no one wearing diamonds in NYC?!!

[Black Jade]

I''m making a short visit to NYC--we''ll be here about a week. (It''s almost done). Anyway, this is so strange--I keep reading how large diamonds are supposed to be in NYC. I used to live here years ago but never noticed that (but then, I was not into diamonds). so I thought on this trip, I would look around. I''ve been looking since Monday and haven''t seen more than 2 or 3 women wearing diamond engagement rings at all. On the subway, bare ring fingers. Around Brooklyn, where I''m staying, bare fingers, even in the very upscale area of Park Slope. Went to Manhattan yesterday, no one wearing any rings on the subway there, and we were at a Broadway play and I didn''t see any noticeable rings there, either. My original e-ring, which is a .33 carat, has been the biggest ring I have seen here so far!

Now, when we went out, my SIL, who has a diamond on the larger side (I believe its around a carat, though I don''t know for sure) wasn''t wearing hers, because of the heat, which she says makes her fingers swell. Could the muggy weather be the issue? Or am I somehow in the wrong venues? My brother, who works in finance, was teasing me on the phone because I am wearing my original diamond earrings, from 25 years ago (.10 ctw) and saying they were ''invisible'' and that no one would wear them in NYC, and that I should retire them and only wear my new ones (1.81 ctw) in public. But I haven''t seen anyone wearing any diamond stud earrings, either (and ears don''t swell, do they?) What is it? The heat? Have all the rings gone to the pawn shop since the financial crisis? Or am I just in the wrong places?

Opinions?

Not a serious topic, obviously--but I do feel curious.

 

[lowphat]

Walk around midtown near 5th and madison ave''s a little more and you''ll probably see more of what you''re looking for. It''s more rare in the subways because alot of girls will turn their rings in or not wear them at all if they ride the subways alot.

 

[mayachel]

Hey there. Sorry the ring eye candy wasn''t out and about. I think it depends upon the time of day, and the area you are in. Women who work in offices run the gamut of always wearing there rings to not wanting to draw attention.

Count me in as a NYwker who only puts on her bling if she''s out for fun. Rarely for running groceries. AND I 99% of the time if I''m wearing it in the first place, I turn it around when I''m on the subway so as to look like a simple band.

 

[Judah Gutwein]

Perhaps you''re not mixing with the right crowd? .... (that''s a joke, BTW)
How ''bout economy/recession......

Check out the Upper East Side....you''ll find poodles, starbucks and BLING!

 

[purselover]

Strange, I see diamond rings all the time on the subway, although maybe it''s just the area I''m in?

 

[DiamondFlame]

here''s my take: the ones with the most bling will be first to get laid off in a right-sizing exercise.
Why? Because it appears that they probably don''t really need the job since they can afford those luxuries. Silly, I know but perception can = reality.

 

[Amethyste]

I am going to be spending christmas in NYC this year so, i'll check around and see what ladies wear, although their hands will be most likely be covered by mittens or gloves.... But after reading this post i am now afraid to show my "larger" engagement ring while there, as i dont want to draw attention while there especially the subway...
i would be horrified if it got stolen or worse, being mugged! ... ugh,

 

[glitterata]

Park Slopers are too PC to buy diamonds. Lots of rich folks are away in Connecticut or the Hamptons. Or maybe you''re just looking in the wrong neighborhoods.

I see big diamonds all the time on the subway or in restaurants on the Upper East & West Sides.

 

[latebloomer]

I don''t live in NY (though I wish I did!) but apparently it''s becoming a bit of a faux pas to show off your expensive shoes, purses, clothing and jewels because so many people are having such a hard time during the recession. I don''t think people are being more caring about others though (call me a cynic) but rather still trying to do the "cool" thing.

 

[elle_chris]

I also in the city and noticed that during the summer, i usually only wear my wedding band. My rings don't get tight but when I'm out all day in the heat, i just feel so yucky and don't like to wear any type of jewelry.

Glitterata- I do the reverse commute each day (manhattan to brooklyn) but don't see big diamonds on the subway for the most part. Once in awhile yeah, but rarely. I'm downtown though. Could account for it.

