What store did you purchase your rings from? What swayed your decision? Better warranty? Customer service? Selection? Has anyone noticed or heard that Kay Jewelers and Jared are the same company? What's the difference?
I'm personally not a big fan of Kay, though I know a lot of people have been really satisfied from purchases there in the past. My cousin is kind of obsessed with them lol. I personally prefer Gordon's, Zales, or Helzberg.
My FI bought my e-ring at International Diamond Center, and they called recently to tell us that since we'd purchased from them, they'd give us $250 off a wedding band purchase of $1000 or more. So I'm thinking that's probably where I'll go back for my wedding band, 'cause they have a lot of really gorgeous, up-scale stuff there. And $250 off is a deal! ;)
Is it the whole "Every kiss begins with Kay" thing that turns you off? LOL
@RiverBride13: Lyles-Degraizier Company in Dallas. They were voted the best in Big-D for custom work and they get you as close to the wholesale price as possible. They are amazing!
We went with a local jeweler. I would highly recommend a local jeweler in your area with good reviews on yelp- chains will rip you off and they have such low quality stuff. The difference in quality was astounding once I saw what the local jewelers had and I learned more about diamonds.
@RiverBride13: LOL no, not really. It's just that when I've been in there looking for jewelry in the past (not for an e-ring, though), I wasn't as impressed by the selection of pieces they had.
I'm also really not a fan of the whole 'open hearts' collection, but I know it's super popular. :P
It's alright though, everybody is different and I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't like my taste in jewelry lol.
Pretty much every place at the mall tries to give you a SI1 or SI2 centerstone in a G-H color for more than a much better quality loose stone would cost at a reputable jeweler.
FI bought the setting from a local jeweler, Jeweler's Touch. Their customer service is amazing, and if I need my ring sized or repaired, they can do it right in store. I don't have to wait 6 weeks for my ring to be shipped out and repaired and shipped back. They were so helpful when we first started looking at rings together as they were never pushy and would explain all the differences between rings as I was trying them on so I could better understand what I liked and didn't like.
@rachelmichelle: I am not a fan of the "open hearts" collection either, just not my thing. But I have found a wedding band at Kay that I like and with their current promotional sale thing I could get my FI's band free basically. I will take your advice though and compare at a local jeweler I've had good experiences with in the past. Thanks!
We went to Shane & Company for three major reasons:
The first was that the selection and customer service was amazing. Every single time we stepped into the store there was always someone to greet us and help us with any questions we may have had. Before we decided to shop together, there were plenty of other jewelry stores my DH walked out of bc he wasn't getting any type of service.
Secondly, it helps that Shane Co. offers a free lifetime warranty on the jewelry. They will clean the ring, replace lost pave diamonds for free, you name it- as long as you come in once a year to have the jewelry inspected.
Lastly, unlike other brick and mortar stores (such as Jared's) they were willing to negotiate the price with my DH. He managed to get them to knock off $4,000 off the price of my engagment ring!
Sorry for the journal entry. I just really love Shane Co. =)
My engagement ring came from Jared. I'm not totally sure what the difference is between Kay and Jared, but from what I've seen personally, most Jared stores in my area are freestanding stores with more selection, while Kay stores are smaller and located inside malls. I haven't seen loose diamonds on display at Kay like I have at Jared (although I've seen loose diamonds for sale on Kay's website), and I get much better treatment from the associates at Jared.
Tiffany & Co, because the ring has been my dream ring for as long as I can remember, and FI wanted to get me my dream ring :) simple yellow gold round solitaire, which I know I can get from anywhere but my DREAM one was the one from Tiffany's so that's what I got. I will either be getting my wedding band from there or use my great grandmother's :)
We bought my center stone from Brian Gavin Diamonds and the setting was made by a local jeweler. We went and looked at loads of stock settings from different companies (including Tacori) and I can honestly say that the quality far surpasses them. I didn't like the 2 month wait but I'm so beyond happy with my ring! Like PPs we never considered chain stores because of the quality. One PP mentioned color and clarity issues- they use a different certification service and the qualities of the stones are not the same. A G there would likely be a I if looking on Blue Nile or the like. On top of that, you pay a lot more for a lesser quality stone. The chains are parented by a company called Sterling Jewelers. They are based out of the Akron, OH area (where I live).
