Who is looking at engagement rings as a form of currency? I sure as hell don't plan on selling the ring off as the years go by.

And yes your analogy is waaaay off. No one knows that you have a tiff or bvlg on your finger, they just see a beautiful ring. The diamond is in no way different. It is the setting that sets it apart. And settings can be copied.

If you've got money to burn and dopey enough to buy in to all the BS marketing, then good on you.

 

Elistan,

I think that anyone could do it provided a things:

1) No family, I dont have children or an ex-wife

2) Working 2 full time jobs - first job allows me to pay for all of my toys evo, s2k, home and my second job is just money in the bank...keep in mind i work over 80 hours a week.

And to those guys who portend a mariage of doom, your comments are not appreciated. My fiancee is currently in her first year as a surgical resident. We have been together for over 7 years. We know what our schedules are like and will be like.

Bobby

 

Wow man, that must be rough. I hope everything works out for ya!

 

Man it is just stupid to throw in comments about those kinds of things

This guy is looking to buy his bride to be THE ring.

Best of luck to you guys. Let us know what you decide to go with. And thats crazy working 80 hr weeks..... But a man's gotta have his toys...

 

Just some words from my experience, no offense meant to anyone:

1) Make sure that your girl feels comfortable wearing something that conspicuous. Some may think they do, but in the real world, not so much...

2) In the internet age where everyone can become an expert, it has become *very* popular to bag on Tiffany & Co. Rather than assume that these internet experts are right and Tiffany is an utter ripoff, I preferred to examine pros and cons relative to other jewelers. Here's what I found:

- Tiffany premium varies, but in my case they were about 30-35% up on an equivalent stone from Bluenile. A lot for sure, but be wary of folks who tell you it's a 100% premium and have never actually cross shopped.

- One downside is that Tiffany doesn't make the actual cut parameters easily available until after you purchase the stone and get the lab report. Most online and certified cut type vendors do.

- One thing I don't agree with the Tiffany bashers on the web about is that everything is inferior while the price is inflated just due to the hype. If you look at all the people on web forums who are "educating" people about the benefits of the super-ideal cuts and what a diamond looks like under one of those magic scope things etc, you will see that these people all have a vested interest in you buying their product rather than T&Co. Further they have to capitalize on the male knack for value thru outsmarting the system and cutting thru the hype. But in reality, it's kind of ironic because they are actually just selling you on a different kind of hype. Whether you can really say that all super-ideal cuts look better in real world light is the real question, and that is not one that you can answer by reading about cut parameters on the internet.

- Yes the stone is the most valuable and important part of the ring, but to me the setting is very important and can make or break the overall look. Everyone has their knockoff Tiffany classic setting and knockoff Lucida. And yet to my eyes, I have never seen one that's as delicate and beautiful as the original. The setting contributes to the overall beauty of the ring everyday, the difference between an ideal and superideal can easily be blurred by 1 week of soap scum buildup.

- To me T&Co offers some very worthwhile service that makes up for part of the difference. They will clean your ring in 10 minutes any day you want. We had to size a few times to get it just right, each one on the house. Even if you are beyond the strict term of the free sizing period, they will pull the strings to do it for you. And it's nice when you have it sent out to get sized that you're dealing with a company that handles much more expensive stuff on a daily basis.

- Lastly, my fiance is quite happy with her ring. That's something the guy should never forget. A diamond by nature is always going to be a ripoff thanks to DeBeers etc. It's all about romance and hype, no matter who you buy it from. The important thing is that you do your research and go with a place that you feel comfortable with- don't just listen to others even me!

Good luck,
Peter

 

[QUOTE=PoweredByCamry,Mar 27 2006, 09:12 PM] Just some words from my experience, no offense meant to anyone:

- To me T&Co offers some very worthwhile service that makes up for part of the difference.

 

That's good information to go along with your recommendation. I'm not recommending that everyone buy a ring from T&Co. I'm simply stating that one shouldn't automatically rule it out without doing a fair comparison of all factors involved in a ring purchase (quality, beauty, service, value, etc.).

Definitely learn to be an informed consumer and shop around. Just beware that some (not all) people who knock Tiffany on the internet are also trying to sell you a ring on the other end. You can spot those with a critical eye.

Peter

 

Well Id say I would be trying to steer the guy away from Tiffany's but Im not. While I used to be in the industry, Im not anymore. (I'm in pharma now, what a difference, and glad Im out, but NE WAYS) Just giving my own 2 cents so any and every consumer can make an informed choice. But everybody has their own shopping style and preferences.

