Engagement Ring Advice

[Morning Wood]

Hi CP,

I've been researching/shopping for engagement rings around Calgary for the past few months. I've also recently heard about Internet shopping at sites like bluenile.ca.

I noticed bluenile has much lower prices for similar quality diamond/ring combos from stores here in Calgary. However, with such a big investment (budget 6-10g), I'm skeptical about buying online without ever seeing the diamond and ring in person. Read some mixed reviews on bluenile diamond quality certificates around the web as well.

I'd like to ask what are your experiences with the diamond shops in Calgary (Birks, People's, Spence, etc) as well as bluenile? Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Thanks CP

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by morning wood

hi cp,

i've been researching/shopping for engagement rings around calgary for the past few months. I've also recently heard about internet shopping at sites like bluenile.ca.

I noticed bluenile has much lower prices for similar quality diamond/ring combos from stores here in calgary. However, with such a big investment (budget 6-10g), i'm skeptical about buying online without ever seeing the diamond and ring in person. Read some mixed reviews on bluenile diamond quality certificates around the web as well.

I'd like to ask what are your experiences with the diamond shops in calgary (birks, people's, spence, etc) as well as bluenile? Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Thanks cp

don't

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Morning Wood

Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Duck out now while you still can.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by morning wood

any and all advice would be appreciated.

Run!!! Run as far and as fast as you can!!!

[Puppet Guy]

Engagement rings are a scam.

[topfiverecords]

There was a pretty extensive thread about rings back when I was looking in 2010. I went with bluenile and was very satisfied. I got a way higher quality diamond and a nice ring/setting than I could ever get for the same price at a retail jeweler.
Here's a good read:
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=74543
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=96946
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=71248

[MarchHare]

Here's my advice: marry a woman who thinks that spending $6-10k on a piece of jewelry is a foolish waste of money and would rather you save for a downpayment on your first home instead.

[bomber317]

I purchased the engagement ring from Blue Nile. The wife was ecstatic with the ring quality.

We also shopped at Brinkhaus for our wedding bands, and we were very happy with the price and service. They custom designed our bands to match the engagement ring that I had gotten her.

If you do happen to go with Blue Nile, sign up with Great Canadian Rebates, and you'll get a cash back (I think 1% or 1.5%) when you order.

I'd highly recommend Brinkhaus if you want in city customer service. Bluenile was great to deal with for me, but I had no issues that needed to addressed by them.

[Rathji]

I lucked out and my wife realized that spending a ton of money on such a ring was ridiculous. I think all her rings, engagement, wedding and anniversary band, plus mine ran less than $2k.

[TurdFerguson]

-Spence works really well if you don't have an exact style in mind. So much to choose from...the sales people are happy to just let you browse. I didn't end up purchasing a ring through Spence but I found there selection to be helpful all the same.
-Blue Nile - I looked but never bought. Couldn't get to the comfort level of dropping that amount of coin on something I've never seen. Brother in-law bought through them and seemed happy but had some issues insuring the diamond (not sure what the issue was though).
-Calgary Jewellery - ultimately where I decided to design my ring through and purchase the diamond. All and all a great experience once you can get the attention of a sales rep (seem to turn there nose up at younger people) although I think I probably paid for it.

not sure if any of that helps...

[burn_this_city]

My advice is to go stateside if you want to buy a higher end ring in person. The prices in Calgary and Canada in general are ridiculous. The savings will be more than enough to cover your flight and couple nights accomodation.

Why don't you get something $2-3K and take her on a trip with the rest?

[Regulator75]

[Hockeyguy15]

http://www.ollivers.com/

These guys do good custom rings, very good quality.

Also if she isn't traditional you could also do a different main stone like a ruby, sapphire, emerald and do some smaller accent diamonds.

[Canehdianman]

I looked around at a few different online options (so much cheaper).

I ended up buying mine from Brian Gavin Diamonds.

Fiancee loved it and it was probably 35% cheaper than it would have been in some store here.

[ranchlandsselling]

Costco. Great reviews, decent prices, good quality.

[DownhillGoat]

Besides the advice already given (don't do it, and 10k is better spent on a house down payment ), all I'll say is do not go to Spence. Ever.

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Costco. Great reviews, decent prices, good quality.

Moneysense magazine agrees.

[JiriHrdina]

I bought my wife her ring at Spence and she loves it. I don't know why people don't like Spence - she gets constant comments about how gorgeous it is.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

I looked around at a few different online options (so much cheaper).

I ended up buying mine from Brian Gavin Diamonds.

Fiancee loved it and it was probably 35% cheaper than it would have been in some store here.

+1 for Brian Gavin Diamonds
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/

checkout this forum; it's the CP for diamonds/rings

http://www.pricescope.com/

[Icon]

http://www.whiteflash.com

They were great to deal with and the ring turned out amazing. I found their pricing better than Bluenile / other online stores. And they have a large number of bands to allow you to customize how you want.

At the time I got mine I believe the majority of their diamonds were Canadian as well (not sure if that's still the case or not).