A local independent jeweler because:
They were willing to work with us to get every tiny detail of the ring exactly the way we wanted it (we were perfectionists about it and this was no easy task),
They were able to source the exact right center stone we wanted,
And, just as important:
They gave us good prices on both, beating the competition.
It took us a long time to find the right jeweler for us (never mind all the other details), but it was worth every minute spent. The ring is truly breathtaking!
Local independent, Master IJO jeweler. You want a skilled artisan working with your jewelry.
We purchased my rings at a local independent jeweler that has only 2 stores in the Dallas area. They don't work on commission like many mall/chain stores, so there was no pressure. They gave us a fantastic deal. They were so accomodating and wonderful to work with. They had a wonderful selection, and the free lifetime warranty coverage is fantastic. Whenever we go in for anything, they treat us like rock stars.
Mine is from Jared's. I do like that it is an actual store I can take my ring to if there was ever a problem, and I don't have to worry about mailing it. The customer service at ours is very good.
http://www.bcclark.com/engagement-rings
BC Clark. It's a local Oklahoma jewler. They have very good warranties and they do a fun contest called "Pray for Rain" where if it rains/snows more than 1" on your wedding day, you get up to $5000 back on your ring. So if you had a 4999 ring, it would be free :).
My band is from Helzberg though. It was $400 instead of BC Clark's $1300 for a simple pave band.
Together in terrible Walmart lighting [I was bored while FI was standing in line for COD].
Aaaand seperate
local, family-owned jewelery because of superior quality products and amazing customer service. Salespeople don't make commission and generally want you to find the best fit for you - with any product you are buying. We will never buy jewelery anywhere else now.
Jared and Kay are the same company. From what I have heard, Kay is the "lower end" of the two. Also, Kay (not sure if Jared does the same) is known for inflating their prices, just to mark it down to make it look like a great discount. When in actuality, the discounted price is pretty much what you should be paying for it normally.
FI and I went to Jared to look at a specific Neil Lane ring when we were shopping and were completely turned off by the customer service. We were the only people in the store. I tried on 2 rings and the woman asked when we were planning to purchase (how awkard to do it in front of me!) I said we had just started looking and it probably would be another few months, and she said NOTHING, grabbed the ring out of my hand, put them away and locked the cabinet up and walked away to talk to the other salespeople. It was the RUDEST thing ever and I will NEVER go to Jared because of it.
We got mine from a local store that carries a lot of the designer lines like Tacori Verragio, Simon G, and artcarved, they also frequently have the desingers visiting. We actually worked with and purchased from the co-owner of the store.
@MrsWBS: That's insane! Way to lose a future sale, lady!
FI bought my ring from a family-owned independent jeweler that I picked out. For the most part they were great and we were 99% going to buy his ring there too, however after talking to one of their sales guys over email, we drove 4 hours to their location to resize my ring only to find out that the store was closed and their store hours were posted wrong on every internet site they had. It was by extreme luck that the ladies closing up helped us resize my ring but couldn't show us mens' bands, which I think is still awesome enough, but FI got so pissed off that he refused to buy his ring from them -_-******* But I digress.. the main reason I wanted to go with them was because they are independent and have amazing designs you wouldn't find anywhere else.
Yes, Jared and Kay are owned by the same company--Sterling Jewelers. There's not a whole lot of difference in the two, except the marketing scheme. Kay is geared toward mall shoppers, bargain hunters, etc. Jared is geared toward being more high-end.
