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Leviathan Song posted:I'm looking for a men's wedding band and had something pretty specific in mind. I'm looking for two tone rose gold and titanium. The jewelry store that I bought the engagement ring at quoted $684 for the wedding band, which seemed really high for a mostly titanium ring. I found one that looks at first glance nice on amazon for about $150 http://amzn.com/B00DMTOT3U but I'm not sure if the vendor is legit. Any advice on whether the jeweler is reasonable or if there's a better place to look for a simiair ring? Hey sorry I didn't see this until now. This thread moves so slowly and I forget to check sometimes. Claes is right, we've got some of that stuff, including the exact ring you linked (though we aren't that seller). First off, don't buy that ring. It's from a reputable maker but that price is... pricey for it. I'll PM you some details because I don't want to turn this into a marketing thread.
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Feb 19, 2015 23:51
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I HAVENT LOGGED IN FOR LIKE 3 YEARS WHY IS THIS THREAD STILL HERE
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Mar 3, 2015 05:21
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Also here we are 5 years later and gold is 1200 an ounce how funny is that
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Mar 3, 2015 05:32
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I cut a lovely oval!  
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Mar 3, 2015 07:51
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Why do some of you guys not cut your sideburns?
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Mar 3, 2015 09:38
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Monkey Lincoln posted:I HAVENT LOGGED IN FOR LIKE 3 YEARS WHY IS THIS THREAD STILL HERE Hahahaha, you left but the questions never stopped! Monkey Lincoln posted:Also here we are 5 years later and gold is 1200 an ounce how funny is that Not funny at all  Xun posted:I cut a lovely oval! Well done! My first cut "round" was much less round than that is oval 
Claes Oldenburger fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Mar 4, 2015 |
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Mar 4, 2015 01:01
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Xun posted:I cut a lovely oval! That looks great. It looks a little step cut. Put a step cut underneath and a buff top on top and you would have something really unique.
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Mar 4, 2015 21:43
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My wife an I were married a few years ago after a short 6 week engagement (had been together for almost 7 years though). At the time I didn't have a whole lot of money and she picked out a very basic bridal set from a department store for about $500. She says she likes it, but I always feel kind of guilty about how bland it is. Her dream for a long time has been a 3 stone ring in white gold with a diamond center and garnet side stones (she loves garnets), and our anniversary is towards the end of next month and I'd like to surprise her. Problem is, I have virtually no experience with jewelry and always feel on the verge of hyperventilating when I start shopping around. Any idea what to look for and in what kind of price range? I feel like I'm in way over my head.
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Mar 7, 2015 22:20
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Aperture Priority posted:Any idea what to look for and in what kind of price range? I feel like I'm in way over my head. The biggest piece of advice I can offer is to stay away from stores in the mall. They massively overcharge for poor quality diamonds. We ordered my set from Whiteflash and had an amazing experience. They're a mostly online retailer located in Texas, but they have a storefront too. I've also ordered jewelry from Good Old Gold in Long Island (cheesy name, but great customer service). Often times ordering from an online retailer means you get a much better deal, and the customer service reps really help guide you along. You should definitely start with your budget. Roughly how much are you comfortable spending? And are you looking to upgrade just the engagement ring, or the wedding band as well? I think you could get a gorgeous 3 stone ring for <$3,000 but could easily go higher if you wanted to spend more. Might even be able to find something for less. First, you'll start by choosing a setting. A few setting considerations: 1. Do you prefer small diamonds (often called "pave diamonds) on the band of the ring (also referred to ask the "shank), or do you prefer plain solid gold? I think with 3 stones, you can easily forego diamonds on the shank but this is personal preference. 2. What's her style? Does she love vintage things, or more traditional jewelry? 3. Does her job involve her working with her hands often? You may want to avoid more intricate settings if so. 4. What sort of proportions do you like? Big diamond in the middle with smaller garnets on the side, or three equally sized stones? Do you want a more modest ring, or the most bling you can get for your $$? 5. What shape of stones do you prefer (round, cushion, princess, etc.)? This will affect price. I'd recommend round for this type of setting since it will be easier to find on a limited timeline. Second, you'll choose the diamond (and the garnets, but they are very inexpensive and whoever you buy the setting from will probably source and choose these for you). The diamonds is where the majority of your $$ will be spent. Some general guidelines: 1. There are the 4 C's of diamonds (cut, color, carat weight and clarity). Here's a useful guide: http://gia4cs.gia.edu/EN-US/the-diamond-4-cs.htm 2. There are various agencies that "grade" diamonds to determine where they fall relative to these characteristics. GIA and AGS are the most reputable agencies, so try to stick to diamonds that have been graded by them. Other agencies have looser criteria, so you will often end up overpaying if you buy an EGL certified diamond. 3. Cut is what determines how much a diamond sparkles, so do not sacrifice on cut quality. 4. Re: color, most people stay around a G, H or I to get the most diamond for $$. 5. As for clarity, I'd recommend staying at an SI1 or higher. Jewelry shopping can be totally overwhelming. If I were you, I'd send Whiteflash and Good Old Gold an email and tell them a budget you're hoping to stay within. They should be able to make it happen and take a lot of the anxiety out of it. I love this sort of thing, so feel free to PM me if you'd like some help shopping along the way!
