Good jewelry stores in Honolulu?

[errolg]

Hi,

I have purchased a diamond from Whiteflash for my girlfriend''s engagement ring, and have had it put onto a temporary setting (she has indicated that she would want to choose her own ring when the time comes). I will be proposing while on holiday in Hawaii next week and I suspect she will want to get a more permanent setting for the diamond while we''re there.

Does anyone know of any good jewelers in Honolulu? Any that are best to avoid?

Thanks for your help!
Errol

 

[GlitterGal]

Hi Errolg,

I would get in touch with other PS members on this forum who are in your area and PM them. Contact 69gm (George Matsumoto), who frequents this forum alot (he's a 'Cut Rock') and lives in Honolulu. He might have some suggestions for you.

Kindest regards always,
Linda

 

[69gm]

wassup errolg!

i happen to live in honolulu and can happily recommend a local B&M. they are called "The Diamond Specialists". i did a lot of research and went to a lot of places here on oahu and have found them to be very knowledgeable as well as honest.

they always offer a complete diamond education for novices, no obligations. everything they told me in the education coincided with what i learned on my own and the great people here on PS.

they are located at Kahala Mall rooftop by Regal Travel (on the theaters side above Carl's Jr.). see a guy named Russell and tell him George sent you. he's super cool and will work with you and your budget. he also makes lots of custom jewelry so if you have any ideas, bring it to him.

oh their phone number is 808-739-0009.

sorry if i sound over-enthused but i'm just happy that this is one question i can definitely answer (after all, how can i compete with helping people here when there are great resources like rhino, garry, dave, mara, etc.).

good luck to you in whatever you decide. if i can be of any other help, let me know. you can PM me if you wish.

aloha!

 

[69gm]

wow linda, no sooner did i write this than you recommend me. i'm flattered!

thanks for the vote of confidence.

 

[GlitterGal]

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On 5/26/2004 8:54:24 AM 69gm wrote:

sorry if i sound over-enthused but i'm just happy that this is one question i can definitely answer (after all, how can i compete with helping people here when there are great resources like rhino, garry, dave, mara, etc.).

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Hi George,

Don't be so hard on yourself. That's why PS is such a wonderful place - everyone can make some contribution at one time or another. There so many talented people here, you included.

Kindest regards always,
Linda

 

[69gm]

*blush*

 

[errolg]

Hi George/Linda,

Thanks both for your help.

I'll definitely check out "The Diamond Specialists", thanks for the tip.

Errol

 

[errolg]

I got in touch with The Diamond Specialists, and unfortunately they seem to specialize in customized settings. They said they don't really carry standard settings in stock, which is what I'm after. Particularly platinum settings.

They sounds like a good shop, but take 4-6 weeks to make the customized rings, which isn't ideal for me. My girlfriend and I live in Japan, so would prefer to buy the setting in Tokyo if we can't find anything in Honolulu which we can get then and there... (I'm making assumptions about what she wants actually, as I've not talked to her about it... but I think I'm right)

Is there anywhere else in Honolulu with a good range of platinum settings in stock? Or anywhere to avoid - I'm particularly nervous of finding some incredibly unscrupulous dealer who takes my diamond and replaces it with a cheaper one when he sets it into the ring. Not sure if this is ever likely to happen, but if anyone has any Honolulu horror stories like this, now's the time to tell them!

Incidentally, and this may be a very stupid question but I've never seen an answer anywhere (and neither myself nor my girlfriend have ever been into jewelry), how long does it take for a jeweler to set a diamond in a ring? Is this a process that takes minutes, hours or days?

Thanks for all your help. This forum has made this whole process so much easier!

Errol

 

[69gm]

hi errol,

what is your time frame? the only reason i ask is because if you know what you want, say you saw a setting a magazine or something, Diamond Specialists can get it in about a week and a half. but that's only on certain settings. some others take longer.

i kinda was hesitant in recommendating other places only because i've already gone to a lot of them and their prices are waaaaay more than where i eventually went (Diamond Specialists). mall stores are very notorious for this. if you find something, the advantage is you can get it right there and then. the disadvantage is you'll pay too much. not sure which way you want to head.

if i HAD to recommend any place else, you can try Robert Palma Designs located in Century Center. but see if you can deal with Robert Palma himself. he's relatively fair. his sales people are just that...sales people. they'll overcharge you.

and i hate to say it but tokyo will cost you waaay too much for a setting. you're probably better off either working something out with the Diamond Specialists to do sizing and look through pictures, then do it long distance where they can mail it to you. or you can deal with one of the Pricescope vendors here. they can also mail you whatever setting you decide on.

a good place to start looking at what you might want is go to the forum called "show me the ring". look for a post that says "e-ring folder/eyecandy". this is a compilation of all the different settings that people have posted for everyone to drool over.

once you find something you like, have your fiancee's ring size available and either the Diamond Specialists here in honolulu, or any of the wonderful PS vendors here will work with you to get the setting you want in a timely manner. might not be right away, but it will be what you guys want at a very fair price.

just read from your original post that your stone is from whiteflash. maybe you can contact the person who helped you with the stone into finding the setting once you've decided on one. i'm sure they'll give you a fair price on the setting.

i know how you feel, though. i thought it was tough finding the right diamond. little did i know that was only half the battle!

good luck to you and let me know if i can help anymore.

 

[errolg]

Thanks for all the tips.

We'll be arriving in Honolulu on Sunday and staying there for a week before returning to Tokyo.

The diamond ring from Whiteflash has already been sent to me (I'll pick it up once I get to Hawaii), but the ring size is a bit of a guess, so may be totally wrong. And I know she prefers platinum to the yellow gold one I bought (I just chose the cheapest setting as I knew it wasn't for permanent use) So a new setting is definitely required.

I'll try both places you mentioned. I went to a Niwaka store in Tokyo which has some really fantastic ring designs which I think my girlfriend would also like. But the price is terrible. One platinum ring I looked at had a .72 ct diamond which was something like E/VVS2, and it cost 1.1 million yen - about $10,000. Not sure how much of that was the diamond and how much the ring, but either way they were both rip-offs...

 

[69gm]

hi mike,

make sure you check out the eye-candy folder in "show me the rings" forum. lots of great ideas in there! at least it's a good starting point. you'll find that settings are endless!

 

[GlitterGal]

George,

You're awesome!

Kindest regards always,
Linda