Eternity band dilemma

[cherrick02]

I recently purchased an eternity band from ID Jewelry and had to send it back due to visible inclusions with the naked eye on more than one of the stones. They recently sent it back to me and this time the replaced stones made the ring look wavy in appearance to a certain degree due to the way they were set and how the stones faced up, one looked larger then three would look about the same size and then another one would look larger. So they promised to take a look and see what they could do. Now I'm questioning my decision and am thinking of maybe just getting a BGD eternity band so that I have piece of mind. My e-ring is beautiful, great performance and I'm not sure if I'm being too picky or if maybe I should spend the extra money for potentially better workmanship and quality.
What are your thoughts? Third times a charm or should I get my money back and spend more for a BGD ring?
I will say everyone at ID Jewelry has been extremely nice and accomodating throughout this entire process.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I hope to get either a 5 stone band or an eternity in the next few months and I really prefer top cut quality and setting quality. I will get mine through either WhiteFlash or Brian Gavin because I know they carry the stones I would want and provide excellent workmanship on settings. I wouldn't hesitate to use other vendors for things such as hoop earrings and other jewelry. But I would just want the same quality of stones in a diamond ring that I have in my e-ring.

 

[cherrick02]

Thank you for your opinion, that is sort of the way I am leaning at the moment, but am having a tough time making the decision due to the large price differential.

 

[Circe]

I've had good experiences with ID, so I think I'd lean towards giving them one more chance to make it right - there *is* a huge price difference, and somehow, it seems worth it to me to put in the elbow-grease instead of the moolah when I can (tough with a solitaire, easier with a composite piece).

 

[D&T]

I will give you my honest opinions from my own experiences and from what I have read/seen on here.

I did not find anything wrong with their customer service, however I have had two mistakes on my own purchase, when I clearly asked them to double if not triple check the band before it was shipped. I was assured at the time that they looked at it and all is well, unfortunately it was not the case, and I had a sinking feeling about it. My ring turned took over three months when all said and done, although very inexpensive I find that the miscommunication or saying one thing and NOT actually following through was not impressive. I did find that my diamonds albeit small, was white, however lack the sparkles that I had with my Brian Gavin diamonds.
There were other PSer's who have had quality issues, or getting something different than that had originally ordered. I have no problems with them other than it seems they are not well organized and send out pieces that have not passed quality inspection from the few that I have seen as well as my very own experience.

If this is a very important piece I really STRONGLY recommend going with Brian Gavin Diamonds instead.

 

[vanderaf]

I am sorry to hear about your experience. I just received a band from IDJ yesterday and all of the diamonds are perfectly symmetrical, white, sparkly and eye clean (I ordered an F/SI1). I dealt with Yekutiel and he was awesome. I did tell him I was a pricescoper as my standards are high and he took care of me. There was a band that I really wanted from BGD but it was out of my price range and I just couldn't swing it. Maybe you could ask for an entirely new band rather than working with the original one and sending it back again? If not, go with BGD as they are wonderful and they use BG signature Melee. I have purchased from both vendors and I was pleased with both. Goodluck, I hope you end up with the perfect band...

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Let me just add that I have a 7 stone Memoire band that was more expensive than BGD or WF at the time. I bought it because it was the lowest set other than Tiffany. It is beautiful and sparkly and I did pay to upgrade the stones. The setting quality is perfect. But the stones, even though excellent cut, are still not hearts and arrows (and neither are most Tiffany bands), and I still have this feeling that I won't be happy with a ring with larger stones that don't have a cut equal to my e-ring.

Bottom line...you usually get what you pay for!

 

[vanderaf]

Let me just add that I have a 7 stone Memoire band that was more expensive than BGD or WF at the time. I bought it because it was the lowest set other than Tiffany. It is beautiful and sparkly and I did pay to upgrade the stones. The setting quality is perfect. But the stones, even though excellent cut, are still not hearts and arrows (and neither are most Tiffany bands), and I still have this feeling that I won't be happy with a ring with larger stones that don't have a cut equal to my e-ring.

Bottom line...you usually get what you pay for!

Yes, if you want H&A stones than I would go with BGD...

