Perils of the B&M store....I had to order a new five stone ring.

[Fancy]

Some of you who helped me on PS may remember that I was on here asking about advice about a five stone wedding band with one single prong in between the 30 pt diamonds, G color.

Well I never reported on PS to tell you that the ring was made, and looked horrible .. the craftsmenship was so poor, the bridge was never built up as specified, and the stones looked dark in the center with no sparkle!

This, after fully discussing the quality of stones I was looking for, and after the jeweler took measurements of my engagement ring''s cage to special make the setting to be high enough so that stones didn''t get lost behind my center stone. In fact, when he gave me the ring finished, he stated that they decided NOT to build the setting up b/c THEY didn''t like how the setting would look ... and he still charged me the same price he quoted me that included the labor for building up the setting!

After some fighting with this local B&M jeweler, we got our money back.

Today I went back to the diamond dealer that my DH got my Engagement ring from which was a little bit of a trip (about an hour away) but well worth it. We ordered the ring, 5 stones, 30 pts each, E-F color, VS quality. Now I can trust that I will get well cut stones and I can''t wait!

. I also ended up chaging the design to common prong setting with two prongs in between each stone.

While there, I showed him my half carat diamond studs to see how much he would give us for them, and what it would cost to upgrade them ... WOW, there''s big jump from half carat to one carat each (of course). He would give me about $1400 for them, and to upgrade, I would need to pay at least in the $6000 range for the once carat pair. We are NOT ready for an upgrade ... 10th Anniversary, here I come!

He also showed us TWO carat each diamond studs and I just about lost my eyes from my head!

DH took one look at me and said a firm "NO" (which I fully expected LOL), but a girl can WISH. If I ever come in to a little dough, I am going to get those puppies ... but I must say, I was thinking about how those stones would look set on either side of a yellow saphire!!!! There were some visible inclusions in the stones he showed us, but I gotta tell you, the cut was so great, that these babies sparkled and the inclusions didn''t make a bit of difference to me.

Seeing the round dimaond studs also made me think about the whole "round" stone vs. the fancy shape I''ve got ... I keep coming back to the idea that one day I will trade my beautiful pear for a round. Well, I''ve got time, my DH would kill me after the amount of research he had to do to get just the right pear!

 

[Mara]

You should have gotten WF or GOG to make you your 5 stone ring, then you could have had ACAs or H&As for probably the same price as a B&M....

Any future stones we are getting are going to be compared against B&M local, and if the online are better cut for same price or similar, online it is! Always!

I'm done with offline B&M shopping! (shh don't tell my jeweler)

 

[Fancy]

Mara -- I won't tell if you won't!

Actually, I researched getting the stones from GOG and Whiteflash, but it was just too much $$$ ... we weren't prepared to spend that much right now.

The person we bought my engagement ring from sells the diamonds to the retailers, so he gives us the same cost as he gives his jewelers (espeically since my Husband already made such a big purchase from him). It ended up to be approximately $380 a stone (not including the platinum setting and labor for building it up), and there are no 30pts, hearts and arrows, at that cost on either Whiteflash or GOG, or anywhere else I have found. When you give someone so much money in the past, I think you get a better break ... but like he said to us (in the spirit of honesty which he has always been with us), he is still getting a profit, no one takes a loss for you!

I am really lucky to have this guy though, b/c I truly wouldn't buy a diamond from a B&M store again, and would buy online if I didn't have him!

 

[Fancy]

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-503310.htm

I must admit, Mara, these would be sooo nice on a five stone ring ... but I'll have to save up!

At about $600 a stone, it would run me almost $1,000 more

But they sure are beautiful!

I will post a pic of the ring if I can get a good one (I have trouble working my digital). I am confident it will be a sparkler!

 

[Mara]

Yes, I saw a few stones earlier (around .24c each) ACA's...they were around $450-550 each. 5 of those would be a great ring...ahhhh.

$380 x 5 is around $1900....$500 x 5 being $2500..yes I guess there's a difference but I don' t know...$600 IMO is worth it even if the stones are slightly smaller.

However I am SURE your ring will be a sparkler...can't wait to see the pictures!

 

[Fancy]

Well, Mara, as you know I am more of a size person

, and the 30 points are just WOW. So I would have had to pay more money AND go down in size. And when the stones are so small to begin with, the size difference is more noticeable in my opinion.

And to tell you the truth, the stones that this dealer will put in my ring will be so well cut that I wouldn't be surprised if they displayed hearts and arrows even though not certified as such. In fact, we were loooking at his parcel of 30 points and I brought my ideal scope with me, and all displayed crisp arrows and virtually no light leakage.

But, I will admit, I am also of the camp that doesn't really care about paying the premium for the hearts and arrows label, but I know that many people here do care, so to each his own.

I know that many people really only want a certified H&A stone, so it's all about priorities.

If you get a chance, I would love your opinion in the colored stone thread on which ring would look good with saphires.