Engagement Rings - Advice and Summary

Thanks, it's kinda hard not to tell everyone yet (as it's not official just yet) :D
 
The romantic trip abroad is a nice idea; just so long as people don't get stressed about perfection. Others here have said its impossible to guarantee certain buildings will be as you expected (people-free) or that all of the little details fall into place. My advice, based on our humble proposal (hubby more of a man's man tbh!) would be to plan it to the nth degree but go with the flow. Don't get too caught up in detail. Sometimes the spontaneity of a proposal ends up being the most romantic thing and things you would have thought were 'deal-killers' end up adding to the fun and the story!! Out of embarrassment and because its a personal treasure, I'll stop there. Just go with the flow, no matter what you plan :)

We recently lost our first engagement ring (its a very deflating experience and we didn't have it insured :-{) and having checked all of the options here and on other boards, we decided on Blue Nile. It was actually quite romantic to be planning and shopping for a ring online together. And I ended up with an upgrade!! A serious one actually. So there's a silver lining always to bad luck too. Miss the old ring but can't magic it back can I? Plus we saved so much that we can go on a romantic trip together at a time of our own choosing. I personally would find having to buy a ring on a deadline quite stressful. That stress can make it magical when it works out. But when it doesn't? I'm not into that at all. We got ours valued in Dublin and its worth 2k more than we paid and insured for that amount too. Basically it was 60% of a Grafton street jewellers. And my first cousin was so impressed with our story, that he's set up an advisory website for intending couples called www.ringhunting.com. With the recession / depression or whatever govt are calling it now "going forward", I'm glad we went that route and I hope others will give it thought too. I spent the savings actually on buying digital gold for us on Bullionvault and so far we're lucking out there too. I hope all young couples out there will have their thinking caps on in regards to their finances. Its vital, no matter what you're buying, to get the most bang for your buck and its vital to be in harmony on finances (sorry to be all serious!!) because the engagement ring is the first of many such scenarios. We, even though a few years married, actually still chose to spoof our friends on where we got the upgrade! I'm passionate about online shopping because if they're reputable, you've ven more rights online than high street. And here's a tip too: - Just pick a good reputation jewellers not near you and find out what they do for buying couples (viewing room, champagne etc. Then say you bought it there! How would anyone know? Almost no one ever sees the box. I know that's coming from a pride point of view, but what you do as a couple is private. Why not get the best diamond you can and save money too? Why be a slave to contant peer pressure? Weddings are the best and the worst in this regard.

Best of luck to all would-be fiancés this Christmas season and Valentines. it even looks like Christmas outside today!!
 
got my ring with blue nile over the internet, slightly suspect at first but glad i did now, saved myself bout 40% off the retail prices and the quality is excellent. She loves it and thats the main thing. Their european base is in blanchardstown too so that made it feel more secure too.
 
I am wondering how long it takes from selecting the exact ring and having it properly fitted. Don't want to go over a rush the selection of the ring. Also does one get GIA Certs for the diamond?
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Unfortunately I can't say I have experience w/ buying in antwerp. I do know that GIA offers the strictest grading reports.. and they invented the 4 C's. most people still refer to them as 'certs' but technically they're grading reports, because if you look on GIA's website it explains how they aren't guaranteeing anything, but rather they're just giving the best possible grading report based on the 4 C's of the diamond they are grading in their lab. that said, i think most people will agree they lead the industry in terms of diamond grading.

the report may cost a bit extra, but it'll pay off in the long term, because you'll know exactly what you're buying and you'll better be able to have the diamond insured -- agencies will recognize the GIA name and better value it accordingly.

I realize i'm answering a question from a while back now, so this could be a moot point (to him), but it's good info for anyone to know who's planning on buying a diamond..

i gotta say, this thread is really helpful, so thanks OP for putting it together.
 
Robbie_C said:
got my ring with blue nile over the internet, slightly suspect at first but glad i did now, saved myself bout 40% off the retail prices and the quality is excellent. She loves it and thats the main thing. Their european base is in blanchardstown too so that made it feel more secure too.
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Yes Robbie, that's exactly it. And you're helping Irish jobs too, while getting something quality for less. That's what we try to do anyway. Help Irish jobs where everyone wins. But I don't see why I would give a jeweller an extra 40-50%. That's more of the tired old clientelist mantras in Irish retail. Like Dunnes Stores saying 'cos we're Irish'. Yeah, but most of your produce isn't! So, I'll support a smart business like blue nile and not dumb old-style ones like high priced high stock holders. No thanks!!
 
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Has anyone ever bought from Diamonds-usa I have designed a ring that i really want but an afraid to purchase online
 
Has anyone any experience with buying from Diamonds-usa?? My Boyfriend and I have been looking for engagement ring over two months now and came across this site We have designda beautiful ring that I love but i am really afraid of buying with my credit card as it is over €4000.00. We have researched the internet and have not found any complaints on it yet the address does not have that saft HTTPS on it

If anyone can advise on how to purchase safely i would really appreciate it as i am bursting to tell people were engaged but he won't until we have ring :)
 
I have heard conflicting stories on buying an engagement ring with cash in Antwerp - anyone have any experience of doing this?
 
