Hey all,
I had such a great experience with e-weddingbands (e-wb) that I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my experience.
Men's Platinum Band
Back in January, I started looking for a wedding band. I visited a dozen local stores to try and iron out exactly what I wanted. I debated material choices, finishes, ring thickness, width, and everything in between. Here is a link to a previous thread where I had asked some help in considering options.
After much thought, I decided I wanted a 6mm Platinum band with shiny edges and a lightly hammered, heavily brushed center textured area. I spoke with 12 online vendors and 3 local vendors.
One of those vendors was e-wb. e-wb didn't have exactly what I wanted (i.e. no hammered Platinum bands), but I noticed from browsing their offerings that they had hammered bands in other metals. I had several email conversations with their sales team, specifically Susan, providing pictures showcasing what texture I was seeking. Throughout these discussions, Susan consulted with e-wb's head jeweler and, as I understand it, owner. The team assured me that hand-hammering the band to match the texture in the photos would not be a problem, and would do so on their standard platinum bands for a very reasonable $65 fee (their standard textures range from no charge to $20).
After a lot of discussion, I made an order for a 6mm Flat Step-Down Edge Platinum Wedding Band, size 9.25, with polished edges and a lightly hammered, heavily brushed center.
Shortly after sending payment, I noticed that I had missed that e-wb had a 10% off promotion running. I quickly contacted the company and they were happy to apply the discount, refunding the difference within the day.
The total cost for the band, including $44.66 for shipping, was $1,296.76. The prices I was quoted elsewhere ranged from $1,600.00 to $2,400.00 for a comparable band.
Once I placed the order, however, I started second-guessing my size, even though I had been sized by 3 local jewelers prior to ordering. To make sure my size was accurate to e-wb's sizing, I contacted e-wb and they held production while they sent me out plastic sizing rings. I received the rings about 10 days later and wore the 9 and 9.25 for a few days before deciding to proceed with the 9.25. e-wb was very patient while I reassured myself that I had ordered the correct size.
1mm Platinum Spacer
Meanwhile, my fiancee and I were working with BGD to design a custom 5-stone trellis wedding band to match her 3-stone BGD Crossed Trellis. We were a bit concerned about the trellises on her band rubbing against those of her engagement ring, so we started looking at spacers. I again spoke with Susan at e-wb, thinking that we could save some money on shipping by purchasing through them, and e-wb was happy to hold onto my wedding band while we made a decision on a spacer.
We sent some preliminary pre-production pictures of her wedding band and engagement ring to get feedback on what size of spacer (1mm vs 1.5mm width, 1mm vs 1.5mm thickness) e-wb might recommend. After again consulting with the head jeweler and owner, Susan recommended a 1.5mm x 1.5mm. However, we really weren't sure.
At this point, e-wb made a wonderful proposal. They quickly manufactured, in silver, both a 1mm x 1mm and a 1.5mm x 1.5mm spacer and sent them to us by mail to be able to very accurately determine what size of spacer would be required. However, at this point we were still waiting for my fiancee's wedding set to return. e-wb continued to hold my wedding band pending our decision.
We received the wedding set from BGD about 3 weeks later and quickly confirmed that a 1mmx1mm spacer was the perfect choice. At this point, e-wb had been in a holding pattern with my ring for almost 7 weeks!
We notified e-wb and placed an order for a custom made 1mm x 1mm spacer. Again, they applied a 10% discount in accordance with a spring offer. The price of the band after the discount was $220.50, which was very reasonable when comparing the price through other vendors (etsy, etc). Again, shipping was free as they were going to send it in the same package as my wedding band.
4 days after finalizing the order for the spacer, we received both my band and the spacer in the same package.
Naturally, since the custom texture on my band was not something e-wb normally does with their platinum bands, I was a bit nervous and apprehensive about the band. However, once I received it, my apprehension was unwarranted. The texture is what I was envisioning and matches the sample pictures I sent very well. The quality of both bands appears to me, the untrained, to be phenomenal. The texture is exactly what I was looking for. The band shipped with a statement of guarantee indicating that they were machine made out of Pt950/Ru and are guaranteed for workmanship, among other things.
My fiancee's spacer is a bit narrower than the 1mm mock-up e-wb had sent. However, that's not a bad thing. It still separates her rings sufficiently, but now they nestle a bit closer together, hiding the spacer even more.
Summary
My experience with e-weddingbands was absolutely superb. Their customer service was outstanding; my inbox has around two dozen emails back and forth with their representatives, mostly with Susan, and yet they were patient with me throughout the entire decision making process. Additionally, the price and quality of the product was phenomenal.
One thing to note, however, is that e-wb has both products they manufacture in-house, and products they source from external designers. For obvious reasons, there is a a little less customization available for the third party products. e-wb didn't try to hide this fact, but it is something of which to be cognizant.
The only thing I might change about the process is for e-wb to, in the case of custom or semi-custom bands, send out photos of the completed piece prior to shipping. That said, I'm positive they would have done this without hesitation had I requested it of them.
I wouldn't hesitate to do business with e-wb in the future.
Without further ado, here is my size 9.25 6mm Flat Step-Down Edge Platinum Wedding Band with polished edges and a heavily brushed, lightly hammered center.
I'll try to remember to take pictures of my fiancee's BGD set with the e-wb spacer in the near future.