 

[Black Jade]

Interesting replies. Going to be in Manhattan again tomorrow, so I''ll look around some more.

Of course I''m not wearing any of my nice stuff either! Not that I have huge bling, but what there is at home in the bank!
I''ll update after our visit tomorrow. We weren''t planning to go uptown, but to midtown mostly.

 

[Black Jade]

I double-posted this thread by accident and am not sure what to do. There are two different threads with exactly the same title and first post, but I don''t know how to stop it.

 

[ursulawrite]

Stereotypical and somewhat handy guide to Manhattan:

Upper East Side: Blingtastic in every respect. High-end labels, 80-year-olds with taut biceps, hair blown out by Hershenberger, five-carat rocks abound.
Upper West Side: More sweats and safe Banana Republic ensembles, yet frequently topped off with an almighty solitaire.

Below 14th Street:

Yoga limbs, sulky posturing and trilby hats are the status symbols of choice, particularly on the Lower East Side. Diamonds can be found--at Dean & Deluca, for example--but usually on the weekends (when there''s an influx of shoppers from NJ).

 

[Rockdiamond]

ON 47th Street, people wearing larger jewelry is kinda common....but you''d expect that.

I was in the Central Park Zoo last Saturday and saw a gorgeous stone on a lady- must have been 3carat round, with a pretty large diamond wedding band.

It really depends on what time you''re taking the subway.
I''d have no concern taking the subway during the middle of the day especially.

I''ve lived in NYC all my life- I feel like it''s a pretty safe city.
It was a lot different in the ''70''s and ''80''s.. a lot of neighborhoods that were "iffy" back then are now trendy and totally cool.

 

[LadyBlue]

I live in NYC and wear my e-ring everyday. I have never been robbed, but I do turn my stone inside my hand in the subway. Just to be more careful. Were I live, my 2.2 is average, I almost see on the street 3 or bigger. In the subway I see a lot of 1 ct or bigger, but not as bigger as in the street.

 

[decodelighted]

Are these folks wearing wedding BANDS? Because my first thought was ... there are sooooo many single folks in NYC ... that''s why there aren''t as many rocks! And many folks tend to move to the suburbs once wed.

I wasn''t a big subway/street ring peeper when I lived there full time. So I don''t really remember. At work the rocks were huge though. And it wasn''t banking ... just lowly media.

 

[Black Jade]

Date: 8/6/2009 6:38:00 PM
Author: Rockdiamond
ON 47th Street, people wearing larger jewelry is kinda common....but you''d expect that.


I was in the Central Park Zoo last Saturday and saw a gorgeous stone on a lady- must have been 3carat round, with a pretty large diamond wedding band.


It really depends on what time you''re taking the subway.

I''d have no concern taking the subway during the middle of the day especially.


I''ve lived in NYC all my life- I feel like it''s a pretty safe city.

It was a lot different in the ''70''s and ''80''s.. a lot of neighborhoods that were ''iffy'' back then are now trendy and totally cool.

Yes, I noticed the safety factor is really up. We lived in NYC until 1983 when we left (I won''t say for where). I was glad to leave because it WAS very unsafe and had had some ''incidents''. I notice that it''s very different now. Last time we came, we stayed in Hell''s Kitchen and walked around Times Square at night. And it was very pleasant. When I left, that was (literally) taking your life in your hands.

We visited friends on 25th st yesterday and then we were on Broadway, where we saw a play. I repeat, no bling.

 

[Black Jade]

Saw some diamond wearers in NYC today, but still not sighting many. We were at the Yale Club on Vanderbilt Avenue and met a friend and then had lunch , not at the YC but in an expensive sushi place nearby. There was one lady there who looked like P''scoper. she was dripping with diamonds set in white gold or plkatinum--5-6 carat bracelet, earrings, at least 3 rings. She was a young woman in her twenties with the kind of tan and blond highlights that also look very expensive. Other than that--nada. The subway, as noted yesterday is not the place to see bling-wearers. We went up in the Emprie State Bldg and in all the crowds of people there, saw two ladies with engagement rings on--one a tourist with a Southern accent who was wearing a large (and poor quality) solitaire set in YG, maybe 2 to 2 1/2 carats. And one a lady who had on a lot of expenisve looking YG jewelry including a solitaire ring on the small side (she obviously married in the 1980''s--it was a YG solitaire marquise). there were plenty of ladies there who looked married--they were with husbands and kids--but no engagement rings. To be fair, many were foreign tourists, speaking al lkinds of different languages--maybe from countires where e-rings are not a tradition?