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Mar 9, 2015 10:17
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I got my ring from Beth at Schubach jewelers and I love it. They are also very good about customization. http://www.schubachjewelers.com/ She was very low-pressure and, while we did meet in person, we handled most of our business over the phone/via e-mail since I'm not local to the Scottsdale area. I don't want to poach business from goons in this thread but I had a really good experience with her doing something that is very, very stressful. One thing to do is shop around. That will give you an idea as to what you can expect to pay and also just what to expect in general. That will help you avoid some unscrupulous people.
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Mar 9, 2015 18:17
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Yeah seriously shop around, when I was trying to get one of my gems set the prices ranged from 10$ per carat to 200$(!!!!!) per carat. Then I found a guy who just does them for 25. Variance can be huuuge.
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Mar 9, 2015 22:57
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Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I'm starting to get a good idea of what to look for and what I need to know. I've stepped on rattlesnakes while hiking and that terrified me less than shopping for jewelry.
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Mar 10, 2015 05:12
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Xun posted:Yeah seriously shop around, when I was trying to get one of my gems set the prices ranged from 10$ per carat to 200$(!!!!!) per carat. Then I found a guy who just does them for 25. Variance can be huuuge. Of course you want to meet the jeweler too. The $25 job could be a terrible jeweler when the $10 may be better than the $200. Usually you get what you pay for but there is a "fast food" style (bad) of jewelery work which is really saddening to see in real life. Especially so when someone got paid to do it. Personally I've had a terrible experience with a certain company sometimes used by an insurance provider that was in the business of providing the cheapest work possible, at a huge expense of quality. There are some people who take no pride in their work and sentimental pieces you need to keep far away from.
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Mar 10, 2015 09:23
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asio posted:Of course you want to meet the jeweler too. The $25 job could be a terrible jeweler when the $10 may be better than the $200. Usually you get what you pay for but there is a "fast food" style (bad) of jewelery work which is really saddening to see in real life. Especially so when someone got paid to do it. Yeah, but the rock in question was a 7.5c quartz, it's probably not even worth $70, much less $1500. It was more of an example of the difference in price for the same thing you can get from different jewelers.
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Mar 10, 2015 20:33
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asio posted:Of course you want to meet the jeweler too. The $25 job could be a terrible jeweler when the $10 may be better than the $200. Usually you get what you pay for but there is a "fast food" style (bad) of jewelery work which is really saddening to see in real life. Especially so when someone got paid to do it. We JUST had someone bring in a ring that they had custom done at another store and the craftsmanship was absolutely horrifying. Like someone made a nice ring and then stabbed at it with a knife/bent it with a hammer. Seeing their work is important, sort of like tattoo artists I guess. Good goldsmiths/jewellers will take pride in their work and want to show you pieces they are proud of.
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Mar 10, 2015 22:23
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Evil Robot posted:I got 10.5mm (bigger than this 8mm) sapphires grown using the flux method for $33 for 6 gems from Pehnec. I'm not a jeweler but they seem really nice to me This site is super cool! A friend of mine is pretty into gemstones, and I was thinking of getting him some lab created sapphires as part of his wedding gift. I was hoping, however, to get him a variety of colors but the Pehnec site seems to only carry blue and red. Does anybody know of a similar place that sells in all different colors? I looked around a bit but only found stuff that was much more expensive.
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Mar 18, 2015 19:38
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I went through most of the thread, all the years and I didn't see anyone talk much about tools. So talk to me about Jewelers Lathes. I'd like to get one as a part of my non-jewelry hobby and I was considering a Foredom BL-1. It seems to be a good and reliable machine from what I've read, and the nearly infinite speed adjustment is a very nice bonus. I guess the problem I'm running into is not having the ability to really look at various lathes myself and make a hands on informed decision. If it helps, the intention is to use it to polish my ever growing collection of Briar pipes. Any insight from people that use a lathe often would be greatly appreciated.
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Mar 23, 2015 01:27
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I need a sanity check here. A friend of mine said her husband bought a 2.4 Carat, Typea1A, G, VS1 cushion diamond for $13,000 a year ago. She said he got it from a wholesaler in Chicago. Is this possible for me to reproduce?
