Jewerly

[Bcp1984]

Hi everyone,

This question is geared towards the women, but maybe the husbands can help me out. I am looking at buying my wife a couple pieces of jewerly. No particular reason, except that I lover her. I am currently deployed so this is a me doing something from her thing. She has a wonderful diamond solitare we both picked out together, and she doesnt have to have the most expensive thing. Is it safe to buy jewelery online? Namely places like Zales and Amazon? and second do you (the general audience) prefer genuine gemstones to those that are lab created (saphire, etc.) I know with modern technology lab created stones are just as elegant as genuine, without the price difference. I welcome your thoughts and opinions on the matter. Cheers.

Brandon

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Are you able to purchase jewelry where you are deployed? You might be able to find one-of-a-kind jewelry where you are. Afghanistan, for example, is famous for its beautiful lapis lazuli. There is probably no place in the world that does not have some sort of ornament industry.

[Sugaree5335]

I agree with the previous poster. My favorite piece of jewelry that my BF has given me is a larimer pendent. Larimer is a semi-precious volcanic stone that is only found in a one kilometer area of a mountain range in the Dominican Republic.

As far as natural vs. lab-created goes I don't particularly care one way or another. Actually my favorite cut for gems is the lighthouse lens cut. This process takes a lot of material to create so it's on the expensive side and using lab stones makes it affordable. And these days no one will know unless you tell them (I'd tell your wife if she asks though...)

[Goldy]

In my opinion, if its a piece that you want to be passed down like an heirloom then I'd buy the real stone but if it just something to enjoy I see no problem with buying a synthetic stone.

Also, don't rule out Ebay for jewlery. I purchased my wifes engagement ring on ebay and purchased a loose stone on Blue Nile and had a jewler set it which saved me 6.5k vs the same exact ring in the tiffanys store. I even got a better diamond to boot.

[Frugal]

I personally think that genuine stones are always best. I like diamonds. I think that buying any jewelry online is not the safest or best idea. It is hard to examine them for defects unless you are shopping in person. However, if it is from a trusted company like Zales, maybe it might work.

[Goldy]

Originally Posted by Frugal

I personally think that genuine stones are always best. I like diamonds. I think that buying any jewelry online is not the safest or best idea. It is hard to examine them for defects unless you are shopping in person. However, if it is from a trusted company like Zales, maybe it might work.

The average person has no idea what to look for with regards to defects. If you order from Blue Nile all the stones have a certificate of authenticity that comes with the stone and all the stones are serial numbered so you can be pretty sure its all good.

I was slightly nervious buying a stone unseen online but they give you a 30 day money back guarentee so you can take it to a jewler and have it appraised or verified.

In my opinion if you buy a stone from a brick and morter store you are wasting a LOT of money. I did a price check on 3 different companies when I was looking for a loose stone and only looked for .5ct with the same cut, clairity and color.

Blue Nile was 1k
Shane Co was 2k
Jarred was 4k

These prices are all for the exact same quility stone!