I was very excited, it changed colors, it would be so unique. Then I researched average prices... WAY TOO MUCH. Might as well be getting a diamond. Then I stumbled upon aquamarines. I fell in love. They were light enough to be simple and elegant but had just enough baby blue in them to be unique and special. I knew they were cheaper than diamonds so that was an upside. I loved the look and by most online ratings they would be okay for an e-ring. When I got to the jewelers to look at the diamonds that came in I brought up this option to the woman I was working with. She pretty much shot it down as soon as I said it. She said that if I wanted to go with something other than a diamond that my best bet would really be a sapphire for its strength. I'll admit I am pretty rough so a part of me definitely agreed. She showed me some types of sapphire that they had in the store. They had a teal one that was gorgeous. I decided to have her look into teal and light, light, light blue sapphires and see what they could come up with.
This past weekend we went in to see the stone they found with they thought would be "perfect". It wasn't the cut I wanted, it was a square radiant stone just over 1 carat. But I saw it and was in love. They put it over a setting and even my boyfriend's jaw dropped. We knew we had found the perfect stone and it wasn't an arm and a leg (it was under $2,000). I was amazed! I know that my boyfriend gave me a 5k budget but I have been on the lower middle class or lower class scale my whole life. The idea of walking around with 5k on my finger is frightening. So I set myself a budget of $3,000-4,000. I knew that it was possible and we aren't in a big rush, patience is a virtue and this process is well worth every bit of it. So in my mind, I was set. $1,300 setting, $2,000 stone. I was right where I wanted to be.
Please forgive the book. I feel it is best understood that by this point we were so happy. We had put a deposit down on the stone and were ready to figure out the setting and get my dream ring. The jewelers had been nothing but patient, helpful and encouraging without ever being persistent, rude or "saleman-y". We left after putting down on the stone happy, excited and on cloud nine. Then I got a phone call Monday. They said that my setting was going to be full custom and we would be looking at $2,500 for just the setting. My entire mood dropped. Being a rational, level-headed, money-conscious person I cannot seem to justify $2,500 for a halo setting with a single shank band that is low set to my finger with no diamond pave in the band. I am very simple. I only want to stones in the halo part with an antique feel by keeping the metal down as low from the diamond halo. Here is the closest thing I could find online to what I'm looking for:
This is the link to where I found it : http://betterthandiamond.com/discussion/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=472982
I understand that it is unusual. I understand it will have to be custom (of some sort) but I can't fathom it being $2,500. They want us to come in and put a deposit down for the price of $2,500 and then they will carve the wax mold and cast the ring and then weigh it. Once that has been completed they will adjust our remaining balance accordingly. I know nothing about this process and feel, for the first time, uncomfortable with how they are handling it. I was near the store yesterday so I stopped in to make sure I was clear on what they were saying and how things were going to happen and she brought up the payment for the down on the setting and we had told her that he is traveling for two weeks and is only back when they are closed so it will be the middle of August before we can come back in and get started on the setting. She brought up to me while I was there alone that they take credit cards over the phone and that he can do that if he would like. I didn't like this and he REALLY didn't like this. From our perspective, once we put down on the stone everything changed. We hate that this is how we feel because to this point they were amazing.
I guess what I am looking for is perspective. Opinions on whether we are overreacting, or this is really how the jeweler world is... We are starting to consider paying off the stone and keeping it until we find another jeweler to make the setting, if it is an option. As well as getting counter offers for the custom setting from other local jewelers. I think we may look at counter offers just to be safe and cover our bases but this was the last thing I expected once we bought the stone.
I am truly open to hearing any guidance, opinions, and perspectives of others. I want to make sure we are doing the right thing for this investment. Thank you if you have read this far, I know it is long. I look forward to hearing from you
In April (2011), my boyfriend was given a promotion at work that would require him to relocated 2,000 miles away from the west coast to the east coast. He asked me to move with him. I, of course, said yes. About 2-3 weeks after I arrived and we finally got all the boxes unpacked and the house organized I got the biggest shock. We were driving to the movies on a Saturday afternoon and a conversation about a friend who was married, or just got married lead to the question "what type of ring do you like?". I was in shock, literally. I'm not easily surprised but he totally swept the ground out from under me on this one in the best possible way.
I already had an idea of what I loved. I had fallen in love with halo styles long before I ever thought someone would propose or think about proposing to me. At that point of the conversation (our movie theater is about 30 minutes from our home) we discussed style, budget and the other basics. He didn't really know what I meant when I described it so when we got home a showed him a couple pictures. I spent the next month looking online, reading about diamond standards, what to look for, what not to look for and anything else I could think of. I was overwhelmed to say the least. It came to a point where I was in love with a style of ring (that I found through someone's pricescope topic) and decided that to go anywhere else I should probably start looking at real rings, on my finger. I was so excited! haha.
