Where is the best place to shop for an engagement ring? Looking for more bang for the buck

Question

my gf and i both believe in having really nice things so her ring should be no exception. I want it to be a thing of beauty but i am in the middle of buying another home. that being said i am not going to be spending as much money as i had planned several months but i still want a beautiful ring.

Answer 1

www.amazon.com

Hands down!

Answer 2

Down town LA in the diamond district.

Answer 3

Believe it or not Costco has great prices, great quality too. Most of their stuff is about half of what you would pay at a jewelers. For example this ring, just slightly smaller than a carat VVS2/F color, talk about top quality, in platinum for $5k, you would pay $4800 for a crappy included ugly diamond from Zales or Kay, huge savings

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.asp...

this is really nice and great price:

http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches...

Answer 4

I would start by selecting your stone.  Look in your area for places like The Diamond Exchange or wholesalers and focus on getting the quality stone of your choice. One poster mentioned pawn shops- don't laugh, you never know if there is a good stone in one of those rings even if the setting is awful. Once you have this you can take it to any number of jewelers to design the setting.  They will charge you based on how much gold (or other metal) is involved as well as the intricacy of the design and any additional accent stones that may be used.

Answer 5

Go to a good jeweler. Take pictures of what she likes and get an estimate. A jeweler will be selling you a better diamond and ring than a retail store for the same price as the retail store.

Find one in wedding magazines, or through family, friends, colleagues.

All the best.

Answer 6

Trust me,local jewelers are not the best way to go..

Buy from online jewelers who sell GIA,AGS,HRD and IGI.EGL is ok but not the best.

Local jewelers sell these diamonds for double and triple their prices to compensate for heir running costs.You can always get the same diamond online for 50-40%(we are talking about saving thousands here).Also online jewelers have good policies that you wont find at a local jeweler.like 30 days return policies.One of the jeweler in this page (James)

http://www.123diamond.co.uk/Online_diamo...

Has also 2 very good policies as well as the 30 days policy which are a 2 years 70% of the price if you want to sell it and lifetime upgrade policy where if you wanted a bigger diamond they will deduct the full diamond price from the new one.

I really recommend James for you they have the best prices,Stock more than 55000 certified diamonds(they are wholesellers),show pictures of the actual diamonds and certs and have really unique rings.

They are based in NY i think.You can also find some discount coupons for different online jewelers in this page here.

http://www.123diamond.co.uk/Diamond-coup...

Answer 7

We got mine at www.overstock.com.  It's all great stuff.  We got my ring, a $3000 value, for about $1000.  And it was way more beautiful in person than in the pictures on line.  Plus they have a great return policy, which is vital when you buy on line.

Answer 8

There are lots of great deals out there right now, in all price ranges. Some which are nice -

http://www.ice.com/AST/Ice/Ice_Primary/P...

http://www.ice.com/AST/Ice/Ice_Primary/P...

http://www.kay.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ser...

http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?p...

http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?p...

Trio sets are nice, includes engagement ring, wedding band, and band for you -

http://www.fredmeyerjewelers.com/Product...

http://www.fredmeyerjewelers.com/Product...

Answer 9

Have you considered buying the ring online? You might think it's risky, but most rings will come with return policies if you don't end up liking it, as well as all the certification you would get from a regular in-store retailer.

My finace and I picked out my ring from brilliantearth.com. It's a Canadian company that has all conflict-free diamonds (not sure if this is important to you or not), and there's no tax or shipping charges, which is an added bonus. And my ring? It's stunning. More beautiful than the ones in the stores, if you ask me. People will stop me on the subway and ask where we got it. It's incredibly clear and sparkles like crazy. BrilliantEarth.com has some amazing settings and the prices are really reasonable. I don't think you would be disappointed at all.

Answer 10

I recommend this site to everyone because they have the best prices and they are a VERY reputable store.  http://bluenile.com/

You might think it's weird to buy a diamond online, but this is one of the best rated sites on the web, and if you read the customer reviews you will see their customer service is excellent.  

My fiance did all his research on this site, and he even called them to ask questions to a real person.

