PS/vendor photos vs rings in real life?

[Alexiszoe]

I have used PS/vendor photos for the longest time to determine what I like and dislike, but to my horror, when I started shopping at B&Ms I realized that settings that I thought i disliked were my favorites, and stuff that i thought I liked, well in real life it doesn''t appeal to me at all!

Has anyone had this experience? Did you change your mind about the setting, center stone shape/size etc after you started shopping around? Or was it the other way around?

 

[Kelli]

I thought I wanted an emerald cut solitaire or three stone originally. Then when I went to try things on I realized I liked rounds better, however, the only emerald cut ones anyone had were lousy cuts.

I'm thrilled with my round, but for for a later anniversary I am definitely wanting the emerald cut again!
(this time as a right hand ring though. Couldn't part with my round!)

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I think it''s very much like everything in life...like sometimes you''ll be shopping online and fall head-over-heels in love with a dress, order it, and when it arrives you just *hate* it on you. That doesn''t mean the dress still isn''t lovely, but when you two "meet" it just isn''t right.

When I bought my ring, I had no idea PS exsisted...and, I bought a ring I love. Well, from time to time since discovering PS I will visit my jeweler and try different settings I could use my diamond in...needless to say, nothing I have seen makes me want to change my setting.

 

[lyra]

Where I live, there''s no way to look at many designer settings. We have Tacori generally, but that''s it, and the prices are overinflated. I loved the look of Beverly K online, couldn''t see *any* in real life, so I had to take a leap of faith when I ordered my setting. Turned out it was a great fit for my "idea" and stone, although in real life the setting is much more delicate than I thought it would be. Those magnified images are difficult to imagine in life sized proportions sometimes. Sometimes they look heavy or bulky and aren''t, sometimes they look like they''d be substantial and aren''t. I wish there were more handshots that weren''t super magnified.

 

[Kelli]

Oh I did forget to add, speaking of Tacori. I have my diamond in a simple cathedral style setting from Stuller. My jeweler also re-shaped it to match perfectly with a ring I already had that I'll use as my wedding ring. I saw (on PS) a BEAUTIFUL Tacori eight prong solitaire with diamonds on the basket underneath the center stone. I seriously thought it was THE most beautiful ring EVER. I thought about it so much that I went to a mall over an hour away because I knew they had stores that carried Tacori rings. I went in feeling bummed that I was even going because there was no way I could afford it, and my fiance would be really upset if I changed my mind about my wedding ring, which of course wouldn't go with the Tacori one. But I just HAD to go look anyway. I saw it in the showcase and asked to try it on.


Eh.


My little <$300 one was so much prettier. I don't know why, it just goes perfectly on my hand, and the Tacori one just didn't look like anything special. I left feeling AWESOME about the fact that I hadn't stumbled across that setting online before I actually got my ring!

Now if only I could go to Houston and try on Whiteflash's "champagne" settings to realize I don't need one of those either....

 

[mayachel]

You''d think that the vendors would do better at photographing, since we base a lot of initial research on it! My first dream ring, I had found on-line, and it happened to be at a local store for me. (Diamond District) Low and behold, I noticed it because it matched my search criteria but didn''t think it anything special. I was walking by one day, and saw it in the window...it made my heart stop! The only one that did, until my engagement ring. I would regularly visit it, and tell the owner of the shop, how much more beautiful it was in person than the picture let on. (He likely thought I was crazy). And then one day, before I could tell my df about the ring, it was gone. Months of visiting it had gone by, it had purple sapphire half moons, was a 3ct oval. Le sigh...i felt like someone had stolen "my" ring. But I digress..

 

[tlh]

You know... I love certain settings, but not on me. I have weird wrinkly knuckles, and like chubby phalanges... there were these amazing settings, LOVED LOVED LOVED THEM... put them on may hand and (GASP!) they looked HORRIBLE.

Stones, I hated RBs until I saw them in person against the other cuts. I just fell in love. I never realized what fire they had, or could have. I saw some when I was a kid and thought, YUK, BORING. But I swoon! My funny story was, I wanted a pear... still really want one, but I couldnt find a fat juicy one I liked. That is going to take a lot more work! (and let me tell you, the DH is just THRILLED.

)

 

[vespergirl]

Yes - I originally thought I wanted an antique-look engraved/pave setting, but when I tried them on at the store, they didn''t look good on my hand. I ended with with a sleek solitaire instead. It turns out that I look better without engraving and stuff on the setting.

 

[mrssalvo]

there are so many settings that I just LOVE in pictures but when i tried them on in person they just didn''t look right. I always try to advise folks to get to a store to see and try on similar styles in person if you can for this very reason!

 

[musey]

Too much of our preferences are based on how something acts/performs in real life rather than how it''s captured in a photo - especially in the case of jewelry, where the pieces are blown up multiple times their actual size, and missing one vital piece of info: sparkle personality!

I really didn''t like shared-prong settings on PS when I first showed up around here, I thought the metal work looked busy and didn''t see the appeal of the string-of-diamonds look. Then I saw one in person and thought "oh! THAT''S what they look like!" and totally loved it.

I took a video of my ring and put it on youtube for that very reason. Faraway relatives and friends wanted to see what my ring looked like, but I knew that still photos were not the most accurate representation.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 2/5/2009 2:19:10 PM
Author: mrssalvo
there are so many settings that I just LOVE in pictures but when i tried them on in person they just didn''t look right. I always try to advise folks to get to a store to see and try on similar styles in person if you can for this very reason!

Big DITTO!!! Or the opposite; I saw some a. Jaffe rings recently and they are so beautiful and elegant and online they don''t appear that way. I agree w/Mrs. S; you really have to try them on for yourself and see how they look on you. I remember that I had my heart set on a Princess ering but I tried it on and it was not flattering to my hand.

 

[Alexiszoe]

Date: 2/5/2009 2:44:58 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 2/5/2009 2:19:10 PM

Author: mrssalvo

there are so many settings that I just LOVE in pictures but when i tried them on in person they just didn''t look right. I always try to advise folks to get to a store to see and try on similar styles in person if you can for this very reason!

Big DITTO!!! Or the opposite; I saw some a. Jaffe rings recently and they are so beautiful and elegant and online they don''t appear that way. I agree w/Mrs. S; you really have to try them on for yourself and see how they look on you. I remember that I had my heart set on a Princess ering but I tried it on and it was not flattering to my hand.

yea it surprises me - i always thought with the magnified pictures I would be in a better position to know what i really like but my shopping trip has proved otherwise. The jeweler showed me a pear with trillions - a look that i thought I would never consider, and in the showroom it looked pretty ''blah'' to me. At his insistence I tried it on and I just fell in love with how it looks on my finger.