Neil Lane at Jared

[Dougger1977]

My girlfriend and I have been looking at engagment rings at brick and mortar locations for a couple weeks. My original plan was to get an idea of what she liked and then find something very similar online. Well naturally, she has fallen in love with a Neil Lane piece that we saw at Jared ( http://design.jared-diamonds.com/engagement-rings/neil-lane-bridal-settings/ring/item_476-6094.asp ) over the weekend. Since the line is exclusive to Jared/Kay and he's a specialized designer, I fear I'm stuck getting that band from Jared. My new plan is to buy a loose diamond online at a significant savings over Jared and have them set it.

A couple of questions:
1. Does the band itself seem like it's good quality?
2. Any ideas on a place online that I could get something similar in appearance but better quality (assuming the quality is just "meh")
3. Thoughts on places to go online to get the diamond?

Thanks!

 

[The Judge]

Good afternoon... (almost),

First, let me say that the Neil Lane rings I've seen have been of exceptional quality... in their finish, design and weight... Their engraving is deep and well defined... which really sets the rings apart from many I've seen...

As to recommending what you should do??? That's really up to you! I'd give Jared’s the opportunity to supply you with the entire finished ring. They are normally priced at the average of our market here in New York, so their price is reasonable. But, if you find you want to purchase the stone on line and then have them set it, the finished product should still be a fine Neil Lane piece.

As we all know, the "parts are always worth more than the whole"... So.. consider all of the benefits of purchasing the complete ring from Jareds, a local store that stands behind their goods, as opposed to purchasing the "parts" from two different places...

 

[AtomicLush]

The Neil Lane line at Jareds is nice, but it's overpriced IMO. But I think that's going to be the case for any "designer" setting you choose. You're partly paying for the name/licensing. However, if that's the design you love and it's in your budget, then go for it.

 

[Haven]

I would contact a couple online vendors and ask them if they have anything similar.

I've visited Jared and wasn't impressed. I definitely wouldn't buy a ring there. But, that's just one person's opinion.

 

[SweetAsscher]

Ditto AtomicLush, if the designer name is important to you then you should get it. But if you want something similar without the branding markup we can help you find it.
I actually like Jared's for a large b&m but personally I think you can find a better quality diamond for a better price online at one of the recommended vendors here.

 

[Dougger1977]

It's not so much that a designer name is important to me. It's that of all the places we've looked, this is THE setting that she has her heart set on. She loves everything about the band/setting. At this point, I think I'm going to buy the center diamond online at James Allen (most probably) and have Jared set it in that band.

Thoughts on that approach? Again, thanks for all the advice. Nice to see positive things happening on the internet these days.

 

[SweetAsscher]

It's not so much that a designer name is important to me. It's that of all the places we've looked, this is THE setting that she has her heart set on. She loves everything about the band/setting. At this point, I think I'm going to buy the center diamond online at James Allen (most probably) and have Jared set it in that band.

Thoughts on that approach? Again, thanks for all the advice. Nice to see positive things happening on the internet these days.

What exactly about the setting is it that she loves? the milgrain and vintage look? diamonds on band? small side stones? engraving? all of the above lol?
what shape center stone did you choose?

 

[Dougger1977]

Um, basically yes to all. Mainly, I *think* it's the vintage look, narrower band, and that the diamond sits close to the ring. The added bonus is that it has a matching wedding band. She likes the princess cut so that's what we're going with. I'm thinking about 3/4 carot.

 

[SweetAsscher]

Um, basically yes to all. Mainly, I *think* it's the vintage look, narrower band, and that the diamond sits close to the ring. The added bonus is that it has a matching wedding band. She likes the princess cut so that's what we're going with. I'm thinking about 3/4 carot.

I looked really quickly at Gabrielengaged.com and I saw this:
http://www.gabrielengaged.com/style/ER3700W44JJ
It's very similar but the matching band is sold separately. But the total carat weight of both engagement ring and band is 1.00
but also some people like to see the actual product in the store vs buying online.
I think the Niel Lane set is gorgeous, I love the style of it. I might be a little concerned about the side stone clarity. I don't know the average quality of the melee used in Gabriel settings but I've heard great things about them and I don't think the good people here on Pricescope would be recommending them so much if they weren't great.

What is your budget for the complete ring?

 

[Dougger1977]

$7,000 ish.