"I was glad to see Diamond.ie in your list of sites because I bought my ring from them in Dublin and have friends who did too and also a friend who bought from the guy in New York too.

I was just delighted with them and want to put my two-pence in here too! I wish I could upload a photo here ... is that something we could do in the future Sue Ellen?

Thanks,
Earnie
 
We purchased our engagement ring from an Irish company called Voltaire Diamonds. They do not have a shop but meet with you privately in Dublin. The service provided was fantastic and due to their low overheads we found their prices approx. 30% less than the shops. We designed our ring with them and it was exactly what we ordered only better! Cannot recommend them enough. If you google them you will see their lovely website.
 
Has anyone had any experience with buying jewellery in NYC?

Going over in a few months and am interested in buying an engagement ring. I presume jewellers in NYC would be more reasonable than in Dublin.

What do you think?
 
Logistical advice

Hi guys, I'm looking for some advice with picking up a ring. The logistics are a wee bit complicated. I'm in Ireland, she's in Canada. I'm going there for the Chrimbo and pretty sure I'm going to propose. So the ring situation is a question I need help with, do I buy a ring in Dublin or London before I go, how do I know the size is right, can I get the size refitted in Canada or would I have to come back to Dublin?

Am I better off giving her a dummy ring for the event and then we head off downtown shopping and pick up the real deal.... kind of want to have put the effort in but if the practicalities make more sense to wait and pick it out with her then...

Look forward to some wise thoughts..

Thanks!
 
I would get a dummy and buy the real ring over there. That way you should get better value and she can pick a ring she likes rather than you guessing what to get her (win-win).
 
I can definitely recommend Haniken in New York.

Went over last week, and just got the ring appraised here.

Appraised at 100% more than we paid, at least 60% if you were go out and do your best bargaining to try and buy it here.

Also, bring cash for a better price, 5 - 10%
 
Have O'Connors on Harold's Cross Road closed down? The website is not working and I can't find a phone number for them anywhere.
 
Engagement rings

Not sure if it closed down but many jewellers have closed over past year and many links on this thread are not working.
For the 4 C;s there is good you tube videos explaining the diamond carat, carat colour and clarity.
Useful information. Anybody looking to but an engagement ring should eb armed with the basics as it is a big investment.
 
This is more of an observation than anything, but it seems to me that the savings on offer from either buying online or in Antwerp have dwindled somewhat. Has anyone any broad comments to make on the current price of diamond rings in Dublin? Have they moderated significantly in the past few years?
We’ve been looking at 0.70-0.75 carat solitaires of D, E or F colour on a platinum band and the quotes I have obtained from Blue Nile and Philipe Harold (who was very prompt with his reply to an online query, credit to him) are better than the Grafton St. bunch, but not by a whole lot. More like a 10-15% saving than the higher figures quoted here sometimes. Which given the disadvantages of buying remotely or online is only a moderate saving.

The Irish jewellers are also relatively reluctant to cut anything off the price, the ticket price seems close to the final figure. One jeweller would knock nothing off a €4000 ring, another would take €100 off. One would reduce a €4700 ring to €4500, but nothing further. The best compromises we had were in Galway, with one jeweller offering to cut 20% off the advertised price, but arguably the ring was fairly over-priced to begin with!

Anyone in the business have an insight? I’ve had a bit of experience in the past few weeks with Paul Sheeran’s, Weir’s, Brereton’s, Weldon’s, and Appleby’s in Dublin, as well Cobwebs, Hartmann’s and Lazlo (all Galway), which is what the above is formed from. Now that I list them out I can’t believe how many we’ve been to..
 
I know the price of diamonds has gone up about 30% in the past few months, due mainly to China buying any good quality diamonds they can get their hands on. Price of gold, platinum, palladium is also ar record highs. I bought a diamond a few months ago and found jewellers more than willing to discount on marked price. Cant imaging the big jewellers listed above would budge too much mainly coz they dont need to.
Got my ring in Corr's Jewellers in Powerscourt Shopping centre in Dublin. found them on the perfectring website which has rings from jewellers across Ireland - may be useful for your serach. Hope this helps.
 
I'll have to moderate my claims in my previous post, when push came to shove Appleby's knocked 20% off the ring we ultimately bought. But as alluded to earlier, this brought it roughly down within range of other jewellers who would not or 'could' not discount further.

We looked at three similar diamond rings in Weldon's, Weir's, and Appleby's. All were of a very similar spec (in terms of the Four Cs). Weldon's and Weir's were priced around €3900 and were unwilling to budge much, and Appleby's at €5000, which they reduced to €4000. As herself preffered this ring we went with it.

I would say this represents the "discount" they offer to employees of some of the "prestigious" law firms. So if you are going into Appleby's aim to take 20% off the ticket price.
 
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