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My SO is in the process of buying an estate/antique ring from etsy, so I haven't gotten it yet (eep!) but the seller had it appraised last year, and she's selling it for less (about half) the appraisal. The stone isn't certified (but that's normal in old pieces.) I tried to do my homework before I picked it! I have heard really good things about bluenile and brilliant earth, though! I would stick with GIA certified stones (they are the most stringent) and I know at least for bluenile you can return up to 30 days later, so you can have it checked by a jeweler. I've never heard that it's because it's the "second pick," honestly it SHOULD be cheaper because they don't have to pay rent/utilities on tons of brick and morter stores. I would definitely shop around, and maybe if you find a ring locally you like, you could use quotes from other online retailers to see if you could negotiate.
It just occurred to me that one of my old friends got engaged a few years back and her husband bought the ring from bluenile and she loved it. She was a geologist, so he went for quality (D, as flawless as possible) rather than size, and she loved it!
jamesallen.com OR bluenile.com; james allen is better because you can see closeup images of the actual diamond prior to purchase OR go to pricescope.com do a search there and checkout the message boards why your at it :)
Drats. Wish I could change my vote but alas I will leave my comment regarding the purchase of my engagement ring from online.
I have to say I was beyond excited and thrilled with the ring I have which was bought offline from Kohls in December of 2009. It's is very siimiliar to one that Zales was showing in one of their commercials late last year. For the price, it was definitely unbeatable considering it was under a thousand and was going for four or more thousand prior to the big sale. When the ring finally rested on my finger it sparkled like nothing I've ever seen, and to this day it sparkles like nothing I've ever seen! And it's only been cleaned two or three times since I've slipped it on. All around definitely no complaints, I fell in love with it when I ran across it online. The only complaint I have is the fact that I was not able to find a matching band online or in-store but we managed to work around that by looking elsewhere in which we have scored another great steal for our bands!
Once you find a ring you like do some research, and sleep on it. If you keep coming back to it the worst thing that could happen is it's not anything like you imagined when you get it (if it's from the web).
Good luck finding your ring and I hope my comment helps! :)
My fiance got mine from Blue Nile. He learned a lot about diamonds, quality, etc without the pressure of working with a salesperson. He went to a few shops AFTER he learned a lot from Blue Nile and the salespeople were amazed at how much he knew about diamonds beyond just carats! My ring was expensive, but that's because it is a platinum band and high clarity diamond. It was a LOT cheaper than if he had purchased it at a shop because Blue Nile and others have very low overhead (like Amazon or Zappos, or other stores which don't have brick-and-mortar stores).
It turned out beautifully. We would both recommend Blue Nile.
after spending months and months hunting for the perfect ring in stores around seattle, I decided to take the plunge and do online shopping. I had given up on local stores, but it wasn't necessarily a money thing. it was mainly because I couldn't find exactly the right style of ring for me.
I bought 3 rings online. two from moissaniteco.com, and one from shane co. I kept one moissanite ring, and returned the other (I wasn't charged any fees because they happened to already have that ring in stock, it wasn't custom made for me). for shane co, I was able to just walk into the store and return it in person.
I shop online all the time and felt very comfortable doing it for a ring purchase.
my advice:
1. don't have it shipped to your house. have it shipped to a fedex center or ups store so they can hold on to it until you pick it up personally.
2. read the return policy carefully. for example, for most rings at moissaniteco, they charge a 5% restocking fee.
3. if you need to return it via mail, pay the extra money to have it insured. keep all of your receipts & tracking info until you are sure they got that ring back!
4. pay with a credit card. they have their own ways of backing you up in case you somehow get screwed by the retailer.
5. if you are super worried about it, only shop at well known stores online. you could possibly get a good deal from small retailers or etsy or ebay. but when it comes to a super expensive purchase such as this, I personally couldn't do it myself, I have trust issues. but there are lots of bees here who have good stories to tell.
We bought my ring from Zales online. We did the "Design Your Own" option and picked my setting and then the stone of our choice. We ended up with exactly what I wanted at a good price and I have an AMAZING stone.
I have a .8ct, round brilliant solitaire on a plain white gold band. My diamond is IF, F-colored, GIA certified and insanely sparkly and gorgeous. We also paid less for it than the ready-made rings they sell. You can have the ring maintinence done at any Zales store and it comes with a lifetime diamond warantee. Honestly, I have never had less than awesome service at the Zales I lived by back home. I am 100% satisfied with our purchase and I have zero regrets.
