Engagement Rings

Tiffany or not to Tiffany?

Tiffany have a nice ring 0.71 of a caret for $8800... Happy to pay this, and it is an amazing diamond, but for this sort of $$$ I could easily get above 1 Carat at other jewellers...

Is the Tiffany factor (brag factor lol) worth this much???...I am a bloke so dont know what it is like when woman get talking about their rings etc :)

Tiffany also talk about how they only accept awesome cut diamonds, with good colour etc etc...Is this all hype (ie. can find equally high standard diamonds at other places without the brand name price?)...

cheers, Jacob
 
I'm sure you could find an equal or better quality diamond ring for maybe half that price, maybe less, but Tiffany is a nice name. But if she really likes that brand, like at least most women do, then it's probably a nice choice.

You know however, that unless you buy her presents worth at least that much, every year, for the rest of your life, you're probably gonna hear stuff like "He used to buy me nice things...." and probably said with this expression: :(
 
yeah Lizzie, think the diamond market is the biggest scam going around!!! Second hand diamonds worth ~1/4 of new price... WOuldnt feel comfortable in getting a second hand ring though, and guess that is why there is the drop off :-(

mmm, it is a nice name - but it is just that!!! might do some more shopping around

lol Vincenzo, I will by her nice things......like houses haha :)
 
buy a diamond - ask her to help you design the ring to her liking. Will probably cost a lot less and end up better quality. Also remember it's not always about size - clarity, colour and cut also make a difference to price.
 
Jacob, you really need to answer this yourself as we don't know your fiancee. Is she into brand names and designer stuff? Myself personally, no, not really big into it and wouldn't justify spending that on a ring. If my fiancee was really wealthy, then yes, I'd probably like something like that, but if you're both in early stages of investing and you'd be using a good chunk of savings, then no, I wouldn't want that type of ring. However, as you say, some girls do want and expect something like that. I agree jewellery is a rip off, and you can look nice and buy nice stuff without ridiculous price tags.

Goodluck! :)
 
That price just to say it is from Tiffany is a complete rip-off.

Try a manufacturing jeweller or buy a loose diamond or a ring from a pawn shop and have it reset. I'm not sure I'd want to wear someone else's "engagement ring" but the diamond, reset into my own style would be perfectly acceptable to me, especially if it is twice the size of the Tiffany one.

But as Biggles said, it all depends on your fiance's feelings about it. I couldn't give a toss about brands but some woman do.
 
Have you sounded her out about what she really wants?

My girl raved about Tiffany's but she didn't want so much money spent on a ring especially considering the insane "wedding tax". I got the ring elsewhere and a couple years later I took her to Tiffany's for an anniversary present.

Have another friend deadset on spending heaps on a ring, all the while she hopes he won't spend too much. Today's women are smart and know it would go a long way towards a house deposit.
 
Go to bluenile.com (diamond wholesaler from US) and order from them. Fantasic value and service. I know many wont like not physcially looking at the diamond however I purchased my partners ring from them and couldnt rate them highly enough.
 
bought mine at the pawn shop. cost $400 for half a carat.

Good avice lizzie :). We have found some incredible bargains at Cash Converters & pawn shops over the last few years.

Given that retail % margins at jewellery shops are in the order of 300%, we can't justify paying for their profits and shopping centre rents etc.

After a couple of months of wear & tear that brand new shiny one looks pretty much like the ones in the pawn shop's window anyway. But I also understand the desires of the young bride to be to have a brand new, never been worn, bauble.
 
thanks for the advice guys...will look a little wider i think...

funny you say you purchased over the net Andrew, was talking to a mate at work who actually flew directly to South Africa and purchased the diamond from the Mine!!! Money saved on diamond paid for a nice holiday to africa for him and the fiancee!!! Dont think i will go to that extreme though haha
 
Tiffany or not to Tiffany?

Tiffany have a nice ring 0.71 of a caret for $8800... Happy to pay this, and it is an amazing diamond, but for this sort of $$$ I could easily get above 1 Carat at other jewellers...

Is the Tiffany factor (brag factor lol) worth this much???...I am a bloke so dont know what it is like when woman get talking about their rings etc :)

Tiffany also talk about how they only accept awesome cut diamonds, with good colour etc etc...Is this all hype (ie. can find equally high standard diamonds at other places without the brand name price?)...

cheers, Jacob
That's a very high price to pay for a point 0.71 rock,depending on the weight and size and how clear the stone is,in 1980 a 1 Carat diamond was around 5-6k,at any police auction in any city in Australia you only
pay less then 1k and below,and i know this for a fact because i have been buying them for the last 15 years, the last one a few weeks ago was one central i.2 carat,plus 4 smaller stones marquise style stone for 940 dollars,plus 12 bp,and that is bidding against the gold and diamond second hand dealers so that give you an idea on value,but a word of warning i have several scan that i run over the diamonds prior to putting my hand up at the auctions and some of the fakes that are out there will still scan up as real but in fact they are fakes,nothing worse then standing next to someone at the auctions who has not done their homework and they pay 600 bucks for a 9carat:rolleyes::rolleyes: gold high grade silver ring with a cubiczic speck of glass,btw it also helps if your Lady has a small fingers small diamond look big on small fingers,well that's what i always tell the boss:)..imho..willair..
http://www.pt.qld.gov.au/files/files/auctions/100628wse.pdf
 
When Rob and I were buying our wedding rings, it was difficult because we use different sizing guides. We use numbers and Australia use letters.
We ended up getting the correct size.