Then we went up to Yankee Stadium where we couldn''t get in to see the game (still going on now)--there was no bling there either.

I did one see lady in the subway though, wearing a salwar kameez, who was covered with 22K gold. She had bracelets on each wrist that looked to be about 1/2 lb. apiece.

I guess the recession has got everyone else--either by way of the jobs, or because they are being incredibly discreet, kind of like those stories you hear about the Soviet Union where the gils would arrive at parties for Communist party leaders and take off their proletarian garb to show off their Paris designed wardrobes and jewelry in private.

Maybe I should take a trip to ORange County?

 

[Madam Bijoux]

To see the serious jewelry, you need to go to:
Berdorf''s (59th & 5th)
Stroll on 5th Ave from the Metropolitan Museum down to the diamond district
Tiffany (57th & 5th)
Cartier (52nd & 5th)
Saks 5th Ave (51st & 5th)
Stroll on Madison Ave between 72nd down to the lower 50''S (Graff, Leviev & DiModolo have spectacular windows - they''re all around 62nd & 63rd & Madison)
The Plaza Hotel for lunch, tea or dinner
Any of the Broadway theaters

 

[UCLABelle]

Date: 8/8/2009 10:10:00 AM
Author: Madam Bijoux
To see the serious jewelry, you need to go to:

Berdorf''s (59th & 5th)

Stroll on 5th Ave from the Metropolitan Museum down to the diamond district

Tiffany (57th & 5th)

Cartier (52nd & 5th)

Saks 5th Ave (51st & 5th)

Stroll on Madison Ave between 72nd down to the lower 50''S (Graff, Leviev & DiModolo have spectacular windows - they''re all around 62nd & 63rd & Madison)

The Plaza Hotel for lunch, tea or dinner

Any of the Broadway theaters

I agree---when I lived in Manhattan, I saw bling...but ONLY in certain areas of NYC. Shop the UES on a weekday late morning/early afternoon...you won''t be disappointed.

Also, I noted the bling is different than the type I typically find in Orange County, CA now...

In NYC it was larger stones in simple settings, or HUGE eternity rings; lots of step-cuts and cushions. A bunch of rings that looked like they came from HW, Graff, Cartier, and Tiffany....

In Orange County, CA it is lots and lots of halos, round brilliants, and much more elaborate settings...

This is just my observation though.

 

[Diva0413]

Date: 8/6/2009 11:42:22 AM
Author: mayachel
Hey there. Sorry the ring eye candy wasn''t out and about. I think it depends upon the time of day, and the area you are in. Women who work in offices run the gamut of always wearing there rings to not wanting to draw attention.

Count me in as a NYwker who only puts on her bling if she''s out for fun. Rarely for running groceries. AND I 99% of the time if I''m wearing it in the first place, I turn it around when I''m on the subway so as to look like a simple band.

Same here. But otherwise, I see some nice size rings all the time. I''m usually around 5th avenue and the east side in general.

 

[OBXgirl]

Also, keep the calendar in mind. Most of those who sport serious bling do not stay in Manhattan in August. They''ve decamped for the month to their "country homes".

August is the worst month of the year to spot jewelry in NYC. The only place I can guarantee you would spot some decent rocks would be in investment banks and large law firms. However, business is way down. My guess is their vacations are also longer this year....and August is "the" time they take them.

 

[elle_chris]

I made a concentrated effort to look after this thread. What I noticed: not too much bling on the subway. Outside, I''m seeing mostly tourists so again, no bling. Locals in my area usually stay here (most work in the financial district) in the summer and just don''t wear large diamonds. I''m sure many can afford to, but for whatever reason, they don''t.