Also, before you buy do LOTS of research so you know what a good quality diamond is and what it's price should be.  http://bluenile.com/ has close to wholesale prices.  The only way to get more affordable diamonds is to buy wholesale, but you need to be good friends with a jeweler to get that type of deal (my engagement ring  diamond and pink sapphires were purchased wholesale from a jeweler friend of my fiance's dad).

Here are some links about diamond education:

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-and-jewe...

http://www.diamondpriceguru.com/shopping...

Good Luck!

Answer 11

go to a pawn shop---- very cheap and most beautiful rings. she wont no the difference. i promise

Answer 12

My fiance got my ring at Kay Jewelers.  They're pretty well priced and you can open up a credit line and pay the ring off.  We also got our wedding bands there.  The sales people are so helpful and the the merchandise is beautiful.

Answer 13

Depending where you are, you can go to the diamond district. They have beautiful rings. I got mine for $700 and its GORGEOUS!!!

Also check zales.com, they are always having sales and they are very reasonable.

Answer 14

I've got your answer!!!!!!!!  My fiance heard so many great things about blue nile.  (it's an online store and all of their diamonds are certified)  Their customer service is spectacular and he (and I) are very pleased.  I recommend them to everyone and I've never heard a negative thing from anyone who has experienced their product, service, or price.  

Buying from them just basically cuts out the middle man....the jewelry stores buy their diamonds then basically mark them up drastically in most cases in order to make money.  With blue nile, there is no middle man and as long as you feel comfortable buying online, you will be beyond pleased.  I have a beautiful ring and received it's specs with the ring as well (clarity, color, etc).  It appraised for just short of double what my fiance paid for it.  

Give them a call and just ask a few questions...see how you feel once getting your feet wet while talking with them.  www.bluenile.com  I guarantee you it will be the best decision you've ever made....(besides getting married! :) )  

Good luck!! and early congratuations......

Answer 15

I don’t know where you are, but if there’s a Shane Co. nearby, go there! http://www.shaneco.com/  I’m probably going go sound like a commercial, but I love this place. They have me as a customer for life.

Everything they offer is very high quality, and they can accommodate any budget. Their service is amazing. Unlike so many jewelry stores, they don’t pay their sales people commission so they have no reason to push to towards something super expensive & they’re equally nice if you’re just browsing or having your ring cleared.

The real value is the after sales service. They 100% guarantee all of their pieces for life. There’s no warranty to buy or maintain. You don’t even have to have regular inspections. (Many warranties are voided if the store doesn’t see your ring every six months or so). They’ll clean my ring any time I want. Service is free. I’m talking tightening prongs, resizing (they’ll do it as often as you want), polishing the metal, is all done at no charge. They even guarantee the two side stones on my ring. If one were ever to fall out and get lost, they’d replace the stone for FREE.

They do all of the work onsite so your pieces aren’t being shipped off.  If they tell you a piece will be done next Tuesday, you know it will be.  Just yesterday, I saw some girl on here complaining that her mall store had promised her ring would be back in a week and a month later it still hasn’t come back from the repair place. At Shane Co. you’ll never have that problem.   They’ve been able to tigten the prongs on my setting in less than an house before, and it has never taken longer than a day to have it done.  

Answer 16

It's hard for someone to say where the best deal is, when most people shop for one engagement ring ever.  I have no idea if I get the best price ever, but I highly recommend Robbins Bros. anyway.  They have been such a pleasure to work with since the beginning (when I wasn't involved), through getting the bands, and keeping my engagement ring maintained (they inspect and polish it for free, in keeping with the insurance agreement).  To me, that's a service you will not get online, but I don't knock it either.  I assumed that's where my [cheap, deal-seeking] husband would get it, but he went for face-to-face service instead.  And I'm sure it was a good deal, or he wouldn't have purchased it.

Answer 17

A good place to buy an engagement ring would be http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rin...

They have very good quality rings and true diamond images for their diamonds so you can compare and actually see the diamond you are buying. Prices are very cheap!

Try and read few of the reviews people write about them. http://www.ivouch.com/jamesallen