Men''s Wedding Band Quality - Does it matter?

[glick]

I am looking to get a 6mm Palladium band.
My local "high class" jewelry shop wants $999 for any size.
This tipped me off that they were overcharging, so I looked around for other prices.

This Place has it for $429.
A local Pawn shop has a catalog that sells it for $369.
eBay has a seller that prices it at $199.

What the heck!?!

A round band, is a round band, correct?
Do you think the metal quality is low on the cheaper ones?
Will it be machined poorly?

They are all 6mm wide, 2.25mm Thick, size 10, 950 Palladium.

 

[audelair]

I have used e-weddingbands.com, and was very impressed with their customer service (prompt and friendly response to questions) and quality. I bought a platinum ring (PT950 platinum/ruthenium), and it is very high quality and the engraving was very well done. Doing a search on pricescope and other websites, it seems everyone that has used them were happy with the service.

 

[glick]

Larson Jewelers.com for $410
Moissaniteco.com for $429 (but it is 7.8g, which is the highest so far)

Most of the sites do not list the wall thickness or the weight.

 

[neatfreak]

There are certainly bands that are cheaper feeling/machined than others for sure. But there are also places that just overcharge to rip you off too!

I would buy the cheapest one you can find from a *reputable* place with a full return policy. That way if you aren''t happy you can always get a refund.

 

[Elmorton]

Ditto to e-wedding bands. My band from there is HEAVY and well made.

In regard to quality - I would make sure that what you''re getting is solid - some places do basically hollow out the bands, but yes, you''ll find that many B&Ms mark up men''s bands horribly.

 

[Imdanny]

Quick couple answers-- no, a round band is not a round band, unfortunately. Think about this- in reality they can be an infinite number of shapes (and are). I wish a round band was a round band. Tiffany Lucida bands and ewedding ring bands are not the same shapes. Even eweddingbands sells different shaped domed bands in the same metal (i.e heavy, light, intermediate, comfort fit, not comfort fit).

As to metal quality- pay attention to the alloy. eweddingbands, for instance, uses ruthenium for an alloy with palladium. The allow matters too. If the place you're buying it from can't tell you the alloy, I wouldn't buy it.

 

[glick]

I contacted E-Weddingbands.com and they said it is 9.1g.
That is the heaviest so far, so the price/gram is a good deal compared to others.

 

[geckodani]

Here are a bunch from www.danforthdiamond.com:

http://www.danforthdiamond.com/men''s-wedding-bands/

You can sort by metals at the top, and they have a lot of styles. I''ve got a small knife edge palladium band from them, and was really happy with the quality.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

I just want to add that I have purchased from e-weddingbands in the past and have been very happy with their quality and customer service. They even refunded my shipping when I made a return!

 

[glick]

Any more opinions?

 

[musey]

Date: 2/9/2009 4:05:29 PM
Author: glick
Any more opinions?

My opinion is that you have all the opinions you need to make an informed decision!