25 replies to this topic

[Alex324]

Hi. Great info here.

I'm currently working in the middle east and plan on proposing when I return home during the Holidays. My budget is about 10,000.00 and I've found quite a few online popular retailers (BlueNile, Adiamor, etc.). The Tiffany line is a popular one - but what else is along those lines that would be within my budget. I know the style of ring I'm looking for and think I have a reasonable budget to find a quality ring. I'm just a bit lost on where are reputable places to shop on-line. In store shopping is not an option, and I do like the idea of giving my girl a "brand name" ring. Just not sure if 10g is enough for that.

Thanks

[davidelevi]

10k will buy you a ring at Tiffany (or Cartier, but I don't think they sell online) - it won't be a large stone, but it will carry the name.

There's plenty of other reputable dealers that sell online and are far better value for money; those that participate in/advertise on this forum are some, as are others - the only way to tell is to read about others experiences, then pick up the phone and talk to a few people to form your own impression.

[Alex324]

Can you recommend some designer brands I can look at online. or perhaps a site with a list ---- I've been googling all day, but it's hard to know who's a good one, and what's not. Especially being detached from the real world and having to do it all online.

[davidelevi]

Designer brands is quite different from retailers, and I think your experience is going to depend more on who you deal with than on the design they sell, particularly for something relatively "standard" as an engagement ring (and many of the designers/manufacturers who don't have their own shops will not sell directly to the public anyway).

What is more important for you? Absolute "value for money" (the largest, whitest, cleanest stone at the lowest price)? Deep understanding of "why stone X is better than stone Y"? Reassurance that you have a unique piece of custom-made jewellery? Head-to-toes servicing and impeccable pedigree?

Different firms have different value propositions - I'd say these 4 are reasonable ways of identifying where on the map you are most likely to find someone you can deal with.

Edited by davidelevi, 08 November 2010 - 06:01 AM.

[Alex324]

Well being that i'm in Baghdad right now and my g/f is in Miami I don't have too much luxury experiencing some of the above. Chances are I won't see this ring until the day before I propose. So reassurance is probably my biggest concern. I fall back on the cliche "Tiffany" E-ring, because I comfortable that I will a nice ring in a little box that will put a smile on my girls face. Only issue is that I know of Tiffany and I know of Blue Nile. Big gap in info and rings that I'm missing out on. If I knew of shop and trusted a shop to provide me a ring just as nice a Tiffany one for 10k I would buy it with no problem, but I don;t know of any ---- so as default I am comfortable with saying that a Cartier ring is going to be a quality one.

So my dilema is I'm in Baghdad. If i was home i could go "shopping"

[Alex324]

Thanks for your advice

[jan]

Alex324, on 07 November 2010 - 09:28 PM, said:

Hi. Great info here.

I'm currently working in the middle east and plan on proposing when I return home during the Holidays. My budget is about 10,000.00 and I've found quite a few online popular retailers (BlueNile, Adiamor, etc.). The Tiffany line is a popular one - but what else is along those lines that would be within my budget. I know the style of ring I'm looking for and think I have a reasonable budget to find a quality ring. I'm just a bit lost on where are reputable places to shop on-line. In store shopping is not an option, and I do like the idea of giving my girl a "brand name" ring. Just not sure if 10g is enough for that.

Thanks

The #2 brand behind Tiffany's is Tacori. They have some gorgeous ring styles. Let me know if you need help. There are plenty of styles that will be in your budget area.

[davidelevi]

Some other trusted/reliable firms, in no particular order:

- Good Old Gold www.goodoldgold.com
- Excel Diamonds www.exceldiamonds.com
- White Flash www.whiteflash.com
- Brian Gavin www.briangavindiamonds.com
- (DBOF - as per Jan's message above)
- Wink Jones www.highperformancediamonds.com

and of course us (http://diamondsbylauren.com), particularly if you may consider a fancy colour diamond! All of the above focus on stone beauty, and will be able to get you pretty much any setting from the large brands such as Verragio, Tacori, Ritani, ...) or have a custom setting made to your spec.

Edited by davidelevi, 08 November 2010 - 08:37 AM.

[Alex324]

thanks guys this is a great place for me to start. I am checking out the tacori line now and will go to the diamonds by lauren site next.

[denverappraiser]

Tiffany has TONS of competition and it's easy to beat them on price but you are correct that they sell fine merchandise and only Tiffany can sell you a genuine new Tiffany item. This does come with a certain merit to it for many customers. Only you can decide if that's worth it to you.

As Jan points out above, there are quite a few designers with lovely thing that you may or may not have heard of and most distribute through a network of authorized dealers. Try Googling 'Engagement ring designer' and see what you get. www.jareds.com is a big national retailer that sells lots of differnt designers' work and I think they have pictures online. There are quite a few online lists but I'm hesitant to recommend any of them because there is such a huge conflict of interest present in these things where they are trying to direct you to a particular brand or a particular store and away from others. It's a problem with advertising in general and you just need to keep your attention up. Tacori is well regarded. Try also Ritani, A.Jafee,Gelen & Abachi for some popular designs. YOu might be able to look at the online editions of some of the womens magazines like Glamour for ideas. If there are any American women working with you they may be able to provid suggestions where you can find advertisements for designers. When you pick your designer, most will have a website with a locator for their authorized dealers or you can just Google the name of the designer and see what stores pop up that are flogging them. You can also pick a dealer that you want to work with and then scan their site to see what designers they are representing. You may be pleasantly surprised with one of the smaller makers that don't have national advertising and this is a good way to find them. Usually prices are better with the smaller folks because all that advertising ain't cheap but, as with Tiffany, there's something to be said for going with a big recognized brand.

