My ring came from there, but from an overheard merchant so FI didn't have to deal much wth the crazy salesmen on ground level. There isn't much to tell. My ring was custom. It was "let's put this stone in the middle of these like this" and a few weeks later it was done.
My husband and I (then fiance) went to Kwiat. You have to make an appointment but it was very low-key.
I have to know: Do they sell gemstones there? I am looking for a tsavorite and having zero luck locally.
One of my relatives is a jeweler in the diamond district. He specializes in very...umm...ornate jewelry. Mostly for rappers and such. You can get a very good deal or be totally swindled, depends on a lot of factors.
Can we see the jewelry anyone has gotten from the District?! :)
@ditzkitten: it is utter chaos. Every time I paused in front of a store window a salesperson would appear and try to lure me inside.
That's what it was like in the caribbean when you go into town in the shopping districts. Tons of jewelry stores and if you stop for even a second, you are hassled to come into every single store. Actually, you don't even have to stop. ;)
Sounds like you had a great day! Lots of fun.
Mine was purchased from the DD in NYC. I didn't go with my husband to pick it out, but I did go back with him for the wedding band selection. When I was there, I did notice people waving you in at every turn, but our guy was nicely tucked away in a lower level where we were not disturbed at all and my taste was catered to! The rings in his case were NOT NOT NOT my style, but together we were able to come up with something that is absolutely perfect. :) All in all, it was a great experience for both my husband and I. I should add that the jeweler was a referral from his co-workers who have used him before.
My family has generally purchased all our major pieces of jewerly from there. My mom got both wedding rings there for both marriages, necklaces etc.
It is a bit of a circus. Definately shop around and negotiate prices.
My ring was purchased from the diamond district in SF. Its different than the NYC version and more low key.
@secondchances:
My FI got my gemstone engagement ring in the diamond district in NYC. He worked with a jeweler,who showed him a bunch of different emerald,and FI picked out his favorite.
My FI and I went to the Diamond District in NYC about 10 months ago, to "ring shop"... my impressions of the whole experience was yes, a chaotic circus...tons of little storefronts jammed into a larger area. There were lots of ringers, who'd cajol you to come inside and see their wares... i was a bit put off by this to be honest. Basically we found that you can't get a good "deal", not really... maybe some people can if they are in the "know" but honestly I think any seller is going to make mad money off anyone they can.
I did find quite a lot of gemstones in the stores in the diamond district... and I was looking for a very specific gemstone and wanted to see it in person. Just ask if they have "X" and they should be able to pull out unset stones for you to see and already set gemstone rings for you to try on.
Just a word of warning though -- I wouldn't buy the gemstones AT the DD unless you do LOTS of research beforehand.... I caught one of the sellers trying to sell some highly flawed gemstones, and when I called them out on it, they quickly put them away. But it was a great place to see tons of different gemstones and see all the different colors and qualities of gemstones... so I found it useful in that regard. It really helped me narrow down my search, but I ended up getting a better quality and cut gemstone and for a better price though an online seller.
My ring came from there. I wasn't with FI when he bought it, but I had to go to the same place he bought it from months later to get it resized. I worked a block or two away at the time and I go to that street all the time to get my brows done, but I had to walk much further down the block to get my ring resized. I felt borderline harrassed on a weekday walking down that street, but I just kept my head up and kept walking.
The place he got the ring from was actually very nice, as were the people. It was a small storefront, but nice inside. I wouldn't find it fun to be shopping in that area, though.
@PeachSnapple: You make a good point about flawed stones. Even though our jeweler came through recommendations, we did think about switching out the stone when went back for my wedding band. Of the three stones I saw, one round was not cut to proportion (was WAY too shallow), anither stone was not cut well either (had a crushed glass look) and the third I didn't really look at because it was out of our price range (and was also not cut to the right proportions). It all comes down to knowing what you want and being educated on what you're looking at!!
DH got my engagement ring at the Diamond District. And we got our wedding rings from the same store. He got a great deal- partially because it was literally the first ring he looked at, and he had no intention of buying that day, so he kept telling the guy no, until he hit a price that was in DH's range! Sorry if this pic is huge, I'm terrible at re-sizing!
We browsed but they were not able to give us the price we wanted. We ended up ordering the exact same stone we liked best in NYC (by coincidence, but not shocking coincidence: due to our exact desires for all the specs were were lookng for, there weren't that many of this type), and buying it a local independent jeweler who was willing to sell it at a better price.
We laughed pretty hard when we realized it was the exact same stone (same GIA number). We only realized this when we pulled up the "old favorite stone"'s certificate to compare and realized it was the exact same one! BTW this stone had also just come back from Hong Kong, I'm so glad whoever was looking at it there didn't buy it in the interim! It was obviously "meant to be" ours 
Thanks for the info ladies. Gah this whole ring thing is so frustrating. All I care about is the stone. The setting on a scale of 1 to 10 matters to be at a level of a 2. I know what I want. I have seen stones like this over the years but finding one has become difficult. Waahaaa!
