Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with jewelry and engagementring

Vintage and/or estate jewelers near New York City?

ThisIsNotMe — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:37:01 -0800

Places to buy vintage and/or estate engagement rings local to New York City? Warnings and cautions? From a previous AskMe question (someone else's question) I found Leigh Jay Nacht. With a ballpark $1200.00 budget (which seems like a lot of money to me even though it's not in the scheme of these things apparently) and a prefernce for the currently less fashionable yellow gold over white, it seems like there may be values to be found in looking for engagement rings that are vintage/estate items. Anyone have other specific recommendations for jewelers in New York City? (Local, because it seems that for this less generic sort of design, versus e.g. Blue Nile, one really needs to see things in person.)

Any warnings/cautions on going this route that I may not have thought of? Obviously, I've discussed this in generalities with my girlfriend and will probably discuss it with her in more specific terms proportional to the irrevocability of anything I choose to do (e.g. Leigh Jay Nacht has a good return policy, I wouldn't buy from a place that didn't without being very specific with her.)

Buying a custom/specialized engagement ring in the UK

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:50:03 -0800

My girlfriend would like a particular style of engagement ring. My girlfriend would like an engagement ring made in rose gold (a pinkish gold-copper alloy) with a red stone, preferably ruby or spinel, in a simple traditional style (plain metal, possibly a claw fitting)

I've had trouble finding a nice one ready-made. I've got preliminary quotes from various shops at Hatton Garden to get one made for £900, £1,300 and £1,900 depending on the stone quality. I could just about afford that, but it seems like a huge markup, since the gold can't cost more than about £100-£150, and there are similar but not-so-nice rings on Etsy for much less.

Does anyone have advice on finding such a ring, getting jewellery made in general, or recommendations for a jeweller who is in London or delivers to the UK?

Heirloom Engagement Ring--is this possible?

notswedish — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:56:58 -0800

My girlfriend and I are planning on getting engaged soon--hooray! She would like to use some family heirloom stones for the engagement ring. We're not sure how to best proceed. The stones are one large diamond and two smaller diamonds. She has a vague design in mind and would like something vintage-y. The question is how, and where, to get the ring made to optimize price, convenience, and uniqueness. The stones are currently with her parents in Iowa City, IA (they just moved there from Davenport, IA, where my girlfriend is from). I am from Chicago. We will be spending time in both Iowa and Chicago around Christmas. However, we are both currently living in Boston.

So our question is two fold:

1) What do we look for in a jeweler? Can we fit stones into a pre-made setting or would we be better off with someone who can create a custom design? We are not sure the exact sizes of the stones (since they are coming from separate family rings), so we are not sure if they would fit into normal pre-made settings.

2) Where should we look? We are both in graduate school, so cost is an issue (since we already have the stones we are hoping to keep the price between 1,000-1,500). Will jewelers be cheaper in Iowa or Chicago than Boston? Will the convenience of being able to work with a a jeweler in Boston outweigh the excess cost? My girlfriend's mom knows of a custom jeweler in Iowa that she is comfortable with, but we are concerned with being so far away. Do you have suggestions for jewelers in Boston, Iowa, or Chicago? Are there other details we should consider that we may be overlooking? Or other internet forums that may be of help? Any other advice?

Sshhh!!!

Anonymous — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:56:13 -0800

Looking for conflict-, cruelty-, blood-, ecocide-free engagement rings in central NJ. I'm looking for ethical jewelers along the NYC-to-Philly axis. I'm totally down with lab-created stones, since the priority here is to avoid conflict stones; metals which were extracted with at least a modicum of concern for the environment are welcome as well. Any recommendations, tips, or suggestions for where to start looking would be greatly appreciated.

(Anonymized in an attempt to preserve the element of surprise!)

Is this jeweler ripping us off?

The Michael The — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:45:02 -0800

Jeweler quoted us a price for a diamond; ones that seem equivalent are far, far cheaper online. Are we being ripped off? Our jeweler brought in some diamonds for us to look at and my fiancé decided on a .42 carat stone. G, SI1, Excellent cut. Very Good polish, Excellent symmetry, no fluorescence. He quoted us $1380 for the stone. I checked out Blue Nile, which quotes prices from $634 to $789 for similar stones (.42 carat, G, SI1, VG to Ideal cut). Amazon prices are similar ($685-$735), as are a few other places I've checked online.

Are the online prices crazy low and the jeweler is charging a fair price, or is he really taking us for a ride? Which would be disappointing—we've really liked him so far—but better to know now rather than later.