When I decide to pop the question I'm going to design a custom ring. That way, no other woman will ever say, "My friend has that SAME ring" hehe

But then again, not everyone's father is a master jeweler and can make a casting from a drawing.

Sorry no orders taken here....

 

 

First off congratulations on taking the huge leap of buying an engagement ring. I and several other of my fellow residents have had very good success buying engagement rings from bluenile.com First off you select the style of the cut of the diamond and give a price range. It then gives you a list of diamonds in that price range.

I would then suggest calling one of the staff on the telephone (who are not paid commission). I read for months on multiple websites about choosing diamonds and i still couldn't have the expertise and good advice that i was given by the staff that i spoke with. I spent at least an hour on the phone with the guy and told him the diamonds that i thought were the best. I was leaning towards some of the higher priced diamonds and he actually steered me to one that was lower in price.... I'll explain this a little farther below

Color if you are picky you will definitely be able to see very slight shades of yellow in the diamond... here i definitely would not skimp. Here I bought an E color diamond

Clarity... well here is one area that there is going to be lots of debate. Since i don't plan on selling the diamond that i bought, nor do i consider it an "investment" I did not choose to buy an internally "flawless" diamond. Some are going to balk but the fact of the matter is that your fiance is NEVER going to look at her diamond through a LOUPE searching for the internal flaws. I bought a diamond with SI1 clarity. Here the staff at bluenile actually had me pick a diamond with less clarity. He stated it's cut (table, girdle, symmetry etc etc) was superior to the other diamonds i had chosen and would make much more difference in the actual appearance of the diamond. He stated that it would have likely made the "cut" for their "signature series" diamonds but did not because it's clarity was SI1. If you get one that is SI1 make sure you have the company make sure the diamond is "eye clean." Blue nile will do this free of charge. Basically they make sure you cannot see any of the flaws with the naked eye. YMMV

Cut... Not trying to rehash but this according to many websites and the staff at Bluenile is one of the most underrated and overlooked qualities of the diamond that often can really affect the brilliance of the diamond. Here, i'm far from an expert and the staff really helped me out. He was able to look at the cut (dimensions, table, girdle,) and really picked one that would reflect almost all of the light. What happens though is cutting the diamond for an "ideal" cut wastes a lot of the diamond so a lot of times the diamonds are cut to maximize the carat weight in sacrifice of ideal proportions. I lucked out here, the diamond i got has a lot of fire and brilliance

Carat... need i say more. This is self explanatory.. More money =more carat, money rising exponentially to carat weight. Again my fiance has very small hands and I only purchased a ring about 1 carat in weight... approximately 6x6mm with a princess cut. Here different style cuts can vary greatly in price... marquis being one style cut that wastes a LOT of the original diamond for the desired shape

Now as far as settings go, i don't care too much for the elaborate almost baroque settings that tacori or other manufacturers produce. Besides who wants an almost 8mm wide band on a lady who has a 4-5 ring size. I chose a rather simple setting with some pave set diamonds on the side to compliment the center diamond but not engulf and overpower the center one.

Again... I would suggest not buying a diamond for an investment, hell putting money in a regular savings account is going to earn you more money than any diamond by ANY manufacturer... well maybe except something that might have some historical value...

Overall, i'm EXTREMELY satisfied with the ring I bought my fiance. I spent half of what a lot of her friends fiances spent on engagement rings. Some of them got completely ripped off. One guy spent 8k on a ring (even went into debt for it) and it's 1.5 carats but looks like crap. The center stone just looks dull, no fire no brilliance. The jeweler gave him some BS figures on C,C,C and No GIA report to back it up

And if you don't like what Bluenile has for settings, i think you can buy a loose diamond from them and have anyone put them in a setting. Also by far their website is the most user friendly out of all the internet wholesalers (at least of ones i've seen). You can even view the entire GIA report of every little detail of the diamond you chose right there in PDF format and also compare the major details of different diamonds side by side in comparison charts. AGAIN though I definitely advise giving them a call. A couple of months of studying this stuff and i still didn't pick the best diamond out from a group



Oh and i definitely agree with the guy suggesting that you spend some time and money on your proposal. They are going to remember this more than anything the rest of their life (and you as well). I took my fiance on a mini vacation to the beach for a few days were we first fell in love, went sailing that afternoon, back to the beach at sunset which was practically deserted and popped the question. Definitely not the most elaborate proposal but meaningful to the both of us