Know of any creditable bay area jewelers?

[tangomango]

Anybody know of some good creditable jewelers whose prices are reasonable and have a good selection in the bay area (san jose)?

I''m not sure if I am ready to make the leap to purchase online yet.

Any feedback much appreciated!

 

[Gypsy]

I've been very happy with all the service I've recieved at Joe Escrobar in Campbell, I work with Eric and he's great.

You DO absolutely need to have a list of stats as guidelines with you for them to source from, but they are friendly, helpful and have a great selection of settings as well.

They're prices are good, but they ARE a brick and mortar store in an expensive metro area... but if you go in with an idea, from here, of what you expect to pay, then you should be fine. I've referred 3 people to them, and all the rings have been just lovely, all were round brilliants, and they found them nice diamonds in the stats and price ranges they wanted.

If you are looking for vintage or antiques: Langs in SF are good. One of my favorite stores in the bay area is in stanford shopping center area... though not listed on the stanford shopping center site, it's in the Stanford 'Barn' behind Nordstroms. It's called Darren McClung http://www.darrenmcclung.com/ . They are high end, can carry Beaudry, and Memoire, and the most beautiful antique and vintage pieces. The service is fabulous as well. Really fabulous. But as I said, it's pricey.

AmberGretchen and I stopped into Derco in SF yesterday, and I wasn't impressed. The prices were high, and the quality wasn't worth what they were asking. And Amber was outfitted in her Whiteflash pieces, her 3/4 eternity band and her earrings, and you could REALLY see the difference in quality between her ring and the eternity bands they had there... and her earrings just put the stones in that store to shame. Her diamonds are all WF ACA. Wouldn't recommend Derco, especially as the salesperson, while very nice, was CLUELESS.

We are having a Get Together of PSers in the Bay Area on the 31st of May, we'll be at Stanford Shopping center... if you have time before you buy... come meet us and see out pieces, it may set your mind at ease and help you make your choices. Many of us have lovely peices bought online, some bought locally, and all different shapes sizes and colors.

 

[ringster]

gypsy has given you some good advice. i think if you are just starting out looking several places come to mind and these are more to get a sense of what styles you do or do not like.

i know you''d prefer not to buy online but i went through the diamond buying experience last year so hope sharing my experience can help you. after reading alot of the info on pricescope, i found that i knew more about diamonds than most of the sales assistants (SAs) i talked to and that is not saying much! i think if i hadn''t been looking for an old european cut diamond, i would have found a setting i like, found out if pearlman''s carries it and if so got the setting from them (they tend to give pricescope discounts and since they are not in CA there is no sales tax), and then worked with one of the highly recommended PS vendors like GOG or WF to find the diamond. these vendors have much more experience than i and would have been able to find me a wonderful sparkley diamond at a great price -- they and the PSers could have weighed in on whether a stone was a go or no go. i feel now whenever i go to one of these stores that i am not getting my moneys worth and i am not getting the expertise from the SA that should come along with making such a large purchase.

but that is just my advice, you have to do what makes you comfortable and i''m sure you have your own set of priorities for what you are looking for in an ering.

anyway, have fun looking and enjoy this wonderful time!

here are my picks --

1) joe escobar - they were one of the few places that really let you take your time and try on jewelry and they have a great selection if you are just starting out and trying to see what you like. i myself found my SA to be not as knowledgeable on ring making and diamonds but he was very nice and NO pressure which was great

2) valley fair - two places tho i don''t know that i would buy from them as they are in the mall and therefore expensive

davidson and licht - super super nice and no pressure sales person there. they don''t have as wide of a selection as joe escobar but good place to browse

CH jewelers - they have a good selection

3) mansoor and gore - palo alto
small store but they have great eye for settings. however, i don''t think they provide loose diamonds as it is mostly jewelry store.

4) the diamond broker - los altos
super nice owner. its a small store but they have tons of settings to try on. i was disappointed that they do not carry AGS stones.

i have to second gypsy''s take on derco. i found them to have a very limited selection of anything but their own styles and one other line whose name i can''t recall at the moment. plus it is in SF mall so very very expensive. i have heard that their main location in the SF gift center is better. you just have to call and make an appointment there in order to get into the gift center. also, there are tons of other stores there that you can browse around if you have an appt with at least one vendor there.

if you are looking for antique style then check out this recent thread

Jewelry Stores in San Francisco