has anyone bought an e-ring from zales?

[ssjchris_29]

i'm just curious becuase i've been eyeing this ring

http://www.zales.com/catalog/ProductDetail.aspx?productID=15235658&queryby=c&categoryId=4267&pageNum=0&sortType=rank+ASC&newFilter=0&parentSearchId=25182995&gnFlag=0

from zales fairly closely. i'm just wondering if anyone else has gotten one from them and what sorta quality it is. granted i'm not going to propose anytime soon, i've not been with my GF that long (officially, but we've known each other for a long time), but looking and smart-shopping early is prolly a good thing lol

the one thing i do know is that if i were to propose to her, my GF wants a marquis style diamond, a white gold band and all, and she also wants something simple. i saw this and it meets 2 of the requirements, but as for simple, ehhhh... dunno really. depends on ones point of view. if not she also showed me somethin at a local mall she likes. (history on "us": we are both 19 (yes, extremely young i know) and have known each other for the past, say, 5 years. we met in middle school in the orchestra (i played violin, she played the viola), and we basically absolutly wanted to kill each other. she went thru a few boyfriends and all, we started to at least talk, went to a school trip to montreal canada and we actually got along really well on the trip, sat next to each other on the long bus ride to and from the place, etc. we never dated in school until after one of her relationships went really sour and she went off the deep end in a very bad way. i was one of a very very few people she would actually talk to about her situation, and come that next summer (about 1 month after her near-fatal experience) i just asked her out on a date to a movie so we could talk and all. we saw each other that summer, but during that same time she was seeing like 4 different guys and all. come the next school year i transferred to another school, but still saw my friends from time to time when i'd stop into their school and see them. she wasn't really in any "good" relationship since then, her b/f's she had basically took her for a piece of meat and she let them take advantage of her. one nite shortly after we graduated high school we were talking online and she had to get out of her house cause her dad was being an ass that nite and asked if she could come to my place. my 'rents said yes and she came over, we talked for a few hours and all, and she laid down on my lil couch i have in my room, i went over and asked "so what are you thinkin bout right now" and all i got was a very unexpected kiss. suprised the hell outta me. we discovered how much we really liked being with each other and decided to make things official and date. well, been over 5 months and although we're 2 hours away from each other cause of college, we still chat, see each other every or every other weekend and all so things are goin great. her grandmother has taken both of us to look at engagement rings already (we told her to stay outta it cuase she was getting annoying cause that's all she talked about) and her mother has told us that when we get married we're supposed to have a baby girl so she has a grand-daughter to spoil rotten. (yeah, her family basically has us married already i know. i think its extremely funny myself.) as it is, i know for a fact that should everything work out the way we think it will, shortly after we graduate college we'll end up getting married. we've both seriously discussed it and all so that's cool. if i propose sometime (she knows its coming sometime, i'm saying by end of summer '05, this gives me time to get everythign i need to sort out, sorted out. anywhoo, that's our history)

well, thanks for any info on zales.com someone might be able to give me

 

[Lisa B.]

SS...

When you are ready to buy, you come back to this site and ask for help. You can get a much nicer, much larger stone for $900.00 with the help of the GREAT people on this forum!

Until you are ready, which I do hope you wait at least until 2005, play with all the tools available here. On the home page, you can play with the diamond finder...I found a couple of diamonds up to a 1/2 carat with in your price range!

Have fun...

 

[ssjchris_29]

i just liked the zales one becuase of the setting with all the accent diamonds on both the engagement ring and on the actual wedding bad i'm a sucker for that. her grandmother took me to a jewlery store where there was a 4000 dolla set she wanted me to look at. all i said was "wow" adn its like "nope, i'm in college so i'm poor" . she doesn't want some big honking thing thats easy to break off, and i dont want anything that will leave large dents in my head if i should ever tick her off

lol. not that i do that often, better safe than sorry. as for the people on this forum, yup, i've been reading through and they're great

 

[ClownFishFunk]

Hey there, I definitely think you can get better quality for $900, especially considering the center diamond is only 1/6 ct and it is made of only 10K gold. If you like the design, you could probably get something custom made for possibly less, or atleast better quality. If you are worried the setting isnt simple enough, there are other channel settings that are thinner and more simple like the typical tiffany setting. For an example of how much you are overpaying, you can get a 1/4 carat marquise in a 14K white gold setting at walmart (not that I'm saying you should buy jewelry from walmart) for only $328. Thats a big difference, esp with a bigger diamond and higher quality gold. Look around in your local B&M stores and I think you will be surprised with what you can buy for $900. I know you say your girlfriend doesnt want a big diamond, but you may not realize just how small 1/6 ct really is, especially in such a wide band setting. While you are at your B&M, ask them to show you the different size diamonds so you can get a feel of whats too small, too big, etc. Hope this helps. Good luck searching.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Hey Chris!

It is never too soon to learn about something you may purchase one day. You should read thru the Price Scope Tutorial. You learn a lot of interestng info on diamonds in general there. Also check out the Cut Charts as well. There is a tool bar on the left hand side of the page in the Tutorial. Toward the bottom are links to cut charts. Cut Charts are also available at www.gemappraisers.com

Get out and look at diamonds live and in person. Visit diamond brokers in your area. Look at colors to get a feel for what appeals to your eye. Stay away from the Mall jewelers! Search for comparable diamonds available in the Price Scope data base.

You are in no hurry, so learn all you can before the time comes.

 

[Griffin]

I like the simplicity of the ring, and the idea is a good one, but a mall store is not the way to go for purchase of the ring.
The center stone there is around a 15 pointer, and of Zales traditional quality. The last Zale's center stone I appraised had a Rap of US$27.50 to give you an idea.

If you want to spend $900 on a ring, a reputable jeweler could give you a custom mounting with better center stone twice the size, better quality melee, and a mounting that isn't going to be thin or hollow in back.

If you liked the ring as it was, you could get the same thing for probably 1/4 Zale's asking price.

Shop around. You found this place, didn't you?