Diamonds in Tiffanys and Fred Leighton in NY!!!

[Fancy]

I just had to share with my fellow diamond lovers ... I was in NY this weekend, and walked around 5th Ave and Madison ... I stopped in Tiffany's and tried on an 8.14, IF, D, carat pear just for fun! It was a half a million dollars!!!!!!

The diamonds, and the jewelry for that matter, were unlike anything I've seen in the Miami store! There was a much bigger selection, and much bigger diamonds!

I watched as a few couples purchased their engagement rings, and wanted to shout "DON'T buy that .. you can get a bigger stone elsewhere" but controlled myself!

I did stop in Harry Winston, but there are hardly any diamonds on display and everything is by appointment.

Then I went into Fred Leighton's on Madison -- Oh my, I have NEVER seen jewelry like that anywhere!

There were estate pieces that were really old and incredibly unique and beautiful .. I wish I could have taken notes so that one day, I could have a jeweler reproduce one of the designs. I tried on one of the smallest pieces -- a heart shaped ruby ring ( the ruby was 1.2 carats), and it was just gorgeous (I think it was almost $16,000). It was set in an incredibly thin pave band that surrounded the heart shaped ruby, and the pave was all the way around the band, which was so thin, it looked like it would break. One woman walked in and started choosing HUGE diamond earings like they were candy.

Just walking around Madison was incredible .. there was a 35 carat emerald IF, D in the window of one shop .. and the other diamonds were in the 15-17 carat range!!! And all of them were IF and D!!! I can't remember which shop it was, but they were ALL that way! Full of fancies in the 10-20 carat range, all perfect diamonds IF and D in color ... who are these people that buy these masterpieces?????

If you love window shopping, go to Madison and Park ... it's a great day for a diamond lover!

 

[spicolicpa]

Sounds like you had a great time. Never been but some day....

 

[Mara]

Wow sounds like you had an amazing time!!

We were walking around 5th in NYC last year and passed Cartier...they had on display some really famous necklace that had all sorts of different types of precious gems and a huge huge diamond. I am horrible with memory so I don't recall what it was but it was some sort of Turkish royalty piece from 50000 years ago or something.

Very beautiful and huge. They had it in the WINDOW of the store if you can believe it. The inside of the store was fun to look at too. We also went into Bulgari which is such an interesting store...so many different items and jewelry too! Ahh I can dream.




I would LOVE to go to Fred Leighton. I adore their jewelry. That would be my dream store..forget Tiffanys or Harry Winstons, I love FL's stuff that all the stars wear..it's so elegant and beautiful and *different* than other items out there.




I'm so jealous...sounds like a great time!

I love window shopping!

 

[Fancy]

The GREAT thing about Fred Leighton is that they are estate pieces and completely unique .. the detail and workmanship was outstanding! They are one of a kind pieces and are so beautiful, but it is hard to appreciate them all since they are so many pieces right next to each other. I have to say that because the pieces are heirlooms and antiques, in my opinion, they are worth the mark up ... and you will never find a piece like it anywhere else.

One really great thing about looking in there was getting ideas for new jewelry pieces ... although I would need a picture to show any jeweler.. and I would need to win the lottery!

 

[wally100]

I was in NYC this weekend and remembered seeing these posts so I went with my girlfriend to Fred Leighton and Tiffany's.

Fred Leighton was an amazing store. They had incredible estate pieces, including some great vintage Asscher cut rings. I think the least expensive one we looked at was $28,000, but it's nice to dream.

Maybe the funniest thing was when a fairly normal looking man (in his late 40's or early 50's) came up and started choosing between 5 carat ruby rings ($90-100,000). Needless to say our salesperson paid a little more attention to him than us, but we enjoyed the show, especially when the saleswoman told one of her colleagues to "go in the back and get Fred. . . Now!"