Ritani Endless Love Setting

[funkynola]

I''ve been doing some research for the past couple of months and I came across this website and have learned quite a bit about purchasing a good quality diamond. The only problem I have is you never really find any information on what a good price is for a diamond with certain characteristics.
First off my gf wants this whole thing to be a surprise (could be the downfall of the relationship)! I now she told my sister that she saw the Ritani Endless Love Micro pave with center stone in bezel setting at Baliey, Banks Biddle (BBB). I passed by the store and it''s a great looking ring. There are about 4 or 5 jewelrs that carry Ritani in Houston and they are all priced pretty close. So I decided to try Robbins Bros.(RB) and they said they can send a center stone that i purchase to Ritani and Ritani will set the stone for me. RB said Ritani would set round brilliant for $3295 or cushion cut for $2795 both in platinum. The center stone will be 1.0 - 1.1 carats. Does anyone know if this is a good price? RB said that Ritani will not negotiate on price even though I told RB that the cheaper I get the setting the more I can spend on the center stone I purchase from them.

This leads to my next question. I have been pricing loose diamonds online so I have a general idea of what i can get. RB is definitely pricing their loose diamonds about 20% - 30% higher for comparable diamonds I''ve seen online. Tell me what you think about this Ideal cut they showed me.

H
VS2
1.058 cts
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Flour: Negligible
Culet: None
Table: 57%
Depth: 61.5%
Girdle: .9% - 1.5%
$8,900

The spread on this diamond looked great. It was so brilliant compared to anything else I saw I had to squint.

This diamond looked almost 50% larger than a 1.02ct diamond when I set the two stones side-by-side. i was thinking of asking $6,200 for the stone and then negotiate with them. Do you think I''m asking too low of a price or is that still overpriced? My budget ir $10K but I''m willing to adjust for the perect ring.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[neatfreak]

BULL CR*P on the price being non-negotiable, they are downright lying. The $ goes to them, not to Ritani directly. I don't know which Ritani you are looking at specifically, but we got my ritani ering for $700 LESS than the price at BB&B (which I assume is close in pricing to Robbins Bros.) and we just bought my wedding band for $500 less than it's currently selling for at those places.

I would go elsewhere if they aren't willing to negotiate a bit...even BB&B will usually negotiate about 15% less. Not to mention the fact that you will likely overpay for your center stone with them.

ETA: Just to add, it is true that Ritani might not let them advertise the lower prices, but Ritani is not allowed to set the price for RB, only that ADVERTISED price. But if you went to the store directly, they should have been able to negotiate with you if they wanted.

 

[cutey TT]

Think about contacting Bill @ Pearlmans. I, too, live in Houston, but when I decided to reset my original e-ring stone, I contacted Bill and purchased the Ritani Endless Love setting from him. I sent him my stone, and he sent it to Ritani to be set. Pretty easy process and took about 3.5 weeks.

HTH.

 

[mrssalvo]

I''d get a quote from pearlmans on the stone and setting as well..

 

[kcoursolle]

Date: 5/15/2007 6:55:01 PM
Author: mrssalvo
I''d get a quote from pearlmans on the stone and setting as well..

ditto, he is very trustworthy and often has the best prices for designer lines.

 

[funkynola]

I went to RB last night after work and spent a couple of hours there comparing some loose diamonds to the one I mentioned. Nothing really compared to the stone I liked. I got the price down to $6,750 for the loose diamond. I asked $6,200 but they wouldn''t go down that far. I was willing to pay $6,500 so the extra $250 didn''t seem too unreasonable. I negotiated my pricing by finding some loose diamonds on the web. I found an almost identical stone on www.diamondsonweb.com that was selling for $5,910. My stone was slightly larger so I thought $6,750 was fair. Tell me what you think here''s the stone I found online and the RB stone:

RB Stone
H
VS2
1.058 cts
Cut: Ideal (AGS 0)
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Flour: Negligible
Culet: None
Table: 57%
Depth: 61.5%
Girdle: .9% - 1.5%
$8,900 (Negotiated down to $6,750)


Diamonds on web stone
H
VS2
1.012 cts
Cut: Ideal (AGS 0)
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Flour: Negligible
Culet: None
Table: 56.3%
Depth: 62.7%
Girdle: 1.6% - 2.7%
$5,910 http://www.diamondsonweb.com/shopping_dd/ddetail.mhtml?cut=IdSg;cut=IdSgP;hascert=1;inset=rbidsg;shape=RB;c_adset=;c_gid=;c_size=;cat=;c_ctype=;c_gtype=&sortby=price&sorto=asc&id=1876448&start=80



The Ritani setting I want for the round stone is $2,795 not $3,295. The girl at RB mixed it up. I saw the actual price estimate from Ritanit yesterday when I looked at the stone. RB also showed me a document that shows the quality of the pave setting and the platinum is Plat950, the stones are in the VS range and the color is G-H. I sent Pearlman''s an email and he quoted me $3,100 for the same setting so it seems like I''m getting a good deal. The setting I want is here http://www.ritani.com/home_html_2.php?stone=all&cat_id=98&gender=women&page=17&get_descr=1RD1694BR&metal=&collection=&matching=&related=&nav=&top=jewelry

So I am looking at a total cost of $6,750 plus $2,795 for a toal of $9,545. Does this seem like a reasonable deal? BBB had the same ring with a 1.0 ct, SI, H center round brilliant in the same setting for $11,200. Now that is retail before any negotiating. Donoho Jewelers had a .70ct, VS, H center round brilliant in the pave setting and they wanted $9,200 and that was as low as they said they would go.

 

[neatfreak]

Your stone is NOT worth the extra $800 or so unless there is info we don't know... Do you know the measurements of each? That will REALLY tell you which one is "bigger".

You can also buy your own stone and send it to Ritani to be set through a vendor too...Also, I bet if you call Pearlmans they would price match with RB.

 

[funkynola]

RB Stone
6.55 x 6.58 x4.04 mm

Diamonds on web stone
6.37 x 6.41 x 4.01 mm