@love108: I agree that I thought the same quality diamond *should* be cheaper ecause o lower overhead for the stores. Thanks for posting! I hope your ring turns out beautifully!
Online is the way to go. Fi bought my cushion e-ring online and I can't imagine any other way. Fancy shapes are almost impossible to come by at most of the chain stores. Good luck!
I got my center stone from GoodOldGold.com and my e-ring setting from EternityDiamonds.com. I'm very happy with the quality!
If you use reputable jewelers, they do not get "seconds". In fact, I got a better quality diamond for cheaper than we would have paid at a brick & mortar store. Online jewelers don't have as much in overhead costs.
I recommend checking out PriceScope.com. If the people there trust I vendor, I trust the vendor. Those people drop SERIOUS CASH on their jewelry and know their stuff!
Bought online (from jamesallen.com) and would do it again!
Didn't have to deal with pushy sales people (I always feel like they pressure you into buying RIGHT NOW which I hate), could look at every diamond throught a virtual loop, and one of the biggest things was being able to see the grading report online while I was looking at the diamond. Also, its really fun to assemble your virtual diamond and setting and see all of the different things you could end up with.
They also had a 30 day return policy, in case you didn't like what you recieved (shipping is only free in some states...for example, it was like 10% or so in NY, but free in CA).
If you go this way, just do your homework about diamonds and make sure you know what is most important to you before you buy anything. And, make sure that you get the ring appraised and that it matches up to the online appraisal
@Cupcake2012: What site did you FI use? A cushion is what i want too! Thank you for posting!
@allergicbee: Thanks so much. We've been looking at James Allen and blue nile also!
E-ring from MoissaniteCo, both wedding bands from Etsy. They're all beautiful and totally unique, and all of the sellers were fantastic to work with, especially MoissaniteCo! Plus we got great deals on all of them :)
@MrsC2012: Thanks for the encouragement! We are definitely getting close to ordering my ring!
@indiblue: Thank you!! Blue Nile has awesome selection. I think they'd be a great site to order from. My only reservation is people keep telling me not to buy a fancy cut diamond like cushion or radiant without seeing it first. So I might end up going with James Allen. Thank you!
@indiblue: Sorry, could you tell me what shape your centre stone is?? Thank you!
@janie-janie: Thanks for these tips! They sound really useful. I would definitely pay with visa for their protection as well. Thank you!!
@WestCoast: You are very right - do not buy a cushion cut without seeing the stone either in person or with an ASET image (indicator of light performance - Good Old Gold offers ASET images and also videos of the diamonds). My FH purchased my cushion cut diamond from Good Old Gold and he was really pleased with the experience. GOG is quite the expert in cushion cuts. Before we learned about cushions, we considered purchasing from blue nile b/c they seemed to have so many options, but they don't provide ASET images and it's nearly impossible to tell what a cushion will look like based on the GIA report/stats alone. Many modified cushions have the "crushed ice" look which some people find very unappealing. check out the picture below - the "crushed ice" cushion is on the right side.
In sum, I recommend Good Old Gold for cushions. :)
@WestCoast: It is princess cut. The clarity and quality is excellent. Everyone comments on how incredibly sparkly it is! I really couldn't recommend Blue Nile more- the ring is just amazing.
Good luck with your ring search!
@abbyful: Did you find good old gold was more expensive?
The people on pricescope do seem intense :)
My FI bought my ring from Blue Nile. It cost just over $1000 but is valued around $1600. To be honest I can't remember all the specs but they were pretty high and it's 0.43 ct.
@Lyndzo: As you are a Canadian bee like me, did you have to pay any import fees or anything like that?? Thank you!!
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Hi bees,
My SO and I are looking to buy an engagement ring for me and we've looked in stores (local jewelry stores and chains like Tiffany and others) and we're trying to decide what to do.
So, if you bought your ring online, can you please tell me if it was a good choice??
Also where did you buy from?
We are looking for a retangular radiant or cushion diamond 0.5 - 0.75 ct.
The online places seem to have much better prices, but i have been told this is because they e second pick of the diamonds, so they are often not as sparkly etc even if the specs are the same.
Also, the stores where we live have few or no fancy shaped stones in stockweak we'd have to wait for one to come in, but at least we'd get to seefit before we buy it.
All input is appreciated!!
Thanks!