 

[pinkprashu]

Cherrick02, I also had recently dealt with IDJ to buy a sapphire and diamond eternity ring and they made a mistake on my order and made it with all diamonds instead. Again, I did not mind that because the band was cheap but I was promised excellent cut stones and I only found a few of them excellent and a lot of them were good/very good cut stones. Again these are melee but my ering band has ACA melee and when I wear them together I see the difference. The IDJ diamond melee just don't have the sparkle that ACa's possess. So in the end I am happy with the band because it is cheap and you get what you pay for but if I had more budget I would go with BGD or whiteflash.

Currently I am in a different dilemma, I have about $1000 I could spend on possibly a 5 stone band and I am only left with IDJ because I know I can't get BGD or Whiteflash to make me a 5 stone band around 1ctw around $1000.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Cherrick02, I also had recently dealt with IDJ to buy a sapphire and diamond eternity ring and they made a mistake on my order and made it with all diamonds instead. Again, I did not mind that because the band was cheap but I was promised excellent cut stones and I only found a few of them excellent and a lot of them were good/very good cut stones. Again these are melee but my ering band has ACA melee and when I wear them together I see the difference. The IDJ diamond melee just don't have the sparkle that ACa's possess. So in the end I am happy with the band because it is cheap and you get what you pay for but if I had more budget I would go with BGD or whiteflash.

Currently I am in a different dilemma, I have about $1000 I could spend on possibly a 5 stone band and I am only left with IDJ because I know I can't get BGD or Whiteflash to make me a 5 stone band around 1ctw around $1000.

Pink, I am going to give you a little advice I have learned the hard way over many years. Save and get the very best quality you can. It is better to wait and get what you really want than to spend now and ultimately be dissatisfied. I am gradually replacing jewelry pieces that we bought when we were much younger because I wanted jewelry then and knew little about quality. Now that I do, I am very selective and have to wait to buy each piece as I can afford it. But it is worth it because I am more aware now that the pieces I buy will be heirlooms for my children and future grandchildren.

 

[LGK]

Cherrick02, I also had recently dealt with IDJ to buy a sapphire and diamond eternity ring and they made a mistake on my order and made it with all diamonds instead. Again, I did not mind that because the band was cheap but I was promised excellent cut stones and I only found a few of them excellent and a lot of them were good/very good cut stones. Again these are melee but my ering band has ACA melee and when I wear them together I see the difference. The IDJ diamond melee just don't have the sparkle that ACa's possess. So in the end I am happy with the band because it is cheap and you get what you pay for but if I had more budget I would go with BGD or whiteflash.

Currently I am in a different dilemma, I have about $1000 I could spend on possibly a 5 stone band and I am only left with IDJ because I know I can't get BGD or Whiteflash to make me a 5 stone band around 1ctw around $1000.

Pink, I am going to give you a little advice I have learned the hard way over many years. Save and get the very best quality you can. It is better to wait and get what you really want than to spend now and ultimately be dissatisfied. I am gradually replacing jewelry pieces that we bought when we were much younger because I wanted jewelry then and knew little about quality. Now that I do, I am very selective and have to wait to buy each piece as I can afford it. But it is worth it because I am more aware now that the pieces I buy will be heirlooms for my children and future grandchildren.

Yes. This is a lesson collectors of anything learn the hard way almost always. Jewelry, being particularly expensive, is even more tempting to cut corners on. But for brand new merchandise? You definitely get what you pay for. I also have a number of things that, if only I had just saved the money I spent on them, would've been much better spent on one nice piece. If you have to wait a few months/years to get the nicer piece, do it- it's worth it in the long run. Nothing worse than getting something that's close, but not quite, exactly what you wanted, only to mentally pick at it for ages and then finally cave and buy the thing that you really wanted, leaving you with one totally superfluous thing! (Totally done that.)

 

[pinkprashu]

diamondseeker2006, advice is well taken. I do agree with you a lot because I know that I buy something because it is cheap and regret it later because I prefer quality at the end but I can't help myself. But I am thinking may be it is good idea to give up the idea of a 5 stone ring right this moment.

 

[pinkprashu]

Thanks guys for you suggestions. I am going to instead put the money towards the studs I am currently looking for or buy a small bezel set diamond pendant from bgd or whiteflash.

 

[cherrick02]

Thank you to all for your thoughts/advice. I agree, that customer service has been great with IDJ, but maybe quality checking has not been the best. I have sent the ring back twice already and now am kicking myself for trying to cut corners, which has resulted in a decent amount of money spent on shipping, not to mention time spent going back and forth. I currently have ACA's in my e-ring and think that I probably could never settle for much less because they have such beautiful performance. It's tough when you set the bar high!