Jewellry Stores

[BCGirl]

Does anyone have any favorite jewellry stores where they purchased engagement rings/bands for their other half? If so, which stores, and how did you find the quality of rings based on price? Good,bad? How was customer guarantee for coverage of the ring?
Im looking for places to consider and places to stay away from so any references welcome!

Thanks in advance!

[THE SCUD]

I would avoid stores that have signs spelt "Jewellry".

I hear Spence Diamonds will give you your money back if you return the ring, any time.

That'd do it for me, as a guy - Spence all the way.

[TylerSVT]

Caret Patch was my favorite, the guy who owns the place has been there forever and knows his stuff, they do custom rings.

Go to Spence Diamonds to get an idea of what you like/want to spend.

Source your diamond online at Bluenile.ca

Unless you like the bands on blue nile than just buy it online.

Lots of ring threads on this board.

[hungryhun]

Costco all the way! My wife STILL gets complements 9yrs later on how beautiful her ring is....

I would stay away from Spence simply because of their annoying commercials! I turn off the radio every time their ad comes on...

[Nage Waza]

I purchased my diamond alone and then had the ring done elsewhere, based on a photo in some magazine. It was appraised at nearly three times what I paid. If you have the contacts go this route.

[DownhillGoat]

My first suggestion is don't bother.

However, since you asked: Breseller & Warren was good to deal with and good prices too.

Had a nightmare of an experience at Spence. Will never set foot in the door again, and suggest avoiding it to anyone who's looking to buy a ring.

[Mightyfire89]

I wish I'd thought of the concept of the jewelry store, such a sucker play and people just continue to play along and spend their hard earned money on boring, useless hunks of metal and rocks. It is a truly amazing thing.

I'm aware this post is pretty much the furthest thing from helpful.

[chalms04]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Krack Korn

I'm aware this post is pretty much the furthest thing from helpful.

This post is now diamonds.

[bomber317]

I got my fiancée's engagement ring on Bluenile.ca

They were helpful, the diamond is beautiful, and no complaints about the setting or the price. Shipping was overnight I believe.... or 2 days with tracking and no need to clear customs and they do all the paperwork. I also used great canadian rebates to get another 3% cashback.

For our wedding bands, we went to Brinkhaus because we wanted to do a custom band to match her ring that bluenile does not make any more.

The staff that we're dealing with (Jim) has been awesome with us and surprisingly not as expensive as we thought it would be.

AND they have awesome watches there.

[red sky]

I would definitely look online. With the strength of the loonie I would even look in the states. I used since1910.com and would definitely recommend them. Saved a ton of cash. There is also solomonbrothers.com as well.

[VladtheImpaler]

Moneysense magazine recommends Costco.

[LChoy]

www.bluenile.ca (online, very popular and good value)
www.brilliantearth.com (My financee is a enviro girl, so she liked them. a bit more than blue nile, but diamonds are Canadian and she likes how they give a portion of their proceeds to maintain environmental sustainability to the Canadian Northern communities the diamonds are mined from)
www.abdiamond.ca/ (on 17th ave, diamond wholesaler. Very good customer service, diamond dealers)

A diamond purchaser/wholesaler can be cheaper than getting it from a commission store. Diamonds are traded at an international standard, so the base price shouldn't change very much. Several vendors confirmed that their profit margin on a diamond is between 10-15%.

In terms of coverage, if you buy it from a store, they generally sell warrenty and insurance for the diamond/ring. Online stores don't usually have such things. However, it is recommended that you get the gem independently appraised. Blue Nile and Brilliant Earth have a trade up program though, so if in 5 years you wish to trade up, they will take your diamond and give you a new one for the different in price (gems generally don't depreciate in value much).

Do your homework, especially with online dealers. The ones I listed are excellent, but you still want to learn the 4 Cs so you can properly choose what you want. Don't be afraid to buy the diamond and ring separately.

My 2 cents, cut > caret is you have too choose (ie more shiny vs physically heavier stone)

[mykalberta]

+2 Bluenile

+1 Costco if you dont like ordering online.

[iggyformayor]

I went to Birks. I know, it's quite expensive, but the quality of the ring as well as the level of service I received was exceptional. We also just received the custom wedding band that we designed there and it turned out great. Definitely recommend them.

[TylerSVT]

Also, Costco only gives you an IGI report whereas bluenile gives GIA reports which are much more in depth and accurate for color and cut. I found when i went to look at diamonds at Costco that they were reasonably priced, but the settings were often hit and miss and sometimes they looked odd.

Personally i was looking at .80ct princess cut solitaires for my girlfriend and found bluenile to be about 2-3 grand cheaper in the long run.

My plan was to source the diamond online from blue nile and then get a jewler to set it in a custom setting. You have to be carful with this though, as often jewlers will not warranty diamonds if they chip during the setting process... its what you gotta do though if you want a custom ring.

[Fobby]

We got our wedding band custom made at Cullinan Jewelry on Center street. The custom made band for the wife was made with vss2 diamonds and ended up costing less then a similar ring from spence/michael hill which only offered vs diamonds.

For mine, we combined a couple designs from a book to make a custom made band, also costing less then ordering from the book without the customization.

Ed is a gemologist, so he will do the appraisal of your ring as well.

I purchased the ring from spence, and I would never do it again. To me, going to spence is like me going to futureshop to buy a computer if that makes any sense.

[TylerSVT]

Note: Anything over VS2 cannot be seen by the human eye, so many people like to stay at VS2-VS1.

[Bigtime]

I went to Brinkhaus to purchase my wife's engagement ring. Excellent service and very attentive staff.

[You Need a Thneed]

I like Martin Jewellery in Sunridge Mall. Good Service, good prices. I don't even look at other jewellery stores, for the times that I do go, I know that prices will be higher, and I'd be less happy.

[Eric Vail]

I bought at Charm at Southcentre and found their diamonds were a much better price/quality than the other stores.