Spence Diamonds

[jam26]

Originally Posted by Marvelous

- Spence sells tries to sell you more on sparkle than weight (Their radio ads even say so) however diamonds have more value when on or above the 1/4 carat weights. Check out Bluenile prices on diamonds that weigh 0.98 kt versus one that weighs 1.00 kt. Spence will try to sell the 0.98 kt at the 1.00kt price.

This is a good point. I was recently told by a jeweler that there's a large step-up in price when you hit 1 carat. A .97 or .98 carat diamond will look like a full carat to the human eye, but you will save a substantial amount of money.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by jam26

This is a good point. I was recently told by a jeweler that there's a large step-up in price when you hit 1 carat. A .97 or .98 carat diamond will look like a full carat to the human eye, but you will save a substantial amount of money.

This is true.

When you go off the 1/4 carat scale (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, etc) you can get a better deal as well.

I'll probably check ut blue nile or diamond exchange for my next major jewellery purchase, but I do still highly recommend Calgary Jewellery for those who like me who like their hands held!

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by Shazam

I bought my wife's engagement ring from Blue Nile. Much better price than what I could find around here. I got the wedding ring done at Calgary Jeweler's. The jeweler there was quite impressed with the quality of the stone, and was stunned when I told her how much I paid for it.

I couldn't find anything at Spence that was F-color without them ordering it, and they were horribly expensive to boot.

That's great to hear. I was really contemplating going through them.

How fast did they get it to you?

[Sylvanfan]

I'd also like to know if you had to pay any duties or had any shipping hastles with Blue Nile. I let my than fiancee's emotions sway me waaay too much when I bought her ring. I didn't get hosed, but I could have got a better deal, and that will bug me to the grave. I can remember telling her that I thought I could buy her something better for less if we used Blue Nile, but than I had to hear the whole if I can't see it I don't know if I'll like it.....But come on, if the certificate is from one of the two certifiable gemological institutes that should tell you all you need to know if you know what you're looking for. Plus I thought Blue Nile did warrant the stuff they sell. Maybe I'll try and sell it back to Spence and try to replace it with a better one from Blue Nile and pocket the savings for myself!!! I wish.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

That's great to hear. I was really contemplating going through them.

How fast did they get it to you?

I think it was about one or two weeks. The price they give you includes all taxes and duty, so there's no surprises when you receive it.

If you want, you can get just the diamond from them and get a ring for it here. The actual rings are pretty competitive price wise here in town.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I'd also like to know if you had to pay any duties or had any shipping hastles with Blue Nile. I let my than fiancee's emotions sway me waaay too much when I bought her ring. I didn't get hosed, but I could have got a better deal, and that will bug me to the grave. I can remember telling her that I thought I could buy her something better for less if we used Blue Nile, but than I had to hear the whole if I can't see it I don't know if I'll like it.....But come on, if the certificate is from one of the two certifiable gemological institutes that should tell you all you need to know if you know what you're looking for. Plus I thought Blue Nile did warrant the stuff they sell. Maybe I'll try and sell it back to Spence and try to replace it with a better one from Blue Nile and pocket the savings for myself!!! I wish.

I guarantee you you can find a better diamond on Blue Nile and still save money over what you paid at Spence. Also, I trust the GIA report from Blue Nile about a 100X more than that worthless in-house "assessment" Spence gives you.

[Reaper]

Considering what I spent, the low level of hassle involved in picking the designs and the quality of the stone I would have to say I was pleased with my whole experience at Spence. My wife (then girlfriend) gave me a $1000 limit on her engagement ring so when I spent a little more for 18K white gold she wasn't upset at the $200 overage. I went and picked out her engagement ring and stone by myself. The ring turned out to be exactly what she wanted so I was hired . We also got our wedding bands at Spence to match her engagement ring. Overall, a pretty positive experience.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by Gundo

Brownie: It shouldnt matter how much you spend on the ring, your asking her to marry you, not the jewelery. But that being said most women do like big sparkly jewelery, the ring I bought when I asked my wife to marry me set me back $4900

Originally Posted by Fobulous

As for how much you should spend.. I have heard things like three months salary... but I am pretty sure my girlfriend would have killed me if I had done that... so I guess it is based on the girl.

