Best Engagement Ring Places

This is just my suggestion, and I think some of my fellow bbs'ers who have been married will back me up on this one.

Run.

 

What he said...

Good for you...What was that crazy commercial, 1 months salary...BS...Go to a pawn shop...If that doesn't work, I can't remember the name, but there is a place off of Westhiemer, actually near Treasure's in an office building that has good quality stuff...My girlfriends always raved about this place...I'll try to find out the name of the place...

 

Big step in your life. Good Luck with everything.

 

i'm not big on spending money on a engagement ring, but why not propose to her w/o a ring. if she happily says yes, then you can buy a ring. the way i see it, if she says yes, she's worth it. if she says no, you've saved yourself the trouble. besides, if she does say yes, that shows she's not so hung up on something as trivial as an engagement ring and that your love means that much more.

 

Robbins Bros is a place I hear a lot about, it's off of 610 and Westheimer area.

As for asking her first w/o a ring...that means you will spend more on the ring than you would if you get it w/o her.

Good luck and congrats!

 

I looked at Robbins Bros a couple years ago (although not in Houston). They have good customer service and are a really nice place, but for me they were quite pricey. I ended up going to a smaller "family owned" store and got the same ring for about 50% of the cost. Although I took a risk in doing so, the quality did not suffer, but I could see some smaller stores ripping you off so you have to be careful.

 

Just out of curiousity, how much does a decent engagement ring cost?

 

Your life

 

http://www.blacktable.com/bruno031030.htm

Good luck with it. I know several guys that just discussed it with their GFs. They have to wear it, they might as well like it.

I didn't do an engagemnet ring, I had a necklace that my father gave my mother when they were broke and she gave it to me to give to my wife. My wife's wedding ring was a stone that has passed through 4 generations of my family.

 

First off CONGRATS!!!

I was really into the engagement ring thing about a year ago.. I spent a lot of time doing my homework and even took a very basic online class from GIA..

After having a good understanding of what to look for or just looking for info and a better understanding check out PRICE SCOPE the FORUM there is extremely helpful also..

You can do many things when buying a ring... buy a preset ring, work with a jeweler and pick out the stone then mount it in one of their settings or you can even design your own ring from scratch and have a jeweler make it..

For me I knew what my fiancé would like in my head (after getting a idea of what she would like) so I spent many months first looking for the right center stone, I did this by looking at inventory online and in person. After I had the right stone I worked with a jeweler to design the setting after I was happy with the way it looked (They do this with a wax type of mold) The stone was set and I was finished..

Some advise..

Stay away from 90% of major chain brick and mortar stores the mark up is unreal and most of the stones are utter crap.. Even on a small budget you can get a much better ring by shopping around than buying their trash..

If you are looking for a good stone and size/color/clarity/cut/proportion/symmetry/fluoresces (depending on the stone)/table and depth ratio are important to you try to go with a reputable certification (GIA/AGS) The European labs (EGL) are very shaky with their grading, but you can find deals on some.. Stay away from anything with a IGI cert they are not worth the paper they are printed on..

Try to find out what your fiancé will like in a ring or if you want it to be a total surprise try to keep it simple (tiffany setting) or propose and tell her you want her to help pick it out

Jewelry salesmen use the same tactics car salesmen do, don’t let them pressure you into buying something you are not happy with..

You can get major discounts 3-5% if you pay for jewelry by a bank wire at SOME jewelry stores and even some online stores.

Diamonds are an odd thing, don’t let people tell you they have a guy in some other country that can get you diamonds really cheap.. DIAMONDS ARE ROUGHLY THE SAME PRICE IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD.. If it’s too good to be true it most likely is..

Don’t buy any diamonds labeled at (Clarity Enhanced) these stones are fracture filled stones they are junk, they chip and break very easy..

A good place to buy loose ROUND stones in Houston is The Jewelry Source, but most of their settings aren’t that great IMO.. They carry lots of EGL certs, but they will negotiate on price quite a bit..

A good place in Houston to buy custom settings is White Flash, they can also pull just about any diamond off the net for viewing.. This is the only place in Houston that I would recommend for a one stop shop that you can go custom..

Also one of the few honest one stop shops in town that are a major chain is Tiffany and Ben Bridge...

Good online vendors (I highly recommend looking online for stones)
Can all be found from the pricescope link above
A good online vendor will send you photos of the stone and their certs so you can be sure what you will be getting..

Good designers
Harry Winston
Daniel Koren

FYI: Halo settings are all the rage right now, but IMO they will stay in fashion as long as shag carpet did..

I know this may seem like a lot of info, but after doing your homework you will understand the market better and will be more informed to make a solid purchase..

Here’s the ring I designed BTW, I’ll be getting married February 08... GOOD LUCK!

 

^^uhh, you know way too much about rings for a dude.

 

I got mine at the Diamon Jewelry Factory on Westheimer near Voss.

Ask for Fred - he is very good.

They used to do all the Oiler's jewelry and i saw Earl Cambell while I was there. he was picking up some stuff. I also met some guy from Apollo 10? Apparently he is a regular there too.

Warren Moon uses them as well and invited the owner to Canton this summer.

Their prices are competitive and they take very good care fo you... i know it looks ghetto on the outside, but I have had no regrets about going there.

I had a custom ring made and it was a very demanding design. They did a great job.

 

Get two rings, one really cheap one and a really nice one. When you ask her to marry you, give her the cheap ring and tell her that you really can't afford a nice ring for her right now. If she starts complaining about how you gave her a cheap ring, dump her greedy, gold digging ass right there on the spot. If she still she still loves you even though you said you couldn't get her a nice ring, then give her the good ring.

 

what about a pearl necklace? would that work?

 

Rox_fan_here, thanks for the complement! As for price I'd rather not say, but understand that diamond prices are determined by MANY different factors.. You need to decide what is important to you Size/Color/Clarity.. Each one of these factors can cause a huge +/- impact on the final price of the stone.. Try to think of all these factors as individual stocks that makeup a portfolio, they can all go up and down independently to form the final outcome (price)..

 

like how many Africans die to retrieve it?

 

Look up Diamond cutters international and ask for Rick Cantone.

http://www.diamondcuttersintl.com/


This guy is great. We bought our wedding bands from him and he treated us like we were buying a 10 karat stone. He is here in Houston right by the galleria. If you are a sports fan you will be blown away by their office. He does a lot of the championship rings so he has pictures with every celeb you can ever imagine. Also he recently got into custom jewelry for those big rap star chains. A lot of people who have won rings got o him after seeing his work and get stuff done. You can honestly listen to him talk about jewelry forver he has so many stories.

All I can say he is the classiest guy I have went to in regards to jewelry.
Tell him Shervin Joseph sent you.