My rings are from Kay. I know a lot of people don't like Kay, and I really wanted to stay away from mall stores, but we ended up working with an awesome sales guy at ours. He was very open and honest and really wanted to work with us to make sure we found something that we loved and could afford. I actually found The Ring on their website and wanted to go see it in person. I was ready to say NO NO NO and walk away the minute they started pushing (which we'd encountered at Ultra Diamonds), but the guy was super nice. He pulled out basically everything from the case on a few different occasions so that we could compare and I could try different styles on. We thought about a custom design, so we messed around with their Design-A-Ring online, and he suggested pulling a similar stone out of a ring he had in store instead of paying $$$$$$ for the stone I found on their site. He said he could order in a few and I could personally choose the stone, and it would save us $500. He gave us his email address and told us to email him any rings that we liked to see if he could get them in store, and schemed with FI to get my ring without me knowing, haha (and for a decent price).
I love having the extended warranty thing, too, since I've had my e-ring sized twice and it gets cleaned, redipped, and inspected/fixed twice a year. That was part of what "swayed" my decision, along with the fact that a) I fell in love with this ring/setting, and b) it has a matching wedding band.
We've gotten okay service from other people in that store. You can definitely tell who's knowledgeable and who isn't--we dealt with the latter when we bought my wedding band, and it was very frustrating.
@rachelmichelle: I'm also really not a fan of the whole 'open hearts' collection, but I know it's super popular. :P
I hate it, too (along with 99% of their jewelry; not my taste). FI calls it the "open balls" or "open scrotum" collection lmao.
My FI went to Tiffany's. He tried a few other stores and hated the vibe and pressuring he felt. He said he felt the most comfortable at Tiffany's. People were attentive and answered all of his questions, but also let him look without pressuring to go bigger. He also liked the fact that we could go to any location and get my ring cleaned/serviced in case we ended up moving in the future.
We bought from an independent vintage jewelry shop. I looked online at some of the chains (Shane Co, Kay, etc) but never went in store. A friend of mine's fiance bought the stone online from James Allen and took it to a local shop where he bought the setting and had it set; I thought this was really smart! He saved a lot on the diamond but got the personal expertise of a jeweler.
I got my engagement ring from MoissaniteCo and my ring guard/insert from Zales!
My engagement ring is from Zales' online only collection. Finace picked it out for me. I think what he liked about the experiance from what he said was that they were easy to work with and even extended a couple sales for him making the total cost less. Especially after he had a terrible experiance with a rude salesperson at Kay's. They also happened to have some nice less traditional options that fit me well.
The only thing I wish I had was a service plan. For whatever reason, he didn't purchase the service plan. However, most of the service that I have needed to have done on my ring has been done by a great independant jeweler in my home area that always works on my mom's rings. And it's all been free, except the resizing.
My ring came from Litman's Jewelers... the band was like 60% off I think. haha. It just happened that the second time we looked at it, it was to be marked down that Monday. The woman was really awesome the whole time. The warranty of the guaranteed-replaced-stone and everything for life, plus the savaings on the band, definitely was a kicker. We'd looked at a local shop, but I liked the Mark Schneider or whatever his name is... so expensive! So beautiful. sigh. But there would be no warranty really. And if we ever moved, there'd be no way to take it back to the store =/ So... yes. All those factors played in.
We had a crappy experience with Kay as well :/
@vorpalette: I hate it, too (along with 99% of their jewelry; not my taste). FI calls it the "open balls" or "open scrotum" collection lmao.
Now that you mention it, yeah...I can see that. ha! And I'm sure that's what I'll think of now when I see the commerical. haha!
He got my ring from diamonds direct, it was the only place we looked at because a year prior I had taken in a ring my grandma had left for me that needed repairs. they do all repairs in store and so far they have given me 2 small diamonds, fixed a broken prong, resized and dipped my grandmas ring for free!
Oh, they also knocked about $800 off my ring and gave us 20% off bands and free repairs and dips for life.
Blue Nile here. It was just such an great way to get a really great deal on my ring and be able to get exactly what we wanted as far as the diamond specs. A couple stores we went to didn't have enough choices for us. If we did find something we'd like it was just insanely priced.
DH bought my first set from Zales and so I really did not have much choice when we upgraded but to go through them. So we upgraded to my now solitaire and then bought a different band from http://www.wickershamjewelry.com/. But only because I wanted something very specific and they were the only ones who carried it.
