Weddingbee boards

mr. bee picked out the ring all by himself, but mrs. peony wrote a fantastic series on buying a diamond!

http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/08/16/diamonds-part-iii-our-experience-tips/ 

As with any negotiation with a salesperson- don't let them know how badly you want what they've got!  If you seem on the fence, they may try to entice you to purchase by offering a better deal.

Also- if you are not 100% satisfied, shop around.  My FI and I had no experience with shopping for gems and rings.  So we went to the diamond district and hit up a dozen places.  We were able to get a good idea of the going rates for what we were interested in.

Also- I wanted an estate piece.  Numerous stores we went to had the type of ring I was looking for.  Numerous other places didn't have it- said it didn't exist and that I would have to pay to have it custom made (obviously a lie since other stores in the same building had exactly what we were looking for).

So, what you want may be out there if you look hard enough.  Whether it is more cost effective to find it or have it custom made- you'd have to figure out.

Good luck!

So, are you having some work done to a ring that the jeweler already has, or are you having a ring made that looks like a design you have seen?  We had my ring custom-made, based on a design that I had seen, but with a few changes.  If that is what you are doing, the absolute best thing you can to is to have photographs, from several angles, of what you want.  Remember to look at not only the top and sides of the ring, but the back as well (is it rounded, flat, standard or European shank?)  The better idea your jeweler has of what you want, the better job he'll be able to do.

Also, if you're having custom work done, the jeweler should provide a wax before he has the ring cast.  It's a little difficult to visualize your ring from a crayola royal-blue colored model, but that's your chance to make sure the details are right.  Although you shouldn't be afraid to ask for rework if you need to.  We had my e-ring back once to alter the shank, and had the wedding ring back three times in order to get setting to exactly match the e-ring. (The jeweler had made it thinner, thinking that of course I would have them soldered together.)  If there's something not quite right, don't be afraid to say so right away - your chances of getting the rework for free are quite a bit better if you speak up at once than if you wear it for a few months and then bring it back.