I agree with these comments. For mine, we bought it out from a shop in Vancouver (while I was back in Calgary, and then moved out east).

I got the band custom made, which cost me a bit more in $$ and time but was well worth it for us. We get continual compliments on it, so my wife likes it. Anyways, my point? It really depends on the girl - what they like, what they think etc. I have friends whose wife told him back then to not get anything big and expensive b/c it will overwhelm her finger and that she was marrying him, not the ring. But I've also had a friend who got the big money/big ring for the girl....they are just like that though; its what they like.

Originally Posted by fredr123

The groom-to-be doesn't get jack out of the whole wedding thing. Nobody goes to a wedding to see the groom, you end up paying for everything, your clothes are rented for crying out loud and you can only get so excited for choosing china patterns.

Well I agree with most of that, fredr, but....we had costs split around everywhere - me, her, my parents, her parents, grandparents, ..... guess I suckered in everybody pretty good !

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I actually found that Costco had good prices, but you have to take what they have there in store.

Yeah, it seems like it...I had a friend say that when they were looking. But I believe like was said, you have to basically go with what they have.

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

As for diamonds in general, the one parameter you do not want to sacrifice on is the cut. That is what will give it's sparkle (or "fire"), which at the end of the day, is the only thing that anyone notices anyways.

Colour and clarity are arbitrary, and you can get away with going lower on these two parameters - which will get you a bigger diamond for your money. For example, if you go for an ideal cut diamond with SI1 clarity and around G-H colour, you can probably get a decent sized gem for your budget.

When you start demanding high clarity or colour, you will have to pay big dollars for it, and will not necessarily enjoy the benefits of the upgrade. That is, of course, unless you are going really BIG - clarity and colour are noticable then, but if you are going big you can probably afford to pay for the upgrades required for a nice looking diamond.

Originally Posted by jam26

This is a good point. I was recently told by a jeweler that there's a large step-up in price when you hit 1 carat. A .97 or .98 carat diamond will look like a full carat to the human eye, but you will save a substantial amount of money.

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

This is true.

When you go off the 1/4 carat scale (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, etc) you can get a better deal as well.

I also agree with these 3 sets of comments. Really, for most people, you don't need to quabble too too much over carat size (that is the ballpark of the size you are looking at), the clarity/colour/etc stuff mentioned earlier, etc.

Have some basic parameters, but I found just having them provide me with different combinations (colour, size, clarity etc etc) worked great for me...until I basically found the right combo of everything that worked well for me.

I bolded the part above because I think that is a big part of things...be careful getting caught up in the specifics b/c there is not a huge amount of noticable difference to the naked eye...basically little to none for those not trained in looking at diamonds.

Hence, is it really worth it to pay that extra so that a trained jewller looking under a microscope will notice some imperfections, or can you get a better all-round deal when you, your wife and anybody walking down the street wouldn't be able to tell the difference?

[Bobblehead]

Keep an eye out for Federal Auctions. They hold an auction on the middle day of every long weekend. If you have an idea of what you are looking for then you may score a good deal. (I'm always looking for a nice watch, but the opening bid is always the same as my top end bid)

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Shazam

I guarantee you you can find a better diamond on Blue Nile and still save money over what you paid at Spence. Also, I trust the GIA report from Blue Nile about a 100X more than that worthless in-house "assessment" Spence gives you.

I just looked for fun....And I can buy a bigger diamond with the same colour and a better clarity rating for a substantial savings...Now I have to figure out how to knock the wife out cold for about a week so she doesn't notice.

Learn from my mistakes people!!! Use Blue Nile, it's well worth your while!

