Online rings: Expectation vs. Reality

[DebShine]

Hi all - I posted this in another thread and then realized it maybe needed a new thread of it''s own. Of course, maybe I should have put this in a different forum - but you can let me know. I''ve never bought a ring online and am wondering if the expectation is different from the reality? Any experiences you can share?

 

[kittybean]

I think you''ll get more responses in RockyTalky or Show Me the Ring. You can message the Admin to move your topic if you''d like (hit "Report Concern" and ask them to move it).

My experience: I saw pictures of my ring online before I received it, and I thought they were awful! I didn''t like the ring at all. Once my FI gave it to me, I realized it looked a million times better in person, and I absolutely loved it. The reality far surpassed my expectations.

 

[trillionaire]

I was an big time online browser. I thought the idea of ring shopping with SO seemed unromantic or presumptuous, or that it would just freak one of us out! (probably me, lol!)

Anyway, when I knew that SO had begun seriously looking at rings, it dawned on me that I should probably go to store and look at/try on different styles so that I could see and feel the different settings I was considering! I am so glad I did! I hated the feel of thick or chunky settings. I love super thin bands and really delicate pave, I enjoy solitaires, and all of the super fancy stuff like tacori, et al is not my bag! Plus, it was fun to try on rings, and I only wasted about 15 minutes of each SA''s time. The rings look MUCH more delicate in person, IMO.

Have fun!

 

[BlueSki231]

YES this is a really good topic - I''m interested in this too!

Mainly cause I''m totally in love with a ring that I haven''t seen in person. But I am arranging with a local jeweler in Chicago to view the ring. They are requesting it from Vatche so in a little more than a week I will get to see my dream ring in person - and see whether it really is my dream ring!!

Sometimes, you can totally LOVE something, but you put it on and it''s just not working on you. And sometimes you''re "eh" about something but when you try it on you realize it''s totally you! At least that''s what I''ve found..

But I agree with trillionaire, I think that rings tend to be more delicate in person than they appear in some pictures. Usually you can tell a big difference by looking at CAD pics vs. real pics even on people''s SMTR threads. Real ones just look more delicate.
If it''s an online vendor, you can always ask if they have (or are able to take) any actual pictures of the setting you are interested in. This helps a little but there''s nothin like actually trying it on!!

 

[arjunajane]

I agree to ask admin to have this moved to probably SMTR (or RT).

My personal experience - I had high expectations when I bought from WF, but the setting exceeded all those and I loved it even more than I thought.
I think as long as you do your research, make sure you buy something that is your style etc, and buy from somewhere with a decent return policy (all PS vendors), you''ll be good.

 

[ociopia]

Here is just one person''s experience. I had become really enthralled with looking at sites that had photos of the exact diamond, as well as all the different types of reports and scope reports that show the stone in different types of light so you can see the briliance. I''d become convinced that I wanted something so scintillating, a Jubilee or a Regent or some other really exciting and highly-facted ring - a hearts and arrows - I didn''t know exactly.

So when I became engaged, my fiance and I made a trip to a great jewelry store on Long Island, Good Old Gold. I got to see all the fabulous diamonds, and as exquisite as they were, they did not make my particular heart sing.

I discovered I prefer Old European cut diamonds. Don''t ask me why? Who can ever explain something like that? But I feel in love with one that was an M color and an I1 in clarity. Who would have thought?

So going to a number of jewelry stores and actually looking at stones of varying cuts, learning with your own eyes what matters to you, meaning does your eye want an E or are you fine with a J color, do you care about VS2 or is an I1 fine with you, all those intricacies, that can only be done in person.

Then you could certainly buy an estone.

 

[lyra]

Well, I would feel perfectly comfortable buying a diamond online, sight unseen. You can mostly go by recommendations and numbers (if it''s a RB anyway), and usually you know your personal limitations with colour and clarity. As for settings, that''s trickier, although I have done that too. They are usually magnified so much, when you see the actual ring you realize some details are too small to be an issue one way or the other. I couldn''t try on any designer settings near me, so I took a leap of faith. I knew I didn''t want to go custom, so it wasn''t that big of a deal as it was returnable. It really helps if you can try on different styles ahead of time to eliminate things you don''t like and familiarize yourself with details you definitely want.