 

[SweetAsscher]

$7,000 ish.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9231/
$4238 minus wire transfer discount so $4180

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/8119/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/8118/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9227/
one more at about $2500

 

[SweetAsscher]

here's another flavor of princess, still square shape, but the facet design is more similar to a round with hearts and arrows instead of chevrons like the traditional princess. I think these are very beautiful.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9138/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9136/

 

[Dougger1977]

What's your opinion of this one?
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS1-Very%20Good-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1423253.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357&chan=x

 

[SweetAsscher]

What's your opinion of this one?
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS1-Very%20Good-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1423253.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357&chan=x

I don't know too much about princess, but for me, 75 table would be too big as I tend to prefer smaller tables.
For that price I'd rather get this one, that I know is a higher quality cut and just slightly smaller I don't think you will notice .25mm
The cut is AGS 0 Princess. AGS is the only lab to grade cut for princess. The very good cut grade for the JA stone is their own opinion.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond.php?d=20993&shape=256&ctMin=.7&ctMax=.9&priceMax=3200&resultsColumns=134430815&singleResult=1

 

[ariel144]

The price for that setting which includes the wedding band looks very reasonable to me. Here is one with princess side diamonds which will up the cost but it is quite a bit more. If she LOVES that setting then find a great diamond online and see if Jareds can match the quality and price, if not...buy the diamond online and let Jareds set it.

Your plan sounds good to me. I agree you can probably get a better diamond for less online. JMO

http://www.gabrielengaged.com/style/ER3891W43JJ

 

[mandasand]

Honestly, I would go for the Gabriel setting SweetAsscher posted. It's almost identical at a fraction of the cost and you can pick whatever stone you want! There are several online vendors that carries the Gabriel line and then you can get the stone and setting in one place. I would never buy anything from Jared. They don't even clean your jewelery unless you upgrade to their maintenance policy - that's just bananas!

I've chosen a Gabriel setting. I saw it online and my jeweler ordered it and I was able to see it in person. It is much nicer in person and the accent diamonds are white and sparkly. I love that every style they make comes with a matching band. They really thought about every detail. So, I'm a big fan!!

 

[Kitten35]

It's not so much that a designer name is important to me. It's that of all the places we've looked, this is THE setting that she has her heart set on. She loves everything about the band/setting. At this point, I think I'm going to buy the center diamond online at James Allen (most probably) and have Jared set it in that band.

Thoughts on that approach? Again, thanks for all the advice. Nice to see positive things happening on the internet these days.

I think that's a good idea. I for one just took a stone and a setting (both purchased online) to Jared's last week for them to set, because I had trouble finding a good jeweler to do it and our Jared's has good benchpeople, and it turned out just fine. I was actually pretty impressed, as I had heard bad things about "maul" stores (I'm not sure I would buy the center stone there. I think you could get more for your money elsewhere). My friend also has a ring from there, and her DH bought the diamond elsewhere and had them set it in one of their settings. It's beautiful, and she has no problems with the ring. She wears it ALL THE TIME too. I don't think you'd have too many problems. I personally do find the Neil Lane line very attractive.

 

[ariel144]

You might also want to look at the radiants that have the same facet pattern of the princess cut. They are cut cornered so you don't have to worry about those sharp pointed corners chipping ...just another idea.
Here are some on JA: If those D & E SI1's are not cloudy (they have florescence) they might be a stunning diamonds for the price. I would love to have the effects of blue fl. in a stone, but the higher the color D-F the more likely to have a cloudy look but JA owns the stones and they can tell you if that is the case.

Also J's can be very white looking:

This 1c J on GOG is awesome:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9101/

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1475754.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VVS1-Ideal-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1463319.asp


radiant with a princess facet pattern
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/D-SI1-Very%20Good-Cut-Radiant-Diamond-1305461.asp

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-SI1-Very%20Good-Cut-Radiant-Diamond-1349972.asp



http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Good-Cut-Radiant-Diamond-1407683.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VVS1-Very%20Good-Cut-Radiant-Diamond-1244591.asp

J colored diamonds look white ...here is a 5 carat J set in platinum halo:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/leon-mege-antique-cushion.140739/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/leon-mege-antique-cushion.140739/[/URL]

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/j-color-stones-in-platinum.24731/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/j-color-stones-in-platinum.24731/[/URL]

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/leon-mege-antique-cushion.140739/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/leon-mege-antique-cushion.140739/[/URL]
by Thouarella » 14 Apr 2010 12:54
I received a gorgeous ring from my DH for our anniversary. It''s my dream ring - a Leon Mege halo-ed antique-style cushion. Leon found the stone for us and I just love the facet structure and the high crown.