Finding that conversion chart, 8 years ago was a challenging, and the jewellry stores here weren't too much help.
 
whats the other specifics of that ring?? i.e. cut, colour and clarity??

could be 1 carat but its not so great if its an N colour with a Si2 clarity...thats why you see really cheap 1 carat diamonds being advertised for sale by those bigger jewellery chains (like Shiels or Zamels - i'm in Adelaide)....because although the size of the diamond is 1 carat, the colour, cut and clarity is pretty crappy.

dont always focus on the size of the diamond....you'll get more reflections and a much better quality diamond if you go smaller but the other 3 C's are higher up on the scale.

agreed with going to a manufacturer/wholesaler instead of a retail store or even Tiffany's....what you can do is take a Tiffany design and take it to the manufacturer to have made...you'll most definitely get a better quality diamond for alot less i would say.
 
hmm i've also been searching for a while for a great diamond, just waiting for one to pop up on one of these two sites. IMO, wayy cheaper than purchasing from here, and they sell diamonds with some of the rarest optics. For me it will be anything over .83ct to .9ct, g or below, none to faint fluorescence, no lower than a si1, and must be eye clean, not too much clouds or feathers near the girdle, not too thin or a too thick guirdle and a perfect cut.

If your not afraid of purchasing from os, (many from Aus have and are very very happy) i'd suggest these two stores:

www.goodoldgold.com
or
www.whiteflash.com (the ACA diamonds will be a guarantee of a perfect stone)

otherwise also pop into www.pricescope.com and check out the forums.

This tool also may come in handy for the elimination process of potential dud diamonds made by Gary (Holloway Diamonds here in Melbourne)

http://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp

anything below a 2 will be halfway there to a great cut diamond.

Good Luck and be careful, there are a lot of stooges out there!!!
 
Google Aussie Mikes in Dubai.

An Australian jewler who does fantastic deals in Dubai, but also has a shop in Sydney somewhere. Will design you a ring which you want for quite cheap.

Paid $1600 for fiances wedding ring which has 11 stones, equalling close to 1 carat, and he made my yellow, white gold ring for $800. Both needed to be designed.

Roachy
 
Try WWW.BIDZ.COM


Disclaimer: I own BIDZ shares (unfortunately)

Tiffany or not to Tiffany?

Tiffany have a nice ring 0.71 of a caret for $8800... Happy to pay this, and it is an amazing diamond, but for this sort of $$$ I could easily get above 1 Carat at other jewellers...

Is the Tiffany factor (brag factor lol) worth this much???...I am a bloke so dont know what it is like when woman get talking about their rings etc :)

Tiffany also talk about how they only accept awesome cut diamonds, with good colour etc etc...Is this all hype (ie. can find equally high standard diamonds at other places without the brand name price?)...

cheers, Jacob
 
To get a grasp on current market values for diamonds, check the Melbourne Diamond exchange!

http://www.diamondexchange.com.au/tray/index.php?main_page=diamond_search


I'm going to guess that is a PRINCESS cut rock, as a high quality brilliant cut of that weight would cost around $5000 wholesale. I could be assuming wrong of course, but from my experience the retail margin is usualy MUCH MUCH higher.

For example - we found the engagement ring she wanted in a retail store with a ticket price of $13,990.
- 0.78 carrat, brilliant (round), E colour, SI1, very high quality cut
- 18ct white gold
- 0.5 carrat worth of extra "side" stones


.... so we took some "covert" pics of the ring in the store window, and took them to a wholesale jeweller. We ended up getting the whole thing made for under $8000 with the following specs:
- 0.76 carrat, brilliant, D colour, VS1, hearts & arrows (best cut)
- platinium
- 0.6ct of side stones


So yeah - definitely worth going wholesale IMO! Also definitely worth going platinium if you were thinking of a white gold ring as well - the price difference of platinum vs gold is not as much these days due to high gold price, its a harder metal and thus is harder wearing, and it doesnt need regular rhodium plating like white gold does to maintain a beautiful shine... just a quick polish will do.


I would NEVER buy jewellery retail again.
 
I agree with the other suggestions of buying a diamond and having it designed.

I went through a diamond broker in Melb CDB and paid $3700 for .75 crts D colour with a 24crt gold band about 4 years ago. Even if the lady is in to labels, jewellery doesn't usually have the designers logo emblazoned on it so apart from opening a little blue box and telling people its tiffany, down the track this will wear off.

Use the spare money elsewhere...
 
Tiffany's ring? Depends if your girlfriend is into brands or not.

IMO I'd rather get better value for the same money. Or same value for less money :D

Find out the 4 C's of the Tiffany ring. Information about 4 C's here:
http://www.diamondexchange.com.au/education/cut.shtml

Best to compare the Tiffany's ring to others of similar specs, then you decide if it's worth paying the 'Tiffany' factor.

Here's a start, as mine is similar to the Tiffany's one you quoted:
Carat - 0.7
Cut - Round brilliant, excellent grade
Colour - D
Clarity - VS1
Cost (the 5th 'C') - $4200 (family rates, aunt is jeweller). This included the setting and 8 small diamonds on the band.

ringcompressed.jpg


Good luck, it is an exciting time for you and your future fiance (assuming she will say yes :))
 
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