I wanted him there through every step. Every idea, choice, interaction, you name it. So we picked a day that we were free together and I looked up some local jewelers and your mall-chain jewelers and made a game plan to embark upon. This was the hard part for me, we haven't lived here very long at all, we don't know anyone in the area to ask opinions so we had to go based on what we felt when we met the people and what others had rated them online. We made it to our last stop which was a long-standing, highly rated local jeweler and just laid it all out. What I wanted, what our budget was, and she went to work. We picked a diamond closest to what I wanted that they had in stock (an elongated cushion). We sat at the computer and she took a halo ring from the cabinet and altered it in the computer to get as closely to what I wanted as she could. Keep in mind that I know what I want is something uncommon and most likely going to be custom. We found out the setting would end up being around $1,300 and that a diamond would have to be under a carat to stay in our price range ($5,000). I really didn't like this. My little heart was crushed. I didn't need a huge rock but I wasn't in love with it.
After this revelation they told me they would look for diamonds with their suppliers that fit our budget and would call me when they had a few sent in. When I got home I decided to start looking at alternatives, mostly gemstones. My favorite color in the whole world is teal. So I started there. That is when I found alexandrite. I was very excited, it changed colors, it would be so unique. Then I researched average prices... WAY TOO MUCH. Might as well be getting a diamond. Then I stumbled upon aquamarines. I fell in love. They were light enough to be simple and elegant but had just enough baby blue in them to be unique and special. I knew they were cheaper than diamonds so that was an upside. I loved the look and by most online ratings they would be okay for an e-ring. When I got to the jewelers to look at the diamonds that came in I brought up this option to the woman I was working with. She pretty much shot it down as soon as I said it. She said that if I wanted to go with something other than a diamond that my best bet would really be a sapphire for its strength. I'll admit I am pretty rough so a part of me definitely agreed. She showed me some types of sapphire that they had in the store. They had a teal one that was gorgeous. I decided to have her look into teal and light, light, light blue sapphires and see what they could come up with.
This past weekend we went in to see the stone they found with they thought would be "perfect". It wasn't the cut I wanted, it was a square radiant stone just over 1 carat. But I saw it and was in love. They put it over a setting and even my boyfriend's jaw dropped. We knew we had found the perfect stone and it wasn't an arm and a leg (it was under $2,000). I was amazed! I know that my boyfriend gave me a 5k budget but I have been on the lower middle class or lower class scale my whole life. The idea of walking around with 5k on my finger is frightening. So I set myself a budget of $3,000-4,000. I knew that it was possible and we aren't in a big rush, patience is a virtue and this process is well worth every bit of it. So in my mind, I was set. $1,300 setting, $2,000 stone. I was right where I wanted to be.
Please forgive the book. I feel it is best understood that by this point we were so happy. We had put a deposit down on the stone and were ready to figure out the setting and get my dream ring. The jewelers had been nothing but patient, helpful and encouraging without ever being persistent, rude or "saleman-y". We left after putting down on the stone happy, excited and on cloud nine. Then I got a phone call Monday. They said that my setting was going to be full custom and we would be looking at $2,500 for just the setting. My entire mood dropped. Being a rational, level-headed, money-conscious person I cannot seem to justify $2,500 for a halo setting with a single shank band that is low set to my finger with no diamond pave in the band. I am very simple. I only want to stones in the halo part with an antique feel by keeping the metal down as low from the diamond halo. Here is the closest thing I could find online to what I'm looking for:
This is the link to where I found it : http://betterthandiamond.com/discussion/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=472982
I understand that it is unusual. I understand it will have to be custom (of some sort) but I can't fathom it being $2,500. They want us to come in and put a deposit down for the price of $2,500 and then they will carve the wax mold and cast the ring and then weigh it. Once that has been completed they will adjust our remaining balance accordingly. I know nothing about this process and feel, for the first time, uncomfortable with how they are handling it. I was near the store yesterday so I stopped in to make sure I was clear on what they were saying and how things were going to happen and she brought up the payment for the down on the setting and we had told her that he is traveling for two weeks and is only back when they are closed so it will be the middle of August before we can come back in and get started on the setting. She brought up to me while I was there alone that they take credit cards over the phone and that he can do that if he would like. I didn't like this and he REALLY didn't like this. From our perspective, once we put down on the stone everything changed. We hate that this is how we feel because to this point they were amazing.
I guess what I am looking for is perspective. Opinions on whether we are overreacting, or this is really how the jeweler world is... We are starting to consider paying off the stone and keeping it until we find another jeweler to make the setting, if it is an option. As well as getting counter offers for the custom setting from other local jewelers. I think we may look at counter offers just to be safe and cover our bases but this was the last thing I expected once we bought the stone.
I am truly open to hearing any guidance, opinions, and perspectives of others. I want to make sure we are doing the right thing for this investment. Thank you if you have read this far, I know it is long. I look forward to hearing from you
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