Jump to content

Engagement Ring

SimonBolivar
 Share

Recommended Posts

SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10959

Posted
Posted

I know worst decision, blah, blah blah but I'm a slave to societal norms and now need to purchase an engagement ring. I've never bought any serious jewelry before and wondered if there was anywhere that was considered better or at least less of a rip off than the other rip offs that are jewelry stores. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
52-80

52-80 19246

Posted
Posted (edited)

if you dont want to get ripped off, dont buy a diamond.

the cost, and the value of the ring, is fair everywhere.  what you get raped on is the rock.  

if your lady isnt a ditz and doesnt surround herself with materialistic ditz, she wont care.  i bought mine a moissanite online.

Edited by 52-80
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Atxracer

Atxracer 797

Posted
Posted

Find yourself a wholesaler and compare to prices you can find online and use them to negotiate. The initial dollar amount they give you is like a code.  It doesn't actually mean anything.  Lastly, the C's (cut, color, clarity) come before size.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
UnivTex34

UnivTex34 1763

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, 52-80 said:

if you dont want to get ripped off, dont buy a diamond.

the cost, and the value of the ring, is fair everywhere.  what you get raped on is the rock.  

if your lady isnt a ditz and doesnt surround herself with materialistic ditz, she wont care.  i bought mine a moissanite online.

+1, did the same

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26472

Posted
Posted

Get her ring size, then start cruising around pawn shops. Serious as a heart attack. Find some unique vintage piece of jewelry at a smidge more than melt value of the metal.

Then you either tell her it came from a pawn shop,

Or you say you had it special-made for her by a jeweler who specializes in one-off vintage-style pieces.

Your call.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Napoleon

Napoleon 8700

Posted
Posted

Divorcee (sp?) or Pawn Shop for the rock, then placed in whatever the fuck you want it set in.

I'm old, never been married and if I ever do get married, I'm hoping that the girl already has her ring (first marriage/ mother's/ grandmother's...) or she doesn't give a shit. I'm not a chump with cash, so she's not getting a nice ring from me.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10959

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, Grippe said:

Does she have a Pinterest page already created for wedding rings, weddings, etc.?

Nope. She did say that she regretted how much her mom spent on her quinceañera, so maybe there is hope that this whole thing won't be that expensive.

Edited by SimonBolivar
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Jimbaround

Jimbaround 975

Posted
Posted

Fuck the haters.  It's not that hard to buy diamonds.  Each of the 4 C's will affect the cost.
Cut - how well it reflects light (good, very good, ideal, etc.)
Clarity - how many imperfections (inclusions) are in the stone (Slight inclusion 1 & 2 (SI1; SI2) very slight 1 & 2 (VS1; VS2) very very slight... up to flawless
Color - actually how much color the diamond has (starts with D, E, and F as colorless and goes up the alphabet from there)
Carat - Size of the stone

Play around on bluenile.com to get an idea of what a loose stone goes for and it will help give you an idea of your universe.  I have a guy in Houston (PM me if you want his name), but bought a stone from Zadok and found they didn't make much on the stone at all (2 to 3%).  They made their money on the setting.

When you're buying make the jeweler show you a bunch of diamonds in different cuts, clarity, colors (you may find you are happy with a lower standard on one of the Cs and be able to up another).  Make sure you take them outside to look at in the sunlight (if they won't do that tell them to fuck off an go somewhere else).

The setting is another animal all together.  Figure out what she prefers (solitaire; Tiffany; halo; cathedral; etc.) and what metal you'll be working with.

That's all I've got off the top of my head, but good luck to you.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Texas Town

Texas Town 18

Posted
Posted
On 5/14/2018 at 8:00 PM, RDCanecutter said:

Get her ring size, then start cruising around pawn shops. Serious as a heart attack. Find some unique vintage piece of jewelry at a smidge more than melt value of the metal.

Then you either tell her it came from a pawn shop,

Or you say you had it special-made for her by a jeweler who specializes in one-off vintage-style pieces.

Your call.

This.  If she's interested in vintage, I suggest giving AJ at Abercrombie Gems + Precious Metals a visit.  Family-owned from Austin, good dude.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BearSchlong

BearSchlong 8114

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, DaysOff said:

Don't forget to spend two month's salary cheapskate.

