Where to shop for a ring

[madvaz]

I''m not sure it this is the right place in the forum to ask this question but I was curious to know if anybody has any good recommendation on where to shop for a good price on the ring my girlfriend wants.

She wants a .75 ct, H color, Round Cut, VS1 Clarity..

I can only afford $3,000..

We have been thinking about ordering a loose stone online with Blue Nile. Is Blue Nile safe to order from? I''m kinda worried about ordering something expensive online..

I have heard Derco is a good place to shop for but I have heard they are expensive..Any good dealers in the SF Gift Center?

We have shopped at the malls and a diamond of this quality goes from anywhere of 4 K to 6 K! Way out of my range.

Any suggestion where to shop?

Thanks

 

[Angel7]

www.whiteflash.com
www.goodasgold.com
www.bluenile.com
www.niceice.com
www.solomonbrothers.com

These are a few online vendors I''ve heard on here. Never purchased online so sorry! Hope this helps you. I''m sure if you do a search you will find PLENTY of subjects on this matter.

Good Luck!!

 

[madvaz]

thanks for your input! I will check them out..anybody else out there had any luck with blue nile or any stores I can check out..I don''t really want to stick with malls stores or Shane Co..

 

[ame]

Im working with WF on my wedding band right now so I also know they are fantastic.

Check out all the vendors here and Im sure you will be able to find what you are looking for.

 

[bopitaddict]

i don''t think you can go wrong with any of those vendors angel listed...

i can only speak from my experience, but i just purchased a diamond through goodoldgold.com (last week). the experience has been great, they took my hand and helped me through every question i had, any issues i might have, they were my eyes for the diamond itself, and i''m very happy with the stone. jonathan (from gog) has been totally awesome and has made this experience great.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Hey - if you are looking for a good place in the SF Bay Area (I think that''s where Derco''s is, hence the assumption but feel free to correct me if I''m wrong), go check out Zwillinger & Co in the Phelan Building, at 760 Market St, 8th floor. They have very fair prices and a nice selection of diamonds and will really take the time to sit down with you and go through lots of different stones with different color, clarity, cut, etc... but still try to stay within your budget. Barbara who works there is a graduate gemologist/geologist and she really knows her stuff and is very patient and helpful. I would really recommend this even if you end up purchasing online - it helped me a ton to be able to see how color sensitive I was, how different clarity stones looked to me, etc... and we ended up going down to Si1 because neither my bf or I could see the inclusions and we got a beautiful stone. I really recommend this store for a good look at different diamonds and a very knowledgeable, patient staff who will take the time to show you stuff. It helps if you mention what you know from Pricescope about cut etc so they know they don''t have to explain it. Another bonus: their diamond viewing area is right next to a huge window and they don''t have artificial lights there during the day so if you can go in the morning especially you can see the diamonds in natural light which really helps you get an idea of what it will actually look like.

Anyway, sorry for the long post but I hope that helps and I would recommend going and checking them out at the very least to see how different diamonds look to you in person, and hopefully to find a stone in your budget - they looked hard for us and found the perfect one, so hopefully they will be able to do the same for you. (If you do go, mention that Rebecca+Jamie sent you - Barbara will recognize the names

)

Good Luck!

 

[madvaz]

Thanks for your tip...what everybody told me here is really helping me out..I do want to check everything out before I buy the ring..Anybody else out there had a good feeling coming out of a store?

 

[Sashabella]

I agree that you should go to a store and check out the differences in clarity and colour etc.... At the very least, comparative shopping will make you feel great about your purchase.

I also think if you can find an eye clean stone, you can go down to an SI1 and get more for your money. If possible, you want to get an ideal cut. It will maximize the brilliance of the diamond.

I am not familiar with many of the internet dealers. I know bluenile has a good reputation. I am also very, very leery of buying from the internet and understand how you are feeling.

HTH!

 

[Sunni79]

Blue Nile seems pricey to me. Try Diamonds By Lauren. They have reasonable prices and excellent customer service. I''m sure they have a nice, quality stone in your budget.

Good Luck!

 

[Regular Guy]

Madvaz,

You'll probably find Pricescope can help.

For example, put "SF" into the search option at the top right, and you'll max the search engine out with 300 references, with this one as the second one...most of them with previous posters talking about a similar question.

In another portion of this site, another set of forums on the diamond book has this post from me, also with discussion of where/strategies for buying a diamond.

One option you won't want to ignore is the "search by cut" database here, where you'll be able to turn up 2 options (this one and this one) you'll probably want to check out from DCD; I bought my wife's replacement engagement ring from them.

Best of wishes in this process.

BTW, read the tutorial here, too, which will help a lot!

P.S. Oops, my bad, looks like the Lord there found my first suggestion from DCD, also, and made similar suggestions. Per Lord Mark's and the other's comments, yes, WF and several vendors are quite helpful here, too.

 

[Angel7]

Sorry... I mean www.goodoldgold.com not www.goodasgold.com. I''m glad someone else posted it though.

Good Luck!

 

[DOC TOO]

I had picked out the diamond I was intrested in online, but I was the type of person who "HAS TO SEE AND TOUCH" so I had it shipped to a web vendor in my area first. Had it appraised, and then purchased. For me, this avoided all the "unknown problems" that sometimes pop up. Hope this helps.

 

[madvaz]

hey guys thanks for all the tips...thanks for the SF link Regular guy..it really helped a lot..so much to know and a lot to think about..