I had such a great experience with e-weddingbands (e-wb) that I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my experience.
Men's Platinum Band
Back in January, I started looking for a wedding band. I visited a dozen local stores to try and iron out exactly what I wanted. I debated material choices, finishes, ring thickness, width, and everything in between. Here is a link to a previous thread where I had asked some help in considering options.
After much thought, I decided I wanted a 6mm Platinum band with shiny edges and a lightly hammered, heavily brushed center textured area. I spoke with 12 online vendors and 3 local vendors.
One of those vendors was e-wb. e-wb didn't have exactly what I wanted (i.e. no hammered Platinum bands), but I noticed from browsing their offerings that they had hammered bands in other metals. I had several email conversations with their sales team, specifically Susan, providing pictures showcasing what texture I was seeking. Throughout these discussions, Susan consulted with e-wb's head jeweler and, as I understand it, owner. The team assured me that hand-hammering the band to match the texture in the photos would not be a problem, and would do so on their standard platinum bands for a very reasonable $65 fee (their standard textures range from no charge to $20).
After a lot of discussion, I made an order for a 6mm Flat Step-Down Edge Platinum Wedding Band, size 9.25, with polished edges and a lightly hammered, heavily brushed center.
Shortly after sending payment, I noticed that I had missed that e-wb had a 10% off promotion running. I quickly contacted the company and they were happy to apply the discount, refunding the difference within the day.
The total cost for the band, including $44.66 for shipping, was $1,296.76. The prices I was quoted elsewhere ranged from $1,600.00 to $2,400.00 for a comparable band.
Once I placed the order, however, I started second-guessing my size, even though I had been sized by 3 local jewelers prior to ordering. To make sure my size was accurate to e-wb's sizing, I contacted e-wb and they held production while they sent me out plastic sizing rings. I received the rings about 10 days later and wore the 9 and 9.25 for a few days before deciding to proceed with the 9.25. e-wb was very patient while I reassured myself that I had ordered the correct size.
1mm Platinum Spacer
Meanwhile, my fiancee and I were working with BGD to design a custom 5-stone trellis wedding band to match her 3-stone BGD Crossed Trellis. We were a bit concerned about the trellises on her band rubbing against those of her engagement ring, so we started looking at spacers. I again spoke with Susan at e-wb, thinking that we could save some money on shipping by purchasing through them, and e-wb was happy to hold onto my wedding band while we made a decision on a spacer.
We sent some preliminary pre-production pictures of her wedding band and engagement ring to get feedback on what size of spacer (1mm vs 1.5mm width, 1mm vs 1.5mm thickness) e-wb might recommend. After again consulting with the head jeweler and owner, Susan recommended a 1.5mm x 1.5mm. However, we really weren't sure.
At this point, e-wb made a wonderful proposal. They quickly manufactured, in silver, both a 1mm x 1mm and a 1.5mm x 1.5mm spacer and sent them to us by mail to be able to very accurately determine what size of spacer would be required. However, at this point we were still waiting for my fiancee's wedding set to return. e-wb continued to hold my wedding band pending our decision.
We received the wedding set from BGD about 3 weeks later and quickly confirmed that a 1mmx1mm spacer was the perfect choice. At this point, e-wb had been in a holding pattern with my ring for almost 7 weeks!
We notified e-wb and placed an order for a custom made 1mm x 1mm spacer. Again, they applied a 10% discount in accordance with a spring offer. The price of the band after the discount was $220.50, which was very reasonable when comparing the price through other vendors (etsy, etc). Again, shipping was free as they were going to send it in the same package as my wedding band.
4 days after finalizing the order for the spacer, we received both my band and the spacer in the same package.
Naturally, since the custom texture on my band was not something e-wb normally does with their platinum bands, I was a bit nervous and apprehensive about the band. However, once I received it, my apprehension was unwarranted. The texture is what I was envisioning and matches the sample pictures I sent very well. The quality of both bands appears to me, the untrained, to be phenomenal. The texture is exactly what I was looking for. The band shipped with a statement of guarantee indicating that they were machine made out of Pt950/Ru and are guaranteed for workmanship, among other things.
My fiancee's spacer is a bit narrower than the 1mm mock-up e-wb had sent. However, that's not a bad thing. It still separates her rings sufficiently, but now they nestle a bit closer together, hiding the spacer even more.
Summary
My experience with e-weddingbands was absolutely superb. Their customer service was outstanding; my inbox has around two dozen emails back and forth with their representatives, mostly with Susan, and yet they were patient with me throughout the entire decision making process. Additionally, the price and quality of the product was phenomenal.
One thing to note, however, is that e-wb has both products they manufacture in-house, and products they source from external designers. For obvious reasons, there is a a little less customization available for the third party products. e-wb didn't try to hide this fact, but it is something of which to be cognizant.
The only thing I might change about the process is for e-wb to, in the case of custom or semi-custom bands, send out photos of the completed piece prior to shipping. That said, I'm positive they would have done this without hesitation had I requested it of them.
I wouldn't hesitate to do business with e-wb in the future.
Without further ado, here is my size 9.25 6mm Flat Step-Down Edge Platinum Wedding Band with polished edges and a heavily brushed, lightly hammered center.
I'll try to remember to take pictures of my fiancee's BGD set with the e-wb spacer in the near future.
300x240.png)