Well I am hoping that my SO gets my ring from the diamond district. The seller is very reputable especially on pricescope.com. It's a really good deal on the setting alone compared to the price that you would pay in a retail store and also on the diamond.
I don't know enough about the area to know if you can actually get great deals. But I felt harried by salespeople just walking down the street.
I am born and raised in NY and still live here, how come I've NEVER heard of the Diamond District?! Where is this? I wanna go see what's it about.
My FI purchased my ring from the DD. We were living in NY at the time, so it was pretty convenient. We had gone there a few times before - and yes, it can be chaotic, but we did go during the workweek during work hours, so it wasn't too bad - I just took an extra long lunch hour when we went ring shopping. I don't ultimately know which jeweler he went with, but I do know that he custom made it (I saw the CAD drawings) and it was pretty much to my specifications (he asked me to send him the top 3 rings I wanted). I'm certain he got a fairly good price on it, but he won't tell me how much he spent - it's a 2ct, ideal cut, VS1 or 2, G color center stone. I keep telling him I don't want to know that he spent more than $5k on my ring (which is the MOST it would have cost had we gone with the Amora Gem, like I thought we had decided - he was tricking me so I didn't know the proposal was coming!). Post a pic of my ring? Twist my arm, will ya??
@PinkL: Really?? It's in the city. Around 47th b/w 5th and 6th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_District
@futuremrsk18: Beautiful ring! Thanks for the link! I'm in the city everyday for school, you'd think I'd know something about this, LOL.
@PinkL: Thanks! LOL - where do you go to school?? I went to Queens CUNY and then St. John's law.
My ring was also from the Diamond district but DH is from NYC so it was convienient for him!
@bwaychick: I remeber your ring from PS few years back! It is GORGEOUS & so was your wedding as well as you!
FI & I were referred to David S Diamonds through a close friend of mine. It's just outside the DD, in a gallery on the 7th (I think) floor on 5th avenue. I went with him to the appointment, and we dealt with Amy there...I can't say enough about our experience. I came to the appt with an exact idea of what I want, and she presented a selection of exquisite diamonds and settings, and their settings are exactly like whatever designer you want (plus of course they have settings they designed as well). With their service, I have a lifetime guarantee with my ring. I can bring it in as often as I want for cleaning, polishing, checking prongs, etc. I had a stone in my setting that kept getting something stuck under it, so I took it in. Right then and there, they filled in that prong area with a little more platinum, and put in a new diamond. They're not a place looking to take you for your $$-they only take appointments and they don't advertise or try to lure you in. Amy was very honest in our transactions, and it was obvious she didn't see us as dollar signs. Their prices on my ring beat Blue Nile, James Allen, & Adiamor by more than 3k. I would never go anywhere else for diamond jewelry. Here's my ring:
@futuremrsk18: I went to Borough of Manhattan Community College and transferred to Hunter College now. Thank God for CUNY tuition, huh?! hahaha
@ditzkitten: Wooo, do/did you go there, too? I actually really liked the professors there!
The diamond district is terrible and great at the same time. I used to work a block south, and that's where we ended up getting my ring. But you have to know what you're doing. A majority of the first floor/store front vendors are just too much, I wouldn't deal with them. But the interesting thing is going down the line of stores and trying on essentially the same setting in a few. The prices you'll get quoted are in a huge spectrum (I got $900-4,000 for the same SETTING).
We wanted an antique stone, so we worked with Adam at Old World Diamonds. It's in an office building and is not at all a retail setup, but they have amazing antique stones. We then had my setting made from Zoland's (they can also source stones of any kind). Zoland's is one of those store fronts, but they don't heckle or anything nuts. Honestly, their store isn't much to brag about, but they did a great job for an amazing price. We were recommended to them by a friend of ours who has a most droolworthy ring (which I couldn't just blatantly copy, sigh...jk). Anyway, this is mine. I'm happy to give you a run down on the type of pricing and such that I encountered, we did a lot of research and saved boat loads. Really. Boat loads.
PS - My ring is obviously a bit unique, it was custom. They have loads of more traditional settings, too.
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So I decided to do a bit of touristing in my own city. I went to the Guggenheim Museum, checked out some of the beautiful of churches in Manhattan and stumbled upon NYC's famous diamond district. For those who have never been, it is utter chaos. Every time I paused in front of a store window a salesperson would appear and try to lure me inside. Some of the rings I saw were insane. I actually tried on a 9 ct solitare ring!!! I'm not really ring shopping yet but I was able to get a better idea of my style and have some fun. While I doubt that my own e-ring will come from the diamond district (the jewelry offered there isn't really my style) it certainly was interesting. If any Bees have been there tell me about your impressions. Did anyone actually buy thier ring there? Love to hear all about it.