I spent one month's commission check last december when I bought my fiancee's.  /shaggysalesmafia

My girl is very low maintenance, not nearly as extravagant as my ex.  She actually found a ring that she liked at Sam's club.  I told her fuck that, I'm not buying an engagement ring the same place where I buy paper towels and dogfood.

Went to my local jeweler (for some reason, all the Alter family in Beaumont went to  UT Law school. . .) and he cut me a pretty good deal on a double halo cut with good clarity.  Now I need to buy a band to go with the engagement ring.

When I returned home from buying the ring, I logged in to Sam's website for shits and giggles and went to the engagement ring section and sorted highest price to lowest. . .who on Earth would spend $130K on a online ring purchase from Sams?

Also - I let my fiance pick the ring.  She had a budget and knew exactly when she had found the "wow" ring, the one that made her cry.  Then she left the store and I gave it to her a few months later.  She's happy because she got to pick it out.

We have different tastes - I'll show her something that I would buy and it's completely different than what she would buy.  I'd buy a platinum with a big emerald cut solitare, she would pick something completely different.

 

Edited by BearSchlong
Link to comment
Share on other sites
52-80

52-80 19246

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

I spent one month's commission check last december when I bought my fiancee's.  /shaggysalesmafia

My girl is very low maintenance, not nearly as extravagant as my ex.  She actually found a ring that she liked at Sam's club.  I told her fuck that, I'm not buying an engagement ring the same place where I buy paper towels and dogfood.

Went to my local jeweler (for some reason, all the Alter family in Beaumont went to  UT Law school. . .) and he cut me a pretty good deal on a double halo cut with good clarity.  Now I need to buy a band to go with the engagement ring.

When I returned home from buying the ring, I logged in to Sam's website for shits and giggles and went to the engagement ring section and sorted highest price to lowest. . .who on Earth would spend $130K on a online ring purchase from Sams?

 

Maybe it's more instructive to explore the question 'why wouldnt someone spend 130K on an online ring from Sams?'

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lobwedgephil

Lobwedgephil 1139

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

I spent one month's commission check last december when I bought my fiancee's.  /shaggysalesmafia

 My girl is very low maintenance, not nearly as extravagant as my ex.  She actually found a ring that she liked at Sam's club.  I told her fuck that, I'm not buying an engagement ring the same place where I buy paper towels and dogfood.

 Went to my local jeweler (for some reason, all the Alter family in Beaumont went to  UT Law school. . .) and he cut me a pretty good deal on a double halo cut with good clarity.  Now I need to buy a band to go with the engagement ring.

 When I returned home from buying the ring, I logged in to Sam's website for shits and giggles and went to the engagement ring section and sorted highest price to lowest. . .who on Earth would spend $130K on a online ring purchase from Sams?

 Also - I let my fiance pick the ring.  She had a budget and knew exactly when she had found the "wow" ring, the one that made her cry.  Then she left the store and I gave it to her a few months later.  She's happy because she got to pick it out.

 We have different tastes - I'll show her something that I would buy and it's completely different than what she would buy.  I'd buy a platinum with a big emerald cut solitare, she would pick something completely different.

 

You gave her a budget for her engagement ring? Guess you have to start training them early. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BottleRocket

BottleRocket 647

Posted
Posted

I bought my wife's engagement ring through USAA's diamond buying services.  Pricing strictly  related to 4c's above. The only requirement that I had was that it needed to be bigger than her sisters' rings. Home-run.  My wife eventually took the rock to a favorite jeweler in Austin and had it remounted in a custom setting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tokamak

tokamak 6441

Posted
Posted

You'll do best at the local, family-owned type places. Not dumb shit like Jared or places in the mall. That's what Crayon used to recommend on the old site, anyway. I bought my wife's ring at Calvin's in Austin and had a great experience if it's still there.

If you want it to stay secret, talk to her best friend about what she wants. Mainly that's going to be the size and shape of the stone itself and then what the setting looks like. A local jeweler that's worth any kind of shit is going to have plenty of loose stones on hand. Basically how it works is you'd go in, tell them what's important to you (4 c's) and your general price range and they'll be able to show you different stones. Then after picking the stone, you'd pick a setting. Blue Nile or James Allen are both good websites with lots of loose stones and good tools to sort them, etc. You can play around on there with the 4 C's and a few other things to get an idea of what's important and how it affects the price. The local guys aren't going to be able to match online prices (especially when you factor in sales tax), but those websites will give you an idea of your negotiation target.

