How many of you bought your e-ring settings without trying it on? What about other rings?

[BeachRunner]

My e-ring came from Jamesallen.com, so it was a blind purchase.

 

[Allison D.]

I had tried on a number of solitaires locally just to get a sense for what scale stone I liked best (relative my finger size), but that was it.

Hub gave me the e-ring in the temp solitaire setting, and then I began looking around for what I thought I''d like. I initially envisioned a 3-stone ring with the sides in his birthstone, but aquas aren''t really practical in an e-ring setting without taking extra care. Once I decided to go all diamond, Mara was the one who actually found the ring I fell in love with online.

I made modifications and had it made without having tried it on. I worried a bit about that during production because I''d tried on 3-stone rings before that I didn''t think looked right on my hands (short fingers). However, I was happy when my e-ring arrived, although still wasn''t sure if I''d made the right choice. I''d been wearing a solitaire for nearly 6 months at that point, and it looked a bit strange to see my 3-stone.

Within weeks, I knew I''d made the right choice, and now I can''t imagine anything else on my hand.

I bought my 5-stone ring the same way - I had tried on a friend''s and realized I didn''t like the straight lines from that so I selected one that was more scallopy. Hadn''t tried that particular ring on prior, but loved it from the moment I got it.

I did shop in person for the setting on my tranny, and I''ll tell you that it''s just as easy to second-guess yourself buying ''live'' as it is online. I found a gorgeous setting locally that I thought would be the perfect RHR for my antique stone....had my heart set on it and had almost dropped my stone to be set into it. As luck would have it, I was going to a PS GTG that weekend, and we stopped at another jeweler to see one of girls'' w-rings on hold. It was there that I mentioned the antique stone to the clerk and she said "oh, let''s see what it would look like in this...." and I fell in love with that setting for that stone. Funny thing is, I don''t think I''d like the setting as much on my hand without THAT stone, but they look as though they were meant to be together.

 

[LostSapphire]

**d*mn at my post twice*** let me start again.

Mine was custom. I am thrilled with it. I was, however, very involved in the design process, even before the project went to WF. I had already done my own CAD and calculated stone sizes (turned out I was almost spot-on the sizes!).

So when Lesley, Joe and Vera took on the project, we were already kind of on the same page. I felt very comfortable working with the CAD guy and hammering out the little details. It took us only one revision to get it all sorted out. I'll post a pic of the CAD wireframe as I don't see those too often. It is one of the 'middle steps' int he design process.

I would say, however, that I could never work with someone who just kind of sketched something onto an envelope, talked to me for a few minutes and then went off to work on the ring. That would make me nuts...must be some of my control issues manifesting themselves.

So the matching of client/vendor seems to be very important in this scenario too.

In hindsight, the only thing I would change might be the height of the stone off my finger. It is set at exactly the height I asked for...but I think I should have made it a bit higher. Not enough to fuss about though.

It was a very positive experience for me. I think being able to visualize a finished project helped a lot. If that wasn't the case, I'd have to try it on 'in person' to feel comfortable.

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

oops, missed the pic.

This is a screenshot of the CAD wireframe for my ring. It was taken during a Webinair session, where both the CAD guy and I had the ability to draw on the screen and make changes to the design. An amazing process!
LS

 

[arjunajane]

Yup, bought my Legato ering without ever trying it on (of course), and now the same
with my JM RHR - the legato being a solitaire wasn''t too much of a risk..
but the JM..I''ve never even tried on a split shank, or a large-ish gemstone ring..

Here''s hoping I love it as much in person as in pics !

 

[Black Jade]

I don''t think I''d buy anything without trying it on, or without trying on something similar in a B & M. Not unless they had a very liberal return policy and I could return it if I disliked it, without issues.

I found this out again last year when I had stud earrings made by Whiteflash. I kept reading on these boards how wonderful martini settings looked and how superior they were to four prong basket settings. There was like, unanimous agreement.

But when I went to a (high) B & M and tried martinis in the same size on, they just sank into my earlobe and disappeared. These are almost 2 ctw studs, mind you. I wouldn''t have believed it was possible. the four prong baskets, on the other hand, looked just great in my particular ears.

I think this is even more important with your fingers. Someone could have fingers the same size as yours, that look completely different, I wouldn''t go by what it looks like on someone else.