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Mar 25, 2015 19:15
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Abe Frohman posted:I went through most of the thread, all the years and I didn't see anyone talk much about tools. So talk to me about Jewelers Lathes. I'd like to get one as a part of my non-jewelry hobby and I was considering a Foredom BL-1. It seems to be a good and reliable machine from what I've read, and the nearly infinite speed adjustment is a very nice bonus. I guess the problem I'm running into is not having the ability to really look at various lathes myself and make a hands on informed decision. If it helps, the intention is to use it to polish my ever growing collection of Briar pipes. Sorry for the slow on this. I'm not a lathe using guy, but one of our suppliers is one of the biggest jewelry equipment suppliers in North America. I took a quick spin their tools catalogue and it looks like all their stuff is Baldor or Quatro. Have no idea how "good" either are, but thought I'd give you the names to Google around on.
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Mar 25, 2015 23:29
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Abe Frohman posted:I went through most of the thread, all the years and I didn't see anyone talk much about tools. So talk to me about Jewelers Lathes. I'd like to get one as a part of my non-jewelry hobby and I was considering a Foredom BL-1. It seems to be a good and reliable machine from what I've read, and the nearly infinite speed adjustment is a very nice bonus. I guess the problem I'm running into is not having the ability to really look at various lathes myself and make a hands on informed decision. If it helps, the intention is to use it to polish my ever growing collection of Briar pipes. My daily driver of a tool is made by foredom (flex shaft) and it could probably withstand a bomb. I love it and their name is very well known in the industry. Another company to check out is Arbe (they make my polishing lathe), but a foredom should be a well built and long lasting tool.
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Mar 26, 2015 02:13
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Rurutia posted:I need a sanity check here. A friend of mine said her husband bought a 2.4 Carat, Typea1A, G, VS1 cushion diamond for $13,000 a year ago. She said he got it from a wholesaler in Chicago. Is this possible for me to reproduce? I don't know your friend but I'm fairly confident she is lying. A stone of that quality and size at retail is well above that and jewellery markup (especially on diamonds) isn't anywhere near that high!
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Mar 26, 2015 02:16
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Rurutia posted:I need a sanity check here. A friend of mine said her husband bought a 2.4 Carat, Typea1A, G, VS1 cushion diamond for $13,000 a year ago. She said he got it from a wholesaler in Chicago. Is this possible for me to reproduce? As far as cushions go, if I were buying one, I'd go for an August Vintage Cushion from Good Old Gold. They're a specialized cut, made to look like antique cushions but with better light return. But you pay a premium for that. Also, I'd recommend not spending too much time on the hive mind that is Pricescope.
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Mar 26, 2015 02:31
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This seem like the type of friend who might fall for a scam?
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Mar 26, 2015 02:31
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No, they got a separate appraisal for it for insurance too. I'm fairly certain this happened. I am looking on pricescope too. Not sure where you saw the 12k? Most I saw were like 25, but I did filter for certification and table/depth. I'm actually looking for a 2.5 oval, f+ color, vs2+ clarity, thin to slightly thick girdle, ideal crown, table, pavilion measurements. (Why yes, I'm difficult.) Do you have specific vendor suggestions for that? Rurutia fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Mar 26, 2015 |
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Mar 26, 2015 04:59
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Rurutia posted:No, they got a separate appraisal for it for insurance too. I'm fairly certain this happened. Eh, appraisals are almost always inflated in my experience. Do you know if it was certified by GIA or AGS? EGL is known for having looser grading criteria, so they are often sold at more of a discount. This is the similar one I saw, but it's lower in color and clarity than the one your friend purchased: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/cushion-cut-loose-diamond-3374377.htm I'm afraid I know next to nothing about ovals other than to watch out for funky bowtie effects. From the limited reading I've done, you usually need to see fancy shapes in person--the numbers don't tell the same story as they will for rounds. I've worked with Good Old Gold a few times and from what I've read on Pricescope, they seem to "specialize" in fancy shapes. They will also take comparison videos for you which is super helpful, and they also have a generous return/upgrade policy.
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Mar 26, 2015 05:24
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Rurutia posted:No, they got a separate appraisal for it for insurance too. I'm fairly certain this happened. It's because what you're looking for is a good stone. There are a million and one deals to be had online, but I wouldnt trust anything that isn't GIA if I don't get to see it first AND even with GIA I'll be skeptical. Diamonds cut in shapes other than round can vary wildly in height/width/depth and all that will really effect it's sparkle, and that's before getting into misrepresented colours (I've seen EGL G colour stones that would be a GIA J-K or honestly maybe worse). amethystbliss posted:Eh, appraisals are almost always inflated in my experience. Do you know if it was certified by GIA or AGS? EGL is known for having looser grading criteria, so they are often sold at more of a discount. This is the similar one I saw, but it's lower in color and clarity than the one your friend purchased: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/cushion-cut-loose-diamond-3374377.htm True post, and apparaisals definitely can be inflated. Bowties are prevalent in every blue nile oval diamond we've had brought in to us over the past few months.
