Facets/Signed Pieces prices

[MichelleCarmen]

Is it my imagination or have the prices for Facet''''s eternity bands substancially increased?

I had planned to purchase a RHR last spring, but with buying a new house and all the typical expenses that came up, I had to put this treat off. But, now, I''''m ready to buy, but I looked at the site and I SWEAR that before $800 would get me a .60+ tcw eternity, but now for this amount I''''m looking at a .30 - which means I cannot even go for the smaller weight ring

I''''m kind of upset here! Any ideas of other places to shop who can provide similar rings for less?

The deal is my budget is only $500 and I want the diamonds to be amazing as I rarely buy jewelery and I want the few things to be perfect. Also, my husband thinks I''''m only spending $300 (hehehe

), so the $500 figure is absolutely max. NO way can I go over without him freaking out too much if he discovers the truth. hahaha

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Hi MichelleCarmen-

I definitely agree that SP''s prices seem to have skyrocketed. I know my Raphael ring has definitely gone up in price. You might try calling them with your budget to see what they can do within that price range. They usually can do carat weights that aren''t listed on their site.

 

[Kaleigh]

MC,
Were you looking at platinum or WG???

 

[mrssalvo]

If you''re open to WG, Pearlman''s has this one for $550. it''s .51 tcw.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Wow, prices have skyrocketed since I got my raphael band in May. I got a 7 stone, .72tcw for around $1200 and it''s now over $1800. I wonder what''s causing the huge increase. I think we need an explaination from the jewelers. Have platinum prices gone up recently? Have diamond prices shot up?

 

[mrssalvo]

hubby told me plat. was at an all time high recently. that could be part of it. i think diamond prices were/are going up too. maybe facets realized how much less they are than everyone else and decided they wanted to make more of a profit

maybe it''s some of all of the above

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 9/21/2005 2:48:04 PM
Author: mrssalvo
If you''re open to WG, Pearlman''s has this one for $550. it''s .51 tcw.

Is Pearlman''s reputable? I''ll check this ring out. . .seems like a great deal. Thanks!

 

[Kaleigh]

From what I have heard Pearlman''s is very reputable!!!

 

[Patty]

I don't think pqcollectibles posts here much any more but she and I were talking last year about the amazing prices at Facets/Signed Pieces. She said that she talked to someone there about their prices being so low.

She was told that their business model was such that they would offer the bands at a VERY low price for a period of time (I don't remember if it was one year or what) and then they would raise the prices to reflect the general market.

Maybe their introductory price timeline is over. I guess that they did it to get the word of mouth out about their quality and service and now that the word is out, they can charge higher prices.

 

[icekid]

wow, that''s too bad about the prices. they were so reasonable before! ... not sure yet what I''ll do for a band, maybe custom to match my e-ring, especially with these new prices

 

[ChargerGrrl]

I believe they have a "store" on ebay. Maybe you can get a deal going thru that route?

 

[Demelza]

I paid $1,425 for my 1.14 ct eternity ring in late Dec 2004. For the same ring today, I would pay $1,694.

 

[aljdewey]

Hey, MC......how''s the new house, by the way?

 

[Giangi]

I was wondering about the same thing the other day. I was browsing their on-line catalog and noticed that prices seemed to be much higher than they used to.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

I paid $1550 for my 1.16ctw Raphael setting (5 pointers), platinum, in Feb 2005. Now the next closest thing I can find is a ring with 5.7 pointers for $1,929.00! Yikes!

 

[Boom]

I talked to Leon about making a setting in August and he gave me a quote. When I finally found the stone in September, the quote had jumped at about 20% due to the increase in price of melee!! Talk about bad timing.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 9/23/2005 3:54:48 PM
Author: aljdewey
Hey, MC......how''s the new house, by the way?

House is great! It''s incredible the joy of being out in the backyard and having complete privacy.