A good hint is this-- a lot of cheapie places knock off high end rings, haloes, split shanks, what have you, almost as soon as it comes out, they knock it off. Sometimes the cheapie rings look good ( for a while) and sometimes they have awful stones and look cheap, but they can really give you a good idea of how something will look on your hand. If I wanted to try on a different style and buy it online, I''d buy a knockoff at emitations.com or a similar site, or head to the local Walmart, $9.99 ring rack and put something similar on my finger there. The only problem is that if you wnat to try on something with a stone in a more modest size, it won''t be there. For some reason, the smallest cheapie rings seem to be equivalent to one-and-a half to two carat diamonds and they just go up from there. However, you can find split shanks, haloes, just about anything, especially if some movie star recently got an engagement ring in the style. You can at least weed totally unsuitable (for you) styles out this way.

 

[sammyj]

I didn''t try my exact ring on. It''s custom-made based on a Leon Mege ring I fell in love with and made changes to in order to fit a (much smaller) RB and remove a split shank. I did try on many rings to make sure that the band width would be just what I wanted.

 

[Ellen]

I've bought 3.

1. Vatche X-prong, upgrade

2. WF Scattered diamond band, 5mm

3. Leon Mege solitaire for Aqua, custom

I hadn't tried on anything like any of them, however I did know a bit about the first two from posts here. I'm very happy with all three. Very comfy, no problems. And I was just thinking the other day that the scattered band has really held up well in the last year, with no stones lost/dents. I wear it a lot and it's taken a beating.

I don't have any plans for any more rings right now, but I would certainly consider ordering online again if the need arose.

 

[neatfreak]

Good question...I have bought most of my rings without trying them on! The one exception is my first e-ring-my ritani-which I had tried on but only with a round stone instead of my cushion.

But I bought my new ering (custom), my wedding band, my push present (eternity band), my sapphire ring, my vintage trinity ring...pretty much everything else without trying them on!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

During the brainstorming process, I tried on many settings that would be similar or approximate to what I wanted but never anything **exact**...and since we went custom, I never did.

 

[Phoenix]

I've tried on so many different generic settings as well as rings and earrings at Tiffany's and Cartier's that I usually know what's good for me and what's not, but not always.

What I've come to realise, or rather have learnt from fairly expensive mistakes, is that certain styles do not suit me, for example the Cartier Trinity looks too bulky on my short fingers. For some reason, hoop earrings and in fact long dangly earrings are really not me either. I found this out the hard way and now I'm trying to sell my dangly earrings, because I feel uncomfortable when I'm wearing them, they just seem almost too flashy. I've ended up either giving away or selling things which I bought that deep down inside I knew weren't really *me*.

Most of the time, things that are simple, classic and elegant are what I like best and never tire of. The LM blingy ring is an exception to this. I didn't get a chance to try it on beforehand and bought it "blind", so to speak, and it turned out beautifully. Although I was willing to part with the ring (as a trade in for the 5ct RB), I would have for sure missed it.

So yeah, I would be willing to buy settings or jewellery without trying them on first, but I'd stick to styles that I know I would be 100% happy and comfortable with. I'm done with experimenting with new styles, it's too expensive!

 

[Steel]

**Almost** every piece of jewellery I own was bought sight unseen.

2 exceptions were my e-ring and w-band; both pre PS.

 

[geckodani]

My original ering setting was purchased by my husband, sight unseen by me. It was a simple 6 prong, and he intended me to reset it. It took me 3 years to pick something different.

Reset #1: Custom made locally. DISASTER. Did not try it on first. Prongs were uneven. Split shank was uneven. It... sucked. A lot.

Reset #2: I tried on 8 million and 4 different settings and bugged the crap out of everyone one here while my diamond chilled unset in the safe. Kept going back and trying on the same Scott Kay solitaire, and eventually went with it. SO glad I tried it on first though, because based on photos, I hated double prongs. And I almost ordered a similar Ritani, until I drove for an hour to a store that had one and realized how much more I loved the Scott Kay!

Wedding Band: I had seen pictures of Shimmer''s WF Bezel Band. And then I discovered the Tiffany Jazz. I had tried on the Jazz and a Ritani bezel band, and knew I loved the style. When I ordered my bezel band from Adwar/WF, I knew that the diamonds would be smaller than the ones I had tried on, and I was prepared for it (the Jazz has almost 2 pointers, my band has 1 pointers). And I love my band, even though I didn''t try on the exact one I ended up with.

.25tcw bezel studs: Ordered them sight unseen. They were smaller than expected. I sent them back. And am now scared to order anything without seeing it first.

Dang I wish I lived in Houston.