I need opinions on wedding rings and jewelry.....anyone...anyone?
 

Hey all,
I'm looking for everyone's 2 cents on buying wedding rings. Where to go, what to look for, how NOT to get fucked....yadda yadda. I'm just now begining to educate myself in this stuff. I am in no rush, but I want to get a good deal on a good ring to get hitched with. So I know alot of you guys are married on here and have been down this path before, maybe more than once! lol!

thanks for any suggestions and pointers guys!

Justin

RUN dumba$$ RUN...............

Wait a minute, wait a minute.....Lets see, you asked how to not get fucked????

GET MARRIED......LOL......

As I'm reading this thread I can't get the theme music from the movie Jaws out of my head.

Just recently got engaged. Avoid mall jewlery stores. Try buying from wholesalers if posible. Here in the SF bay area there is a great wholesale place called the Jewlery mart. It is over 50 shops in one location with great deals. Just bought a 1 caret solitare for $2100. She just got it appraised for insurance. It appraised for $5500.00. Be patient and shop around.

Run Away Now... Not kidding.

ask about rings, get a whole lot of other advice..............LOL. that is what marraige does to us - we have strong feelings about it. For the rings, find out the kind of thing she likes, get a really good idea. Lots of women have some pretty good idea of their idea of what they think their ring should look like in general terms at least. There are some great sites with some real diamond enthusiast (think superhawk nuts and their forum) where you can find some good leads on where/how to buy a diamond then you can find a setting for it. If you want a deal that is your best bet. And don't fall for the whole 3 mnths salary schtik: find what she likes/you like and get it.

Now for the marraige question........much longer story. I know you aren't asking, good luck to you.

A great line from a guy at his 30th wedding anniversary "If I would have killed her instead of marrying her, I'd be on parole by now"

I got engaged in October. Bought hers from a diamond broker in NYC, saved a $hitload of money by sidestepping the retail market all together. I saved about 75% off retail cost for it. Drop me a PM if you'd like more info about the deal and the guys contact info.

I agree with cliby. The ring that you will buy her will be on her finger (hopefully) for the rest of her years. Make sure you get what she wants, within reason of course.

In my case my wife likes stones with color (saphires, rubys etc...)

Without her imput I would have spent a lot more on a ring that she wouldnt have liked half as much.

Go to Jared's, you won't be disappointed

Best wishes, hopefully you've found the right one the first time around.

And you'll be helping to boost the economy.

Wedding ring? Mine was tungsten, its indestructable and cheap. Hers? I don't know and it cost too much and I haven't seen it since she left. Pawn shop, craigslist, Ebay...if you know what you're doing I'm sure you can get a crazy deal.

I know, you can buy mine. I'm done with it.:rolleyes:

Yeah... the NYC diamond brokers will save you a boat load... but obviously not being from this area can be an issue. When I bought my wife's ring, it apprasied for double what I paid... I'd imagine any of the big cities with brokers will work for you.

J.

no help, we had ours custom made. it was fun to go through the molding process & picking out stones. we found a jeweler that worked out of a artistic retail shop. cheap ? no. but i've been married 15yrs so it's been worth it.

congrats,

tim

you can also start with a stone and have it temporarily mounted in a solatar setting so that later both of you can shop for the actual ring and then she can pick exactly what she wants. Thats what I did. It works well if you don't want the stress of picking the perfect setting without as much info from her. Hey and congrats!

I think you meant "Engagement ring" right? If that's the case.. Cut, color, clarity.

Cut: She will most likely have a preference. Her input will help. Maybe talk to a friend of hers if you want to keep it a secret.. or her Mom.. someone that would know.

Color: Brighter=more expensive

Clarity: Oclusions are the imperfections in the stone. Usually they look like like little black dots, when viewed under a magnifying glass.. the less the better. They also serve as a "fingerprint" for your stone.. If you drop it to have it cleaned, the jeweler cant switch the stone on you if you know what to look for. Not that they would, just been warned to look out for it.


Look around.. get the cut, color, and clarity of the stone you are looking at and go to another store (and another, and another, and another.. etc) a price the same cut, color and clarity. Tell them you're shopping... Dont buy the first one you look at, either. You can ALWAYS go back.. a jeweler that is honest will not mind you shopping.. they have nothing to hide.


Good luck.

True story.

After being with the same woman for ten years we started looking at wedding rings. We found one that fit me perfectly in an estate jewelry brokerage house. An antique with a unique style to it, coulda been Tiffany, I won't swear to it, but instead of buying it, I got cold feet and said that if I were meant to have it, it would be there when we went back for it.

Two years later we found a match for her in an auction and bought it and went back to the brokerage to see if the mate was still there. The ring was still there and two years later, the matron who ran the store remembered us and said, "It's been waiting for you to come back". Twenty years after the ring ceremony the marriage continues on.

Try shopping in antique stores, you get a price and sometimes you come away with good karma. I often wondered about the marriage(s) our rings first symbolized. It always feels warm on my finger, leaves me feeling good about it all.

DO NOT BUY ANY DIAMOND WITHOUT G.I.A. CERTIFICATES! IF you get divorced you can get more money for it, and if your marriage is going good and you want to upgrade.... GIA cert will get you better trade in value.. Some insurance companies require GIA also .