Any jeweler that's on the up-and-up (as well as those websites) will provide a grading certificate along with the stone. There's only a handful of legit grading labs, I'm too lazy to Google it right now but you can look it up. If they're offering their own bullshit lab, or nothing at all, or anything other than the widely accepted ones, run far, far away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BearSchlong

BearSchlong 8114

Posted
Posted (edited)
34 minutes ago, tokamak said:

You'll do best at the local, family-owned type places. Not dumb shit like Jared or places in the mall. That's what Crayon used to recommend on the old site, anyway. I bought my wife's ring at Calvin's in Austin and had a great experience if it's still there.

If you want it to stay secret, talk to her best friend about what she wants. Mainly that's going to be the size and shape of the stone itself and then what the setting looks like. A local jeweler that's worth any kind of shit is going to have plenty of loose stones on hand. Basically how it works is you'd go in, tell them what's important to you (4 c's) and your general price range and they'll be able to show you different stones. Then after picking the stone, you'd pick a setting. Blue Nile or James Allen are both good websites with lots of loose stones and good tools to sort them, etc. You can play around on there with the 4 C's and a few other things to get an idea of what's important and how it affects the price. The local guys aren't going to be able to match online prices (especially when you factor in sales tax), but those websites will give you an idea of your negotiation target.

Any jeweler that's on the up-and-up (as well as those websites) will provide a grading certificate along with the stone. There's only a handful of legit grading labs, I'm too lazy to Google it right now but you can look it up. If they're offering their own bullshit lab, or nothing at all, or anything other than the widely accepted ones, run far, far away.

This.  They also provide a guarantee if you come in and have the ring inspected every 6 months or so to make sure nothing is coming loose, get it cleaned etc., and the certificate should have an appraisal value for insurance documentation purposes.  Now that I think about it, that 6 month inspection is a shrewd way to get her looking at other jewelry while she waits for the jeweler to do his thing.  As long as she stays away from the Rolex section I should be safe.

Edited by BearSchlong
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BearSchlong

BearSchlong 8114

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, Lobwedgephil said:

You gave her a budget for her engagement ring? Guess you have to start training them early. 

After my first marriage, I was done fucking around with high maintenance extravagant women.  The writing was on the wall when I gave wife #1 a nice diamond/ruby pendent for christmas one year and she laughed at me.  When we got divorced she got the judge to make me give her back my Rolex which she had given me as a wedding gift.

So yeah, wife #2 is trained, dated her for 7 years before getting engaged, we know exactly what we're getting ourselves into.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
FWD

FWD 297

Posted
Posted

Seriously, skip the diamond scam altogether and get her a nice ring that is unique and stylish. If you have to include a diamond, look around at secondary markets for the rock itself and have a jeweler put it in a ring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stella Link

Stella Link 534

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Jimbaround said:

Fuck the haters.  It's not that hard to buy diamonds.  Each of the 4 C's will affect the cost.
Cut - how well it reflects light (good, very good, ideal, etc.)
Clarity - how many imperfections (inclusions) are in the stone (Slight inclusion 1 & 2 (SI1; SI2) very slight 1 & 2 (VS1; VS2) very very slight... up to flawless
Color - actually how much color the diamond has (starts with D, E, and F as colorless and goes up the alphabet from there)
Carat - Size of the stone

 

This.  But shop online and go to pawn shops for the best deal.  You can always get the ring re-sized.

Then, go to Ebay, buy a little blue Tiffany's ring box and even a Tiffany's bag to put the box in.  

Bingo!  Good for guaranteed goodness for the rest of your life. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jimbaround

Jimbaround 975

Posted
Posted

I forgot to mention, do not rely on the EGL ratings as those are dogshit (they over-rate your diamond so you think you're getting something you're not).  Stick with GIA if you can (there is another one, but I can't remember it off the top of my head).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lidig8r

Lidig8r 1874

Posted
Posted

I am late to the show on this, but I have a very good friend up here in Dallas.  She is a very reputable and well-established not only appraiser by private jeweler. (She got one of my brothers an engagement ring for his fiance and did the same for my son).  She is a no bullshit, experienced professional.  Let me know if you want her contact information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...