Edited by denverappraiser, 08 November 2010 - 09:46 AM.

[Britani17]

Hey Alex!

What style ring are you looking for? If you can describe what you are looking for maybe we could put up some examples for you and make it a little easier to shop.

[Alex324]

Brit you just read my mind. I just checed out the dbof site and was going to post this


Something along these lines:

Tiffany Embrace
[url]http://www.tiffany.com/Engagement/Item.aspx?GroupSKU=GRP10055#f+2/0/0/0/0/0[/url]

Varna VF-2000-PT
[url]http://www.varna.com/collectionVarnafit.php?pageNum_rsengagement=/collectionVarnafit.php&id=507[/url]

[LaurieH]

Halo settings like that are VERY popular and you should be able to find similar items on any number of sites. There is certainly a prestige that comes with a name brand setting, but the name is usually on the inside...so if you find something beautiful in the style you like without the name--who's the wiser? I'm, personally, an advocate of putting more into the center stone than paying a premium on a setting, but everyone has different needs.

The brand lines besides Tiffany that are very popular are Tacori (which has been mentioned), Scott Kay, Verragio, Ritani, just to name a few! Many of the brand names, you can find online retailers that carry at least part of the designers' lines, for one brand or a few.

Also, find out if any of the online stores (or brick and mortar, if you have Skype or something and can maybe call some stores stateside and speak to someone, maybe in your "home" area) if they're willing to let you buy JUST the setting for your ring, and then maybe you can get a better deal on the center stone and have it set by a trustworthy local jeweler. I just say this because, while it's more complicated a project, then you might be able to save some money and get a little more wow for your budget.

Good luck and happy hunting!

[denverappraiser]

That's a very popular style. When you're looking at 'halo' style rings like this, you'll notice a few differences that may or may not be obvious at first glance. Pay attention to the way that the surrounding stones and the ones on the shank are set. There are several different approaches including channel and pave (you're examples are actually quite different from one another even though both are bead set stones) as well as a few others. Also make sure to see a picture from the side because the style of the gallery underneith the stone (that's the part that holds up the center stone from the rest of the ring) can look quite different depending on how the designer approached it. There's no really 'right' answer to any of these topics but it actually results in a substantially different look to the peice. Try Googling 'Halo diamond ring' and I'll be you'll get enough pictures to keep you busy looking at eye candy for hours.

Edited by denverappraiser, 08 November 2010 - 11:13 AM.

[Britani17]

Here are a few that I think of when I think of halo styles. I love this style. A lot of times it can make the center stone appear 30% larger and there really are more variations to the halo than you think . These are some of the different rings we did.

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[diamondsbylauren]

HI ALex,
First thing- thanhk you very much for your service to our country- and please be careful out there!

Here's a ring we just shipped today- it has a yellow diamond in the center- but we also make rings like this for colorless stones



Below is a similar style, with a single shank- the yellow one had a split shank



Also popular today is the use of pink gold/pink diamonds in halo rings



What shape center diamond were you thinking of?

[Alex324]

Hi guys. Thanks for all your help and info. Last night I was able to check out a bunch of sites on line with my gf on Skype a the same time. We kept coming back to the Tiffany Embrace. Lots of beautiful rings but nothing that totally WOW’d us until we found this one:



[url="http://www.jamesallen.com/designer-jewelry/meno-collection-by-danhov/ring/item_294-2440.asp"][url]http://www.jamesallen.com/designer-jewelry/meno-collection-by-danhov/ring/item_294-2440.asp[/url][/url]



We instantly were WOW’d. Not wanting to be an impulse buyer we decided to look around for a few more days and come back to it in 2-3 days and if it still WOW’d us – we had a winner.



At 3,900.00 I still have about 6,000.00 for a center stone. What range of stone should be looking at here. I know there are tons of variables, I’d like a nice size stoned with a above average quality. Is this do-able at 6,000?



Thanks again for all your help and advice. Being here and trying to shop for a ring is pretty challenging.

[denverappraiser]

James Allen is a reputable company and Danhov is a high quality manufacturer. I'm sure they'll treat you well. Let us know what you end up choosing. It should be no problem to stay within budget.

[Alex324]

Leading candidate is:

Setting
[url="http://www.jamesallen.com/designer-jewelry/meno-collection-by-danhov/ring/item_294-2440.asp"][url]http://www.jamesallen.com/designer-jewelry/meno-collection-by-danhov/ring/item_294-2440.asp[/url][/url]


Stone
[url="http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1335160.asp"][url]http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1335160.asp[/url][/url]

[HeartAndStone]

I love those latest creations by diamondsbylauren..
Fruity, luscious, undeniably elegant...
Reminds me Carrie Underwood's engagement ring.


Hi Alex324!

Welcome!

I've seen the 'leading candidate' and it looks like a power e-ring...
IMO, Jan's 5th (pic) ring is more beautiful.
The setting is just perfect, your girl can wear it anywhere, anytime.

Keep us posted.

Edited by HeartAndStone, 09 November 2010 - 04:54 AM.