Where to buy an engagement ring?

[abath07]

I live in Berkeley,CA, a half hour from SF.
Where do they have near wholesale pricing and a big selection in the SF Bay Area or should I use an online dealer? "The Diamond Center" in Burlingame? Costco? Derco in The Gift Center on Brannan St? BlueNile.com, Mondera.com? Who will treat me honestly wih a good near wholesale price?

 

[finchuck]

Blue Nile, Mondera and Ashford seem to be more expensive than White Flash. I'd go with White Flash online.

Sometimes places like Costco have reasonable deals, but they rarely have anything I'd call a selection. I'd go with White Flash for an easy and secure buy.

 

[pqcollectibles]

There was a thread last spring about Costco selling a line of Hearts and Arrows diamonds. Don't remember if the pricing was reasonable or not. But, at least one level of quality can be found at some, if not all, Costco stores.

Maybe Mara and other locals will chime in here with info on the Bay area.

Blue Nile is very reputable and has had positive feedback here in the Forum. You can search the Forum threads by Vendor name to read of other peoples' experiences. Blue Nile tends to be a bit more expensive than some of the other dealers.

I purchased from White Flash. They are great folk to deal with, knowledgeable, professional, and friendly. Cut their own Branded A Cut Above H&A diamonds, have great return/refund and life time upgrade policies.

Jonathan at Good Old Gold, Robin and Todd at Nice Ice, Josh at Dirt Cheap Diamonds, Jan and Brad of DBOF, and Barry at SuperbCert contribute regularly on the Forum offering folk advise even when the diamonds are not theirs. No high pressure sales pitches. Just giving people the advantage of their expertise. All have very good feedback on the Forum. As does Affordable Diamonds on Line/Tradeshop and USA Certed. Tradeshop custom makes rings for people. (Vendors, please don't feel slighted if I didn't mention your company. Just pulling off the top of my head.)

White Flash, GOG, Nice Ice, DBOF, and SuperbCert have diamonds on hand that they can actually pull out and discuss with you over the phone prior to shipment.

Check out Vendor's policies. Chat/email with a few. I talked to several before dealing with White Flash. Every one I dealt with was very courteous and knowledgeable. Find one you are comfortable working with.

Good Luck in your search for the perfect ring!

 

[abath07]

Thanks, it sounds as if you like White Flash.
http://www.whiteflash.com

 

[Mara]

I'm in the SF Bay....If you want to go and look at some local B&M's... I think Derco's has been recommended before...but I have never been there.




In the South Bay..I went to Joe Escobar in Campbell, they have TONS of settings and stones in stock..it was a great education for me to see all the settings and compare some stones in person. They actually have pretty reasonable pricing but it is more expensive than online.




Ugh stay away from the Diamond Center in Burlinggame...horrible television ads and any company that sells a 1c diamond ring for $999 is nothing better than a maul jeweler in my eyes. Stay away from the mall (maul) jewelers too unless you are just doing price comparison or finding a setting. They always mark up their prices!




There is the Shane Company but I would never buy a diamond from them, they were hugely overpriced and their quality was mediocre. No information on cut really. But they do have alot of settings. I was on the hunt for a setting more than the stone, for a long time...so I went to B&M's mostly for this first.




Also Willow Glen Jewelers carries Eightstar diamonds, which are very expensive, but float some people's boats!

Or find a local Hearts on Fire dealer (there is one in Cupertino on De Anza) and see what they have in stock, they have markup as well for the brand. Both HOF and 8* will be pricier than the average Hearts and Arrows stones.




I have also heard that Costco sells some good stuff, and if you look at their website, they do have some helpful numbers on their stones --a few scored well on HCA. I have also heard they sell Hearts and Arrows and that their prices are very good, inline with typical Costco discount pricing. However from what I have seen, you can get similar prices online and then you don't have to tell people you bought her ring at Costco (that may bother some!).




Speaking of Costco, my friend was telling me about her other friend whose hubby got her a Tiff ring because that is all she would have. Then she went to Costco and got her hubby a Costco ring. He was really offended and so was the friend telling me the story--how could she be cheap like that after demanding a Tiff ring? I just giggled. Too funny.




Anyway--back on track. I would highly recommend purchasing online as well. We were about to do that but ended up getting a stellar deal with our offline jeweler in Aptos, he price-matched some online stones we were considering. But I would definitely recommend checking out WhiteFlash, GoodOldGold, NiceIce etc as many others have recommended. You want to work with a company that will not hesitate to give you the information you need on a stone to make an educated decision. Don't be satisfied with a GIA report. Get crown and pavilion angles, get a Sarin report. Buy an IdealScope for $25 on Garry's site and tote it around with you to see light return from stones. Or online be sure to work with a company that will give you this same information (and do part of the work for you!). Our next diamond purchase (for fiance's ring) will be online...and probably with WhiteFlash. I can't wait!!

Lastly, be careful with the 'near wholesale'...no self-respecting jeweler will sell at wholesale or anything remotely 'very near'...they have to make a profit too. Online prices are VERY competitive compared to offline, so if you find something online and want to work with a specific offline jeweler, see if they will price match. Or else I wouldn't bother. Esp if you are on a tight budget.




Good luck...people are very helpful here so if you come up with questions or have a few stones you want to run by the group, post all the specs and people will respond.

 

[abath07]

I tried talking on the phone with Derco but they were not very willing to talk, they kept saying "you have to come in." I just wanted to know if they could do a setting for 3 EOC diamonds I own and if they could give me a ball park figure for a setting. They didn't seem to communicate very well.