Philadelphia has a jewelers row on the 700 block of Sansom Street. I remember going there decades ago and being amazed with all the jewelry stores in one place. What I don't remember is why I was there because I was never close to being engaged.
diamonds
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Philadelphia has a jewelers row on the 700 block of Sansom Street. I remember going there decades ago and being amazed with all the jewelry stores in one place. What I don't remember is why I was there because I was never close to being engaged.
And these are silicone!!! Just sayin'
I busted out laughing........Thanks.
ACORN
Member
It’s going to make an awkward ring!
I got married 3 months ago and my wife said before we got married she wanted to pick out her wedding ring. I found a local jewelry store that had decent pricing and a policy that you had 28 days to return any engagement ring as long as you exchange it for one with equal or greater value. So I bought a simple round diamond ring and I proposed to her and gave her the ring and she looked a bit disappointed, but I then told her she could exchange it for another of equal or greater value. I get a call from her the next day at the jewelry store and she said "how much is our budget for me to get a nicer ring"? I didn't answer and then she said "because the one I really want is $8,000 more". I had just paid for daughters wedding and other expensive things, and I laughed, and she got upset. I said I'll give you two thousand more and she was fine with that, she paid the rest of the money herself.
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LoadedRound
Member
At this point in time, it's hard to argue against lab grown. I've seen some that were absolutely stunning.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
You can't put a price on love! The rings are supposed to be a token of your love, and you can bet someone is appraising the value of your love!
Ivan
Ivan
Diamond are one of the biggest cons on the planet. But, then it is not hard to get people to trade real value for shiny babbles. Witness what the Dutch gave the natives for Manhattan.
If the top 5 diamond holders dumped all their diamonds on the market you could buy nice 1 carat diamonds for very little.
1. ALROSA – 38.5 million carats
2. De Beers – 30.78 million carats
3. Debswana Diamond – 23.3 million carats
4. Rio Tinto Diamonds – 17.03 million carats
5. Dominion Diamond – 6.7 million carats
That is 116 million carats of cut diamond and an average of 130 million carats of rough stones are mined every year
Unless you are a diamond dealer your never going to get your money back on any of them. Most of them are sold a 3 times their whole sale value and their whole sale value is inflated by the big 5
If the top 5 diamond holders dumped all their diamonds on the market you could buy nice 1 carat diamonds for very little.
1. ALROSA – 38.5 million carats
2. De Beers – 30.78 million carats
3. Debswana Diamond – 23.3 million carats
4. Rio Tinto Diamonds – 17.03 million carats
5. Dominion Diamond – 6.7 million carats
That is 116 million carats of cut diamond and an average of 130 million carats of rough stones are mined every year
Unless you are a diamond dealer your never going to get your money back on any of them. Most of them are sold a 3 times their whole sale value and their whole sale value is inflated by the big 5
Any Complaint of price/value
Any Complaint of price/value of any gift should be a warning sign.
Only exception would be " You are spending too much. "
Bekeart
Any Complaint of price/value of any gift should be a warning sign.
Only exception would be " You are spending too much. "
Bekeart
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We have, a personal friend, a Dutch diamond dealer. We have known him for over 30 years.
We trust him completely.
When I buy diamonds from him he sets me up with a private room, adjustable lighting and a set of loupes. I get to examine each and every offering he brings to me.
My methodology is to go in there with a dollar figure in my head. When I tell him what I am thinking is a good price range I go lower than that. When he starts bringing specimens to me I will examine them carefully. Then I ask him to show me 'larger', or 'better quality' until I am happy with what I am seeing.
Then, we negotiate.
It has always been a positive experience.
My daughter and her husband, my son and his wife use him exclusively.
bdGreen
We trust him completely.
When I buy diamonds from him he sets me up with a private room, adjustable lighting and a set of loupes. I get to examine each and every offering he brings to me.
My methodology is to go in there with a dollar figure in my head. When I tell him what I am thinking is a good price range I go lower than that. When he starts bringing specimens to me I will examine them carefully. Then I ask him to show me 'larger', or 'better quality' until I am happy with what I am seeing.
Then, we negotiate.
It has always been a positive experience.
My daughter and her husband, my son and his wife use him exclusively.
bdGreen
GypsmJim
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She got a diamond. It was real and the later appraisals showed that. She DID deserve it. But it was small and that's all we could afford at the time, since we were also in the process of buying our first house.