 

[sevens one]

Hey MC, Signed Pieces can make any of those eternity bands in white gold- that should help with the cost.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Looks like they paid attention at SP, and re-adjusted the prices. They came down a bit since we started this thread.....hmmm. Glad to see they are doing their homework. I''ve been wanting to get the e-ring setting to match my band, and with the huge price hike last week, my hubby would never have gone for it, now that it''s lowered a little, my negotiations can begin again

 

[Mara]

SP''s stuff is great but alot of what I buy is pricing driven. I like SP''s eternity rings but they aren''t anything special, the basic ones are just shared prong settings. The Raphaeal at least is a branded setting so I could understand having higher prices for it, but their regular stuff? Not worth price hikes...as mrsS noted you can get a nice .50ctw through Pearlmans for around $500 so why would anyone spend $800 for the same thing or even LESS ctw?

SP used to have some deals that were around $350 for .35ctw but not anymore. I actually surf their site ALOT LESS because of their pricing hikes because I can see the same things elsewhere (and same color/clarity elsewhere too if I was really after that). So hopefully they do wise up re: pricing being very transparent online...as this thread illustrates, people do notice and talk!

 

[MissAva]

I too noticed that they changed some of their prices, but they did not change them by much. I mean 7$ is not a large price drop. It is frustrating, I really did not think their prices would have gone up so much, and it means I need to reconsider things...again.

 

[Ann]

agree with Matatora, their pricing didn''t come down enough to really make a difference. I was ready to place my order this week, but I think I need to look around a bit more. I need 2, .85 - 1.00ct plat. shared prong/Raphael. At Signed Pieces, the 1ct Raphael band is around $1700.00. That is a LOT more than when I started pricing them in early August. I spoke with Issac a few weeks ago and yes that was the price.

So with their high prices in mind, does anyone have other vendor suggestions that have superb quality?

And, just a note for earring lovers, I asked Issac if they would ever offer diamond in/out hoops and he said they were working on it. Maybe they will offer low pricing for a while!!!!!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I cannot even tell that SP''s prices have gone down! Not enough of a difference for me, so I''m for sure shopping elsewhere (which is a bit of a disappointment as I had planned to buy from them forever, it seems like).

Ann - I''m not sure who to recommend to you, but if you do find another vendor, can you post (and PM me)? Thanks!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 9/29/2005 11:50:41 PM
Author: Mara

SP used to have some deals that were around $350 for .35ctw but not anymore. I actually surf their site ALOT LESS because of their pricing hikes because I can see the same things elsewhere (and same color/clarity elsewhere too if I was really after that).

Honestly, I''ve stopped searching there for the same reason.

Late last year, all I kept hearing from so many folks was how competitive SP''s pricing was. I finally called them on a potential project, and their quote was at least 10% higher than the other two quotes I got. I was disappointed after hearing all the hype.

 

[AndyRosse]

I don''t notice any price drop on the rings I was looking at. Sadly, they are several hundred dollars more than when I was looking at them less than a year ago

. I knew I should have bought then (even had a thread asking everyone what they thought about buying early!), but in the end, the consensus between FI and I was "how much price difference could there possibily be in a year?!" Apparently a lot

.

Oh well, this is just an incentive to utilize my local jewelers since there is no longer a price advantage with SP...

But it also means a smaller total carat weight for me

.

 

[Kaleigh]

Wow, their prices have shot up. I got my eternity band last January for 5K, it''s 3.38 carats and each stone is 18 points. If I were to buy it today, I would have to pay about 7K. That''s just crazy.

 

[oneofus]

Yes the prices have definitely gone UP. I had bought one half a year ago and returned it due to the size being too big compared to my e-ring. Now the same 1 carat eternity band costs a few hundred more. Maybe I should've kept it? (But for what...)

 

[Jelly]

Yikes,

Hopefully we don''t see this inflation trend in our other PS vendors.

 

[MissAva]

If we do there wont be much point in them, they are less expensive then B&M vendors but not as much as I had orginally thought and it is possible to find well cut diamonds in your local stores if you have the time to search. I think if they prices went up beyond the price increases that are going to be felt everywhere that the diffrence would not be enought to pass up a local relationship. JMO.

 

[MissAva]

I cannot rememeber who has these but I asked about them before and EZ Creations got positive reviews. This one is avaible for 499$ .50tcw in white or yellow.