In the end, I am happy because I was able to get a unique princess cut that sparkles more (102 facets) and the band that I really wanted. Both stores were great to work with.
My honey bought my ring from our local jewellery shop. The ladies in there are lovely and have been really helpful with my endless questions and my SO found his wedding ring in there too. We've just got to wait for his proposal.
I can't believe after hours of us searching through magazines and on the internet, we've found our forever rings in the shop we walked passed everyday even before we got together.
We got a our diamond from James Allen and our setting from Shane Co.
I wanted to get a good deal on a diamond and online was definitely the way to go. A diamond with the same specs in a bricks and mortar was at least 1000 more than what we paid. I wanted to get it set locally so I had the option of having it inspected etc.
James Allen has great customer service and they have images on thier site of the actual diamond. Great return policy too, just in case.
I originally wanted to go to Jared's to get my setting but I've heard SERIOUS horror stories from there. Seriously, check thier facebook page.. it's filled with complaints.
We got our bling (his wedding band and my e-ring) from De Beers, which is the last thing that I/we expected. We went to Tiffany & Co., Shane Co., Cartier, Zales, Brilliant Earth, Simayof, and De Beers.
De Beers had by far the best customer service. At the other places we felt like people weren't listening to what I wanted, a small solitaire that was low set and had small prongs (so that I could comfortably wear it at work/in lab at school with gloves) or that they didn’t take us seriously at all because of how we look (we are and look young and dress very casually). All the people at De Beers were so nice, they learned our names and even put our rings on hold after our first visit just to make sure someone else didn’t buy them before we decided what we wanted. I really can’t say enough about how well they treated us. They also did a great job about resizing my ring as they remade the bands rather than just cutting them to fit my tiny 3.75 finger.
They also happened to have exactly what I wanted and it was a very specific and a bit odd of a request. My favorite number is 5 and 0.5 carats just sounded a little to normal for me, so I mentioned that a 0.55 diamond would be amazing. Well in the vault sitting there at our De Beers store was a lovely ring with a 0.55 center stone. To make it even better it has pave stones on the bands bringing the diamond count to 25 total, also known as 5 squared and the same number as my birthday. And because it was in the vault it had never been displayed so I am the first and only person to ever try it on or wear it.
@lizardloo: This is pretty much word for word what I was going to reply! The staff at Tiffany's is absolutely wonderful. I've been in a few of their locations, and the service is always amazing. Zero pressure, just great service :)
I've gone in there with one of my friends before just to browse (this was before I had my engagement ring from there), and they let us try stuff on no problem. The sales guy actually pulled out the ring I was looking at and went "Oh come on, just try it. You're supposed to have fun when you come here!". I was a college student at the time and it was painfully obvious that I couldn't afford anything in there, so he clearly wasn't pushing for a sale.
We've gone in a few times since getting engaged to look at bands and they always let us try on whatever we want with no pressure at all.
Zales, we wanted a store we could take it to if there were any problems. So I googled all area jewelry stores and started searching online, Zales had THE ring I wanted :) Couldn't be happier! We returned to buy FI's band there.
My ering is from Tiffany! I fell in love with one particular ring, so really, I couldn't go anywhere else. But Tiffany staff have always been nice to us!
You must log in to post.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| MrsPanda99 | 64 |
 mrsSonthebeach |
48 |
| pengoala | 44 |
| Laurenplusalex | 41 |
| julies1949 | 40 |
| weddingbound | 37 |
| badabing88 | 36 |
| lia | 35 |
| sam.stoinski |
33 |
| Zhabeego | 31 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| joya_aspera | 10 |
| luvmesumhim | 9 |
| orangecountylicious | 9 |
| Hellokitty_lady | 9 |
| throughthebarricades |
7 |
| abirdword | 6 |
| chillinchillin | 6 |
| Loribeth | 5 |
| jwilk241 | 5 |
| heathuhhhhwebbbb | 5 |