My area being Battery Park City, but Tribeca''s next door and I see the same thing there, not much bling

 

[CDNinNYC]

Hmmm, it's my impression that those with large bling in Manhattan are more apt to take cabs/town cars than they are to take the subway. I do notice quite a bit of large diamonds but I'm in midtown.

 

[Black Jade]

Date: 8/8/2009 10:10:00 AM
Author: Madam Bijoux
To see the serious jewelry, you need to go to:
Berdorf''s (59th & 5th)
Stroll on 5th Ave from the Metropolitan Museum down to the diamond district
Tiffany (57th & 5th)
Cartier (52nd & 5th)
Saks 5th Ave (51st & 5th)
Stroll on Madison Ave between 72nd down to the lower 50''S (Graff, Leviev & DiModolo have spectacular windows - they''re all around 62nd & 63rd & Madison)
The Plaza Hotel for lunch, tea or dinner
Any of the Broadway theaters

Sounds like its a combination of (some) the wrong place and the wrong season. I did go to see a Broadway play (39 steps) and as I said, saw nothing there. We walked down Fifth Avenue, but lower than the diamond district (we started at the library on 42nd st and went down to 34th). We didn''t go down Madison Avenue-we were on Vanderbilt (Yale Club area--but I know from other experience that Yalies are not big on bling, even when extremely wealthy).

I knew about the big jewelry stores on Fifth Avenue but was hoping to see bling on actual people, not in store windows.

I used to work many years ago on Madison Avenue in the area you mention, and I also worked in the 1980''s in the east 80''s (near the Metropolitan museum) and spent a lot of time at the ballet in those years. I wasn''t into bling at that time, so didn''t notice any. There may well have been a lot around me, but I didn''t notice it at all. What I did notice at that time was all the gorgeous mink coats. I really wanted a mink coat, I remember, because they looked so very warm and I was cold walking around New York a lot of the time. New York can be a very cold city in the winter. I still would like one, but less so now that I live somewhere where I drive around often in a car.

There MAY not have been as much bling in the early 1980''s though, as diamonds were being speculated in and were incredibly expenisve at that time. It''s hard to believe now how very expensive. One of the few diamond related things I do remember is my boss, a very wealthy lady, being admired because her husband (who was even wealthier than she was) had bought her a one-carat pendant. Diamond pendants were just coming in at this time and there were heavy advertisements for the D IF one carat pendant (which cost about $60,000 at that time. That would be something like $180,000 in todays money). Diamond solitaire earrings also were not very much in fashion yet. People wore pearl earrings, if they did not wear yellow gold earrings (shiled shape or those shrimp hoops). Pearls were MUCH more expensive than nowadays also. Chinese freshwaters did not exist yet. It was Akoyas--or else what they called ''baroque pearls''--sort of odd shaped (to my eye at least) and not expensive.

I haven''t tended to take taxis much in New York. I never got into the habit. I was a student here so long and then an unmarried office girl and so on the rare occasions that I didn''t just WALK somewhere (and I used to think it nothing to walk from the Met Museum of Art down to 23rd or 14th street), I would just either hop on a bus or take the subway. Didn''t even consider a tazi and it still is not something that automatically comes to mind. Of course, seated in y own taxi, I wouldn''t see the bling someone else had on in their taxi!

So, the bling sighting has been a failure--but I enjoyed my trip to NY a lot in other ways. I do know I''ll see some bling later today as we are heading out to Long Island to see family. My sisters-in-law (one is a lawyer married to a lawyer and the other is the wife of someone who works on Wall STreet) both have pretty good bling, as do their friends. And my niece (another lawyer engaged to a lawyer) just got her engagement ring and it''s something you would see on P''scope--a beautiful oval in a halo. I can''t judge the exact carat weight (and it would be considered very gauche in my family to ASK) and I know ovals look big for their weight, but from just eyeballing this thing, it looks to be at least a carat and a half. It''s also extremely good qualty--very sparkly and white, as my sisters-in-laws rings are also (although since they are older, fiftyish like me) theirs are set in YG, not in white gold or platinum.