Specs:
5.01 J VS2
Depth 69.8%
Table 57%
Culet Large
Polish Very Good
Symmetry Good
Fluorescence None



Thanks for all the lovely comments everyone!

It''s our 5th wedding anniversary, hence the 5 carat stone

Laila - thanks for adding it to the cushion thread.

jgny:
The dimensions are 9.95 x 9.61 x 6.71mm And I believe the OMC style stones face up smaller as well given their high crowns (someone correct me if I''m wrong on this). But I looked at a bunch and I vastly preferred the OMCs to the modern brilliants, plus I think this way the 5 carat isn''t too enormous (vs say a 5 carat RB).

We bought this stone from Leon just before he launched his diamond concierge service, so I don''t know if they will provide additional details now, but basically he sent me photos of the stone from all angles, set and unset and on a black and white background. No ASETs. It was rather a leap of faith to buy it without looking at it in person and without ASETs etc but at the end of the day we decided to trust his eye and we had just fallen in love with the faceting of the stone.

Before we decided on this one, we''d taken a look at stones at our local B&Ms, one who specialises in OMCs and another who flew in 5 stones from their sightholders in Israel. I''d also contacted all of the cushion specialists mentioned on this forum and gotten a stone flown out to me, though ultimately we decided not to go with that one. It is REALLY difficult to find a stone with the requirements we had (>5 carats, OMC or 8 pavillion mains, large culet, near 1:1 aspect ratio, eyeclean) and there were very few responses to our request both online and at the B&Ms. It was basically between this stone and the one that was flown out to us. Jon at GoodOldGood had offered to get an AVC cut but the prices of rough had gone up so much at the end of last year/beginning of this one, plus we didn''t want to have to wait!

So at the end of the day and after months of searching we decided to go ahead with Leon''s stone and I just love it. The J doesn''t bother me at all and mostly it looks icy white and I only notice a tiny bit of warmth very occasionally from certain angles (my e-ring is an E and there is a very slight difference but really not very much).

Leon did mention that now he''s set up this diamond concierge service that he''d rather find a good stone for his clients. He''ll still set stones from other dealers but I get the feeling that he preferred for us to buy a stone from him. Good thing we liked his stone best anyway.



Good luck.

 

[rainydaze]

just wanted to pop in to mention that if you do end up with the jared setting, you may want to instead send the setting to the diamond vendor and have THEM set it.

the reason being that the diamond vendor will only insure against damage to the diamond during the setting process if they are the ones setting it. if you take it elsewhere to be set (i.e. the setting vendor) and something happens to the diamond, you are out of luck because jewelers will not insure against damage to diamond during setting that they did not sell you the diamond themselves. of course, the same is true regarding the setting, however which would you rather take a hit on? the diamond or the setting?

there is only one insurance that will insure your loose stone during the setting process which would cover you regardless of which way you go. that's jewelers mutual. you need to have the stone in your possession and a work order/receipt for the setting, then they will issue you a policy for the diamond. if you go this route, i suppose it no longer matters which vendor does the setting.

just something important to consider that i hadn't seen addressed in your thread!

 

[Kitten35]

just wanted to pop in to mention that if you do end up with the jared setting, you may want to instead send the setting to the diamond vendor and have THEM set it.

the reason being that the diamond vendor will only insure against damage to the diamond during the setting process if they are the ones setting it. if you take it elsewhere to be set (i.e. the setting vendor) and something happens to the diamond, you are out of luck because jewelers will not insure against damage to diamond during setting that they did not sell you the diamond themselves. of course, the same is true regarding the setting, however which would you rather take a hit on? the diamond or the setting?

there is only one insurance that will insure your loose stone during the setting process which would cover you regardless of which way you go. that's jewelers mutual. you need to have the stone in your possession and a work order/receipt for the setting, then they will issue you a policy for the diamond. if you go this route, i suppose it no longer matters which vendor does the setting.

just something important to consider that i hadn't seen addressed in your thread!

I would not be too sure of this. Our Jared's did insure my stone for setting (and I purchased neither the stone or setting from them)--which is one of the reasons I went with Jared to set, actually. BUT. I would ask. Don't take my word for it here. Find out at your own Jared's what their policy is and isn't.

 

[marcy]

I would buy the ring from Jared's because your girlfriend really likes that ring. If you buy the center diamond from somewhere else Jared's will still mount it for you and that way you won't invalidate the lifetime warranty that you can buy for their jewelry.