How much did you pay for your wife's/fiancee's engagement ring? - Page 8

What the hell could be more simple than a single diamond snugly set into an unpolished hammered gold band?

One that doesn't look like a spermatozoon?

I may go with an oval, round, or marquise shape. probably wont end up doing pear.

good idea...

In that case the ring would look good and unique - The pear just

Well you are correct. It's not like you have other diamonds side by side to compare color. So I guess the near colorless range is good (D-E-F). But most importantly excellent cut and symmetry probably exceeds color and clarity in importance. I would sacrifice on color and clarity to get better cut and symmetry. After all you want the light to shine through correctly. Now if the ring is a three stone then you want to carefully match each diamond so one doesn't look terrible next to the others.

I got a DeBeers classic solitaire, princess cut, F-VS1, excellent symmetry, in platinum, 0.73ct for $2,000.00 complete with certificate. It was a steal! Some guy wanted to propose to his girlfriend. She took a look at the ring and said she wanted a round diamond ring and it was too small. I met the guy on my way in to the jeweler's and bam just like that, brand spanking new ring. It's even my fiancee's ring size! It was less shady since my jeweler inspected it and knows the guy personally (I trust my small town jeweler). Even he told me it was a great deal and to buy it rather than custom order one from him. That being said, my jeweler Mark in Princeton, NJ Leon-Meyers does excellent wax cast custom jewelry at amazing prices. He just finished a buddy's 3 stone engagement ring with a total of 1.2 ct of F VS1 (all 3 stones GIA certified) for 6.5k in cash.

Thank you, Buyer In Kind of a raging ego trip and for letting us all know. In this case I think the engagement ring was more for you than your wifey. You're not helping

I did a lot of shopping around. I cannot handle the idea of overpaying for things. I guess it makes sense since I make a living out of buying things I deem to cheap and selling things I think are dear.

After doing all my research, I was prepared to spend ~$15k and had located the ring my wife liked most and decided to buy it from Tiffany & Co. I went in there and thought I could get a ring that was listed at $17k for $15k. Turns out they don't negotiate. (Winston and Graff do, FYI). Then I looked on eBay to see what kind of discounts there were to be had on rings from failed engagements / marriages. There was value there, but I the market was too transparent and people seemed to be overpaying considering things were used. I needed to find something that was less well advertised. So I started doing Craigslist searches via an aggregator. I found the exact ring style and size I was looking for but better quality. It was in LA from a divorcee and listed for $11k plus the matching band for $1k (the matching band was ~$2.5k at Tiffany). I had some Jetblue points and flew to LA, met her at Tiffany in Beverly Hills where they determined it was legit. I bought the ring and the band for $10k in total.

So what I got was Tiffany & Co., 1.17 ct, round cut, E, VS, GIA cert, Tiffany papers, with accompanying diamonds flanking the center stone in a channel-set band, plus matching wedding band w/ channel set diamonds. Quality pieces.

http://www.tiffany.com/Engagement/item.aspx?GroupSku=GRP10016&selectedSku=23464489#f+1/1001/0/0/0/1001

I was 23 at the time (2007), so I was tighter with $ than I am now, but I would still do the same. I don't think I got a screaming deal, I just felt satisfied that I paid less than others (if I had went to Tiffany & Co., I would have paid $18k for this ring as it was better than the one I was looking at for $17k, and would've paid $2.5k for the band, and then 10.25% Chicago sales tax at the time = $22.6k). So I avoided spending an additional 12k (which I wouldn't have done anyway, but still).

Jokes on her, I won't be snared into the marriage trap.

So what's a good place to re-sell them?

Woah you spent $10k on a ring at 23?

Ballers gonna ball, you wouldn't understand.

Yeah... but no offense, 50% of that was for the word "Tiffany". For that money you could have gotten something larger and/or much more unique. Ask Stitchy.

^^^^

+1. My wife picked out what she wanted from Tiffany's on Michigan Ave. I went down to Jewelers Row on Wabash and had a guy down there make it for half the price. 1 carat, platinum band. I think I paid around $4,500.