[The Goon]

So I'm guessing no one has tried the ol' switcheroo with Cubic Zirconia?

[Indi]

bought my wifes engagement ring at costco.....about 6 months later took it in to get appraised for insurance, I told the guy how much I paid for it...he refused to appraise it because he said the diamond was to perfect for that price

[simmer2]

I'm going to pretend I never read this thread....maybe I'll read it again in a year or two...

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by simmer2

I'm going to pretend I never read this thread....maybe I'll read it again in a year or two...

Use the force Luke, Use the Force!

[Tron_fdc]

What's this 2 month thing? I was told FOUR!?!?!? Talk about getting DUPED.

I was also told having a huge rock is a deterrant. Supposedly dudes will lay off if they see a massive rock, as opposed to something you get in a cracker jack box. Dunno about that one though, I think having a husband who works out every day, and has a tripod should be deterrant enough!

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

What's this 2 month thing? I was told FOUR!?!?!? Talk about getting DUPED.

I was also told having a huge rock is a deterrant. Supposedly dudes will lay off if they see a massive rock, as opposed to something you get in a cracker jack box. Dunno about that one though, I think having a husband who works out every day, and has a tripod should be deterrant enough!

Ah yes, but when she's out on her own, other guys don't know you have a tripod. Other guys would however think she was a gold digger if she has a big rock, and probably stay clear.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by fredr123

We got our wedding bands from Goldsmith's. They were awesome. The engagement ring I got from Spence's didn't have a band to go with it but it was an odd shape. The good poeple at Goldsmith's made a custom platinum band that matched perfectly with the engagement ring. Looks like a set.

In hindsight, I actually wish I would have gone to them for the engagement ring too. Of course that's only because I'm a lot more confident having gone through the learning process and understanding a lot more about diamonds and the like (thanks to Spence).

We got our rings done at the Goldsmith's too and were really happy with the service and quality.

FWIW We paid a little more to get a Canadian diamond and are really happy with the quality, plus how can you be sure that a diamond from Africa hasn't been involved in some nasty ****.

Although the website is down at the moment, Peter Kangas of Kangas Jeweler's was by far, the best place I went to when i was shopping around. Extremely professional, one on one consultations, custom designs, decent price for the quality and service and CANADIAN DIAMONDS.

I went in there with an idea and a couple of pictures. He drew and rought sketch, then i went in a few weeks later and he had created a ring out of some metal with a glass diamond so that I coudl see the design before he actually built it. Then we picked out diamonds. He has a wide variety fitting any budget. Then he built it and had me in for the 'showing'. Top quality work!!!

He supplies all relevant documentation concerning the diamond and the ring itself including appraisal values and a digital photo for insurance purposes.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Ah yes, but when she's out on her own, other guys don't know you have a tripod. Other guys would however think she was a gold digger if she has a big rock, and probably stay clear.

Or they would think that because she's a gold digger, she has no emotional attachment and is up for anything. See? Expensive ring theory SHOT DOWN

[Beefcake]

I had a horrible experience at Spence. The guy helping me was great at first, completely educating me on the 4 C's, but then when I told him I needed some time to think about it, he turned into the sleazy salesman, and kept pushing me to put down a fully refundable deposit on a stone that matched what I thought I might want (based on 4 C's and price). He was relentless, and in the end I buckled. I called in the next day to use my "full refund on the deposit" option, and he gave me a "fine". 30 days later, I don't have the refund on my credit card. I call back, and my sales guy has since quit. The girl on the phone says she'll take care of it. 30 days later, still no refund. I call back, and the girl I talked to was off on extended stress-leave. Now I'm 1 day past the 60 day deposit refund period, and the manager says I couldn't get my money back. It took a letter from my lawyer threatening legal action before they returned my money.

Beyond all the above, I really, really hate their radio ads, and will definitely not be using them for any/all of my future engagements :-)