Wedding rings

mpledge52 said:
a1ex2001 and FF - I'd much rather go to a physical shop and try on varying styles etc, but unless you know of any reasonably priced ones I'd rather deal with the hassle of returning/re-sizing it from an online place and save £££'s. Unless it's local (which it probably wont be as I've looked at all the ones in town), getting any alterations will be just as much of a ballache as returning it online!

I definitely don't want something very shiny, nor am I good at keeping things in good nick (you should see my watch :o), so I'm definitely veering towards 9k white gold, or an alternative. I certainly don't have the pockets for platinum.
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Go to a local jeweller, avoid the chains with there heft markups, you don't have to buy just get an idea and prices and you may well land up very surprised how reasonable a local jeweller can be.
 
Don't just look in local stores whether they are chain or independent, see if there are goldsmiths in your area.
My family has used a guy in his 70s in a back street loft room who has been a goldsmith his entire life, he can make you anything you want and for considerably cheaper than high street prices.
 
We have titanium with a band of 18ct yellow gold, mine is 6mm and wife's is 4mm, got them from John Greed Jewellery. We had this combo because we also had similar before we got together and had them as friendship rings, still wear them and they wear really well, and wife's looks great against her traditional 18ct yellow gold diamond engagement ring.
 
mpledge52 said:
a1ex2001 and FF - I'd much rather go to a physical shop and try on varying styles etc, but unless you know of any reasonably priced ones I'd rather deal with the hassle of returning/re-sizing it from an online place and save £££'s. Unless it's local (which it probably wont be as I've looked at all the ones in town), getting any alterations will be just as much of a ballache as returning it online!

I definitely don't want something very shiny, nor am I good at keeping things in good nick (you should see my watch :o), so I'm definitely veering towards 9k white gold, or an alternative. I certainly don't have the pockets for platinum.
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I'll send you a trust email with someone who hand made the engagement ring for me, and is well priced if you're interested?
 
matt_fsr said:
I have this bad boy:

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Yes, it's titanium so it won't resize - but it's a superb ring, looks awesome and very unusual!
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No offence but I've not seen a more horrible ring in all my life. Especially for a wedding ring!

Are you a goth?
 
Freefaller said:
I'll send you a trust email with someone who hand made the engagement ring for me, and is well priced if you're interested?
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Yes please if you don't mind. Although you're based in London iirc, I'm at the wrong end of West Sussex so it might be a little out the way.
 
mpledge52 said:
Yes please if you don't mind. Although you're based in London iirc, I'm at the wrong end of West Sussex so it might be a little out the way.
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He's based in Basildon but I'm sure he'd be happy to meet in town if not.

Put it this way, members of my family were jewellers, and every single friend of hers have commented on how spectacular the engagement ring was.

I'll send you a mail when I get home this evening. :)
 
Freefaller said:
I personally think seeing a master jeweller is going to be more fruitful than trying to do everything online - support your local tradesmen!! ;) Joking aside, you'll get a much more personal (and arguably better quality) service, with the ability to sort things out face to face rather than dealing with things online. You can then try samples or styles to see what works best.
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I tried this and had a thoroughly horrible ordeal going to high street jewelers. Not only are their prices 2-3x higher than online (and when you are looking to be spending 500-2000£ on a ring, paying twice the price to a high street shop is excessive!) but their sales tactic are horrible and slimy. They make used car salesmen look like angels. So much pressure to buy before the magical sale closes, bait and switch tactics, harassing phone calls, and a refusal to provide rings within the specified price range, never felt so angry in a shop before.

Compared to online where I had a far better service, phoned up to chat and had friendly and personal service. Or only that but you can personalize your ring so much more. I used James Allen in the end and hand selected the diamond from a large range and got a far better diamond than anything that I could afford on the high street. And that truely sows with an amazing diamond far better than I saw in the shops for several times the price.
 
I think the general advice is to try an independant jeweller rather than the general chain stores. As long as you get a good one they'll be incredibly helpful and not pushy. Although the problem is unless you know someone its very difficult to know where to go.
 
D.P. said:
I tried this and had a thoroughly horrible ordeal going to high street jewelers. Not only are their prices 2-3x higher than online (and when you are looking to be spending 500-2000£ on a ring, paying twice the price to a high street shop is excessive!) but their sales tactic are horrible and slimy. They make used car salesmen look like angels. So much pressure to buy before the magical sale closes, bait and switch tactics, harassing phone calls, and a refusal to provide rings within the specified price range, never felt so angry in a shop before.

Compared to online where I had a far better service, phoned up to chat and had friendly and personal service. Or only that but you can personalize your ring so much more. I used James Allen in the end and hand selected the diamond from a large range and got a far better diamond than anything that I could afford on the high street. And that truely sows with an amazing diamond far better than I saw in the shops for several times the price.
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Think you were in the wrong shops! My local jeweller didn't use any of said tactics, listened carefully to what we wanted let us go away and think about it and then made a lovely set of rings at a price that was very reasonable and all with a Sheffield Hallmark to make them that little bit more special.
 
D.P. said:
I tried this and had a thoroughly horrible ordeal going to high street jewelers. Not only are their prices 2-3x higher than online (and when you are looking to be spending 500-2000£ on a ring, paying twice the price to a high street shop is excessive!) but their sales tactic are horrible and slimy. They make used car salesmen look like angels. So much pressure to buy before the magical sale closes, bait and switch tactics, harassing phone calls, and a refusal to provide rings within the specified price range, never felt so angry in a shop before.

Compared to online where I had a far better service, phoned up to chat and had friendly and personal service. Or only that but you can personalize your ring so much more. I used James Allen in the end and hand selected the diamond from a large range and got a far better diamond than anything that I could afford on the high street. And that truely sows with an amazing diamond far better than I saw in the shops for several times the price.
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It depends on where you go - I wouldn't go to the high street, I'd research (As I did) for small independent local family run businesses. I did - and walked away a happy many, with a personalised service - as such I have recommended several people, and still keep in touch with him owing to his outstanding work.

I'm not a big believer of buying those sort of things online - electronics? Sure. However, for me, this sort of thing is far more personal and important to have a tangible input and interaction with what I'm thinking of buying (or in this case design with feedback and so on).

However, everybody is different, and I'm sure you received an exemplary service and it worked out well for you - it just wasn't for me as my ring design was so specific no online retailer could do it, and most high street shops weren't interested in looking after me as a customer, and were telling me what I wanted. :) So went for local, family run "friend of friend" recommendations instead. :)
 
mpledge52 said:
Received. Thanks :) Although the more I think about it, the less I want to use him. If he's so talented, then I'd feel like I'd be insulting him asking for a bog basic band with nothing fancy and wanting to be nice and cheap!
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Nah don't be!!! We are going to see him on Friday for wedding bands which will be pretty simple :)

BB x
 
mpledge52 said:
Received. Thanks :) Although the more I think about it, the less I want to use him. If he's so talented, then I'd feel like I'd be insulting him asking for a bog basic band with nothing fancy and wanting to be nice and cheap!
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Don't be silly - he'd be happy to help you. Furthermore, you could always hit him up for a little gift for Mademoiselle in the future ;)
 
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