Now 51 years later she has the same one. Never heard a complaint. In retrospect I have spent a gizzion on guns in the past 51 years, but what she has spent on horses tops the list.
She never complained about the guns, nor did I complain about the horses. Marriage is a joint venture. When times were bad we conserved. When times were good we splurged. It's all about being a team.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
When my then future M-I-L saw the ring for the first time, she squealed and her second reaction was to lightly but menacingly smack her husband! His comment was, "You obviously spent more than I did!" I later told him I had looked very closely at the $125 Diamond chip engagement rings at Service Merchandise!
Ivan
That's a name I haven't heard in ages. I remember seeing the catalog at some relative's house. Are they still in business?
I find that big box stores....
The diamonds are somewhat discolored, usually a little yellow. They ain't bad but they ain't that good. Probably have flaws and inclusions as well. It's good to have a loupe to see the insides. Diamonds are artificially inflated but if you shop around you can get a better one for less. My wife's diamond fell out, so I wanted to get a replacement the same size, but budget was a concern. I shopped around and the best one I could find was good, but had a big inclusion. Well, nobody knows about it except for me.
I really had to guffaw at the ads on TV that said the engagement diamond was an 'investment'. Firstly, no consumer is going to be able to buy a quality diamond at anything like a bargain price. Secondly, who gets an engagement ring planning to sell it later at a profit?
The diamonds are somewhat discolored, usually a little yellow. They ain't bad but they ain't that good. Probably have flaws and inclusions as well. It's good to have a loupe to see the insides. Diamonds are artificially inflated but if you shop around you can get a better one for less. My wife's diamond fell out, so I wanted to get a replacement the same size, but budget was a concern. I shopped around and the best one I could find was good, but had a big inclusion. Well, nobody knows about it except for me.
I really had to guffaw at the ads on TV that said the engagement diamond was an 'investment'. Firstly, no consumer is going to be able to buy a quality diamond at anything like a bargain price. Secondly, who gets an engagement ring planning to sell it later at a profit?
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HOUSTON RICK
Member
Diamonds are a racket. On a move 20+ years ago. my wife took off her engagement ring and unintentionally left it. So much for that. Zirconia.
HOUSTON RICK
Member
Diamonds are a racket. On a move 20+ years ago. my wife took off her engagement ring ordered to her specifications and unintentionally left it. So much for that. Zirconia.
Investment for Three Months Salary
I snipped most of the above quote.
Three Months Salary could better be spent toward a down payment for a house.
If you believe diamonds are an investment, I have some Magic Beans available.
Bekeart
I snipped most of the above quote.
Three Months Salary could better be spent toward a down payment for a house.
If you believe diamonds are an investment, I have some Magic Beans available.
Bekeart
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Would you be willing to take the family cow as a partial trade?
We didn't have to buy any diamonds thank goodness.. our parents gave us our grandparents rings to use... I worked with the jeweler on a custom design that would incorporate both of our families together.. engagement ring got the bigger diamond wedding band got the smaller big diamond... the design interlocked and a special engraving on the inside..
"I love you anyway"
it has set in the vault for years... wife likes variety so she gets a large volume of costume jewelry every holiday...
"I love you anyway"
it has set in the vault for years... wife likes variety so she gets a large volume of costume jewelry every holiday...
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DWalt
Member
There were quite a few of the “Catalog Showroom” store chains operating in the 1980s-90s.I think they are extinct today, at least I have not seen any of them anywhere in a long time. I believe Service Merchandise was the largest such chain back then. Idea was that they would have sample display items on the floor. If you wanted to buy one, you would take a ticket and go to a counter where you would pay, then they would bring you the item(s) and you would take them home.
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DWalt
Member
When our son married in 2000, he was just out of college and had no money. We gave him his deceased grandmother’s (my mother) engagement ring to give to his fiancée. It was a very nice half-carat round cut Diamond ring in an ornate platinum setting, nothing to be ashamed of. Turns out the gal was highly incensed and insulted at the idea that she was being given a hand-me-down ring and let us know it. That was the beginning of a terrible marriage. We barely spoke with her the whole time they were together, only around six years. Which was six years too long. We didn’t attempt to get that ring back. Did not even want it back after she had it. She’s nearly 50 now, she never found another man who would put up with her for very long. Don’t know if she still has the ring.
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