Seeking engagement rings in Boston. Shhhhh.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:31:42 -0800

Seeking engagement ring recommendations in Boston. Pretty much just what it says on the tin. Right now, I'm interested in rubies and diamonds, so a jeweler with a selection of high quality gems in addition to diamonds would be ideal. But this may change! Grar, I'm very conflicted!

Probably looking for a relatively traditional setting. Estate pieces could be nice, too.

Cost is not the primary consideration, though we're both sensible people. She would scoff at a ring from Tiffany's as a waste of money and lacking imagination.

Bling for cash?

gracedissolved — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:07:14 -0800

I'm in possession of an old engagement ring that was purchased in ~2002 and was, at the time, about $750 at one of those mall jewelry stores. It's less than a carat, but I'm not sure how much less. No paperwork. I'd forgotten I still had it until I found it in a box. Ex did not want it returned. What's the best way to get rid of it and get the most cash possible? I realize it's likely not worth nearly what was originally paid. I just don't want to rely on some scammy place that buys jewelry for peanuts to tell me how much it's worth, but I don't know what else to do with it. I thought about just listing it on Craigslist/Ebay, but I can find no record of its size/clarity, and everywhere seems to want money to actually tell me that information. But I don't know if it's worth paying for.

Thanks for your help!

How can I avoid getting ripped off by a crappy jeweler?

lbo — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:17:08 -0800

What should I expect when getting an engagement ring repaired? One of the prongs on my four-prong solitaire engagement ring is bent (my fault...) and I'm nervous about taking it in for repair. I don't live anywhere near the jeweler that made the ring anymore and I'm not sure where to start as far as finding a jeweler I can trust. Before I start calling around, I'm also wondering what you think a reasonable price would be for a repair like this. The ring is 14K gold, so I don't imagine it should be as complicated to repair as it would be if the ring were platinum. I'd really appreciate any suggestions for jewelers in or around Salt Lake City or words of warning about what to expect. Thanks!

How much will it cost to get my rings rhodium dipped?

geeky — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:41:54 -0800

How much will it cost to get my rings rhodium dipped? And where should I go? I've had my engagement ring and wedding band (white gold) for a few years now and they're both losing their silver color. I'd like to get them professionally cleaned and re-dipped in rhodium. How much should I expect to pay (ballpark)?

Also, where should I go? Unfortunately both the jeweler we bought the rings from and my favorite local jeweler have moved / gone out of business. Will your average retail jewelry store do this sort of thing, or should I find a local business with a jeweler on site? Do they normally ship rings out for rhodium dipping?

Thanks! :)

Engagement Ethics Optimization: Estate Jewelry / MYOR

lalochezia — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:41:11 -0800

Buying an engagement ring. Advice wanted on a) Estate Jewelry: recommendations on how to buy & not get ripped off. b) Make-your-own-ring workshops: how to get a good used diamond. c) recommendations for both of the above in the LA / SoCal area. My sweetie wants a diamond ring for her engagement. I want to give her one. I would like to avoid Tifffany, Big Box stores and even (gasp) Blue Nile. I'd either like to make my own ring or buy her an unusual used one.

I'd like to either

i) Buy her Estate Jewelry: it's more unique, doesn't contribute significantly to the demand for new diamonds, and considering the value of diamonds drops precipitously after being used, should provide a good deal.

How do I get a good deal? How do I avoid being ripped off? Does anyone have any good recommendations from PERSONAL experience in Southern California with used/estate jewelry?

Alternatively

ii) There are workshops (in SF and NYC) where you can craft your own engagement ring with your own hands: they provide eco-gold and tuition and you provide the stone.
Does anyone know whether there is a similar person/organization who runs a workshop like this in SoCal? (google fails me on this count)? How would I go about buying a used diamond for this process?

I have seen the many questions on AskMe before, but none address the points above. Please: no all diamonds are evil spiels. No non-diamond gems. No new natural diamonds. If anyone can show me white synthetic diamonds that are indistinguishable from the natural stuff, go right ahead. I know her ring size and I know her taste: we've looked at rings together & have pictures of ones she likes.

I've made my peace with buying some compressed carbon. I just want to perform an optimization on the nature of the transaction to maximize my ethics within the framework of buying a Rock.

Capital jewelry

thewittyname — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 14:18:10 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for a reputable jeweler in the Washington DC area. I'm going to be buying an engagement ring, and I have a pretty good idea of what I want and how much I want to pay for it. I've looked around on-line, but I want to visit some real stores as well. I'd prefer to stay away from mall chains like Kay Jewelrs and the such, but I have no experience with buying jewelry of any kind. I'm worried about getting scammed, can anyone help?

Any recommendations (especially for shops in Montgomery County, Maryland) would be greatly appreciated.