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The value of a warranty

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T

tdiggity

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
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Okay...so I am a day or two away from placing an order for an e-ring. My final thought is, what is the value of the features the B&M stores give. I see things offered like lifetime cleanings, inspections, polishing, trade-in priveledges, free maintenance, etc? Are these extra perks worth the extra cost on the diamond? If I get a setting from a local jeweler but bring my own diamond, will they still guarentee the actual ring (not the stone obviously)?

How about these places offering "Lifetime guarantee" on your diamond against chipping, breakage or loss (if you come in every 6 months to get it inspected)? Whats the catch on these things? Are they legit?

I''d love some feedback!!
 
Many people here have had negative expiriences with warranties offered by B&Ms. The bottom line is that you will want to get your diamond insured no matter what, because there are always some exclusions in the warranty. So to me the warranty is not useful if my insurance company is covering the ring. And if you do not follow the B&M's guidelines exactly, they will often not honor the warranty. If you ever miss a cleaning or inspection, the entire thing may be voided. You can do a search here and others will hopefully chime in that have actually purchased from a B&M and gotten the warrenty but these are the negative things I have read.

Also, free cleanings are really nothing special, as most jewelers will clean your ring for free even if you didn't buy it from them.

Trade up offers are always good but many online dealers also offer them.
 

As jazmine said, lmost any jeweler will clean your rings as incentive to have you come in their store! Plus you can get your very own ultrasonic and keep the rings clean at home!


You can forget the guarantee on the diamonds, too. You need to get insurance on the ring which will replace or repair in case of loss or damage. So paying a premium for a chipping or breakage guarantee is a waste of money. Forget to go for the 6 month check-up one time and see what happens to the "guarantee".


I think in the case of pave settings, it might be good to get that locally since some people have problems with losing stones.


But I can see no advantage to drastically overpay for a diamond. I do see value in some of the services some of these vendors offer like Idealscope photos, magnified photos, etc. But I wouldn''t be willing to pay more than those prices for a diamond locally.

 
Other thoughts/opinions? Thanks to both of you for what you shared...I think I agree with you there...I just wonder if my GF will feel the same.

Females...does it matter to you if the rock comes from online? Or is it just that you got the best rock possible for the money?
 
The issue is not whether it is online. It''s not like buying the diamond at Wal-Mart or something! But if that concerns you, look at vendors like Good Old Gold, Pearlman''s, and Winfield''s which are all fine family owned jewelry stores that happen to have a web-site. On the other hand, I think WhiteFlash has an excellent reputation for online-only vendors. I''d be proud to have jewelry from any of those.
 
Yes, it matters, because that is all that I would want! Why would I want to pay more money in a B&M when I could spend the same amount online and get a bigger or better diamond. Each time I go to the mall and browse the jewelery stores I just cannot believe the low, low quality that is offered because the average consumer really is so uneducated. The cut information that is so vital (idealscopes, sarin etc) is not offered by any jeweler in my area that I know of. Some people can't understand how you can buy a diamond site unseen but I don't understand how others can buy theirs with IGI reports or color grades of GHI. There is a reason that PSer's diamonds outshine so many others. People are always saying "wow your diamond is so sparkly." Unfortunetly, most people don't understand why my diamond looks like that and their doesn't. Plus, the customer service online has been superior in my experience to anything I can find in person.

I'm not saying you can't get a gorgous diamond at a B&M because many people have, but with vendors like WF or GOG, the process is much easier and foolproof because they have all of the information we like to see.
 
A diamond is extremely durable. Once properly graded very few ever become damaged. A warranty is no better than insurance when it comes to a damage claim. Either way, you must assume you have paid your share of any associated risk that is being covered. A warranty is much like a "free" loaner car when you buy a new BMW. Believe me, the loaner has been paid for by the buyer. It is not truly "free", but it is a wonderful convenience and maybe money well spent.

Don''t confuse "convenience and comfort" with "something for nothing". Warranties serve to protect consumers and also limit liability for vendors. They can be a good thing to make you feel safe and secure. Ultimately it truly does not matter if you have a warranty or not. The price paid dictates the layers of ''free" extras that come with nearly any purchase. It is a nice thing to be able to choose, but the choice is not of truly great importance.
 
What David said is absolutely true! I looked at diamond studs last weekend just to get an idea about sizes, and I found the prices at the jeweler who offered the warranty to be about double these prices! So you pay dearly for that warranty, and you STILL have to get insurance in case the diamond is lost under circumstances not covered under the warranty!
 
If someone spent more than 10 minutes on this board and *still* went to a B&M shop to buy their diamonds, the sound of my jaw hitting the floor would be heard across cyberspace.

I mean really. You know better than that.
 
Oh trust me...I have NO intention of buying a diamond at a B&M I was just wondering how people felt about the extra value they try to package now to keep the prices high.
 
It''s no different than all those special coatings, etc. the car dealership offers! Bad deal either way!
 
I would keep in mind the old adage that, "if its to good to be true..."
I also agree with the other people that posted.
 
I think it is worth buying settings at a B&M if they have pave or details (like engraving). My B&M had no problem that I didn''t buy my diamond there (DS2006 went to the same one for her new set and I think they were also fine with it. She bought her beautiful stone from GOG). Seeing how I HAVE lost a melee knowing that they replace it for free is priceless. I don''t have to pay for shipping, it is faster when it is local, they polish my ring for free, plus having a good relationship with a local jeweler is really important. If I was buying studs or something like that I would buy online. If I bought anything with pave or melees I will buy at my B&M.
 
We looked at a well known, local B&M who guaranteed their stones for life. Yeah, they included cleaning and inspection but they were most proud of their lifetime replacement. Even if you lost the main diamond in a huge solitare the salesman proudly said they would replace it for free forever.

Then he showed us their top stones that were all EGL Israel certified. ¬_¬

And the things he showed us all were expensive. Price-wise at least as high as we saw at Tiffany''s, just without the Tiffany''s name or quality. Everything was very high-priced, as in several hundred to several thousand dollars more than what I''ve seen online with trusted dealers like Whiteflash, goodoldgold, and James Allen. Even the settings which were copies of designs we''d seen elsewhere were priced higher than the name brand settings.

All the stones we saw were obviously poorly and inaccurately graded -- even to a novice like me. Things graded VS2 looked like someone poured pepper over them to the naked eye. A VS1 with a milky white cloud over a third of the stone should not be visible across the counter and it was. Yet it was priced as if it was clean.

My thought was of course they could afford to replace the stones forever for free. If you bought from them, you''d already paid several times over the actual worth of the original stone.

I am sure there are good, trustworthy jewelers all over, but we looked at over 10 B&Ms and only liked/trusted Tiffany''s -- and we didn''t buy there. We went with Whiteflash.

Caveat emptor ;)
 
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