experience with Niwaka?

[skarim]

Hi,

I was just looking at the niwaka website. I like their settings very much and appreciate their aesthetic even with smaller diamond sizes, and may consider purchasing from them in the future but I''ll be on about a $5000 total budget. How are their prices, craftsmanship, and service? Did you go to the Soho store? Thanks.

 

[katbadness]

I believe I was the one who posted the Niwaka site just a little bit ago.

Isn't their pricing listed on their site?

Unfortunately, I have never seen their product myself, I came across their site when I was looking for something else.

If you're close enough to Soho, maybe it's worth taking a quick trip to see what their actual product is like??

Just a thought.

 

[verticalhorizon]

It's ALL about you, isn't BadKatness?!

 

[katbadness]

Ummm...

 

[moremoremore]

What interesting pieces...!....

If anyone goes...can you stop and get me a Fatwitch? A walnut baby please!

 

[ronin]

I absolutely love their designs as I rarely see similar stuff anywhere else. Although most of their designs seem more suited for smaller hands or slimmer fingers. Only problem is that they really do charge a premium for their items. The people at their Soho store are very nice and they routinely rotate in their ring designers from Japan. The current one designed their Bios Partner Ring line.

For some peculiar reason their store never seems to have air conditioning so if you go on a hot day it could get quite warm to put it mildly. And I remember they didn't have a/c from when I went 2 years ago so I was surprised to see they still had this problem went I recently went back yesterday. Service is great. They made a mistake on a ring engraving once but were able to fix it immediately since they do custom engraving and other minor fixups in the basement.

Oh, also their wedding and engagement rings are made to order. So expect to wait 5 weeks or more for your purchase as their products are all made in Japan. Although they do do rush orders depending on their schedule.

 

[sparklemotion]

I love Niwaka stuff, and so does my GF. She''s head over heels about their designs, but man do they make you pay! Their settings are actually rather reasonable, but their loose diamonds are outrageously high. As has been stated on this site before, they are the "Tiffany of Japan," so when you buy into them, you are getting top-notch quality with Japanese perfection and sensibility. All of their stones, from a visual perspective, are really gorgeous and radiant to the eye. They only offer GIA reports, and similar to Tiffany''s, they have their own "criteria" their diamonds have to meet. I''m a bit confused as whether or not to get serious buying there: A .52 ct D VVS2 EX/VG RB was $7200! Ouch! Now you tell me what justifies that! Hell, I could probably get a D IF at that prices somewhere else (or even cheaper)...

Just makes me sigh....Not to mention, if you buy a diamond somewhere else and bring it in to be set in their design, they charge you an extra $1500. While their rep''s at the Soho store are really nice, even they do not have an explanation for this crazy markup. They even apologize for it, but obviously have no control. Very strange. I suppose it truly is "couture" prices for those who "don''t have to think twice about it."

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 6/6/2004 8:19:29 PM
Author: ronin
I absolutely love their designs as I rarely see similar stuff anywhere else.

Their designs are very common in Asian countries. I had seen similar designs in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Although most of their designs seem more suited for smaller hands or slimmer fingers.

Since Asian cultures often associate beauty and slimmer figures, I think their design reflect that. Plus a lot of girls oversea in Asia are super petite. I felt so fat when I was vacationing there.