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Mar 27, 2015 00:32
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12k for that diamond is above my cost for everything but sketchy Indian sellers without Kimberly accord docs. Maybe it was just a great deal but my gut says its not a common one.
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Mar 27, 2015 22:24
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It could have easily happened. The difference between "good enough" and "fine" can be huge. But most likely they bought something that was overgraded in both color and clarity, and very poorly cut. You can get a two carat diamond for a one carat price... but you're buying a poorly cut stone that would have been a one carat if it were nicely cut. There are many shortcuts that cutters can take to juice a diamond's weight. The quality difference might not be apparent to the layman just looking at a single diamond, but put a finer cut diamond next to it and anyone can instantly pick the better gem.
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Apr 5, 2015 04:58
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I'm looking at getting an artificial sapphire or ruby for my mother now that you can get big ones quite cheap, but I would need to have a jeweller do a setting for it (just a simple claw clasp for hanging on a chain). Given that mall jewellers are apparently a bad deal (based on your previous comment), what are my best options for having this done? I am in Australia.
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Apr 26, 2015 23:45
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The Lone Badger posted:I'm looking at getting an artificial sapphire or ruby for my mother now that you can get big ones quite cheap, but I would need to have a jeweller do a setting for it (just a simple claw clasp for hanging on a chain). Given that mall jewellers are apparently a bad deal (based on your previous comment), what are my best options for having this done? I am in Australia. Find a customer jewellery shop and ask them, any one should be able to help with what you need! 
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Apr 29, 2015 01:42
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The Lone Badger posted:I'm looking at getting an artificial sapphire or ruby for my mother now that you can get big ones quite cheap, but I would need to have a jeweller do a setting for it (just a simple claw clasp for hanging on a chain). Given that mall jewellers are apparently a bad deal (based on your previous comment), what are my best options for having this done? I am in Australia. If it's something easy like that you're basically just playing lego; anyone can do this for you. There is a supplier in Australia for parts like settings, as well as clasps and things like that. Pick your gem, take it to someone and just get them to order the part and pop the gem in the setting. It's not a bad idea if it will be a pendant and won't be experiencing wear like a piece that wears on the hand or wrist. Or, if you want something a bit more special, you could have someone hand make the setting. This would cut down on the chance of porosity that sometimes presents itself in the casting process but it will cost a little more. Some mall jewellers in Australia outsource their repair and custom work and others have their own in-house workshops. Some are better than others. A bad result from an owner-operator jeweller means you can personally resolve any issues at the source, and a bad result from a company means you can take it higher where the risk of bad publicity to the company will cover you. Either way you will still be doing the same thing; balancing the money you are handing over with the confidence you feel in the person you are giving it to. I have PMs if you would like a couple of estimates from an Australian jeweller.
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May 2, 2015 00:53
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The quotes I've been getting start at ~$500 for a 9ct yellow gold claw setting, is that in the right order of magnitude?
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May 4, 2015 05:47
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The Lone Badger posted:The quotes I've been getting start at ~$500 for a 9ct yellow gold claw setting, is that in the right order of magnitude? How big is your stone? I'd recommend looking at the pendant settings from Tripps.
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May 4, 2015 05:54
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Tunicate posted:How big is your stone? quote:I'd recommend looking at the pendant settings from Tripps.
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May 4, 2015 05:59
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The Lone Badger posted:The quotes I've been getting start at ~$500 for a 9ct yellow gold claw setting, is that in the right order of magnitude? Sounds about right, yeah
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May 4, 2015 06:35
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 Got this twenty two k ring set with a *cultured* sapphire from Moissanite Co. Ten by eight stone and I loving love it. This photo sucks because I took it but the stone is beyond sparkly , rich and velvety blue. I goddamn love it.
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May 20, 2015 11:48
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Are there reputable online retailers for lab made diamonds?
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Jun 4, 2015 17:46
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Rated PG-34 posted:Are there reputable online retailers for lab made diamonds? As in Moissanite? http://www.moissaniteco.com/
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Jun 5, 2015 09:11
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Dude, why didn't I buy my engagement ring from those guys? The prices are awesome.
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Jun 5, 2015 11:03
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Shbobdb posted:Dude, why didn't I buy my engagement ring from those guys? The prices are awesome. I did, and the Wife loves it.
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Jun 5, 2015 11:30
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