Tiffany E-Ring Vs. Non-Tiffany E-Ring

#61
ame said:
The short version:
They damaged the diamond while resizing the ring, and they weren't even going to tell us, WE saw it, before we left the store. So instead of helping us find a new stone on the spot, they had to send it to NYC, and they lost it internally. It took them 3 weeks of avoiding us before we finally got someone to tell us what actually happened. So we spoke with the manager of our local store and told him what was going on. He was not really very embarrassed, more annoyed that WE had to do his job for him, he acted like we should have just taken what we had, even though THEY damaged it, and been delighted. So we ended up having to work long-distance with NYC, and it was just a massive nightmare. By the time we figured out a few stones to send back to STL, my DH was kind of done with it. But they shipped them anyway...only to have them again lost..somewhere internally. By the time they got to St. Louis this time only a week, we were done with it. We had already received a refund from the person who informed us of the original loss, so we didn't have a huge tie-in. We liked one of the stones, but we didn't love it. So we took the one, had it set, got it back, I wore it for a week, and it never really spoke to me like the original. So we returned it for our money back. We were met with a LOT of attitude, but we did get our money back.

About a month later, after the sting wore off, we started looking again locally, and then I found PS. I didn't end up buying my e-ring through any of those vendors (I did when that set got stolen) but I unwisely purchased my w-ring through one, which was again a raging nightmare.

At this point in my life, I have kind of decided I don't want bling anymore. I have had nothing but crappy luck.
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Hard to imagine.. Too terrible... Too unprofessional.

You can officially HATE Tiffany. If branded jwellers commanding premium prices fail to realize their brand promises in terms of both product quality and luxury purchase experience, they will be called into question their raison d'etre as.

You loved the diamond ring itself, right? I call my Tiffany ring "perfect" because we are always served by them perfectly.

Not only with Tiffany, but also Cartier, or other branded companies, I have never experienced anyting similar to the insuffable you have experienced, so I love them. But if anything wrong happens and they fail to compensate for the inconvenience fully and sincierly, I'll say good bye to them!

I hope you will find a bling that you really love in the future!
 
#62
Hopefully I won't need any for a while ;)

Yea it was the biggest let-down ever, though we hold most of the blame over our local -- and only -- tiffany location. If anyone wants their opinion of Tiffany's so called amazing service to be destroyed forever, visit this location. It's in the most chi-chi part of town, and the people working there don't really get that it's still RETAIL and you still need to not be a self-involved A-hole to the people who come in there. It's really pretty horrid. I wouldn't be buying another e-ring there, ever, but I might buy little things here and there. I had good experiences with the Madison Ave. Chicago Store as well as one of the Dallas locations but the whole mess around this e-ring was enough for me. It was surreal. Every single thing that was built up around this company was shattered. And because we were spending around $15K, we were apparently still not worth caring about. There wasn't ENOUGH commission for them with that sale.

But it's not so much that I hate them, I hate that they make people believe that there's nothing better out there, and there is! Not every diamond they sell is perfection or perfectly cut, but because they say it is, people are just supposed to believe it. Any store that "self-grades" it's merchandise is a bit scammy to me anyway.

Anyway...yea, that's the short story. DH was pissed I didn't make a bigger deal out of it with the local "You Paid for it Guy". What was he gonna do about it...mysteriously find it?!

The only thing I was concerned about: Did they put THAT diamond in a ring and resell it to someone else without telling them.
 
#64
To me, Tiffany is not worth the money for the quality you get - sure, it's better than Zales, Kay's, Jared's, etc. etc. etc. Does that mean it's the best? Not to me - and I didn't always think that way. I originally dreamed of a Tiffany solitaire but when I started researching, I switched to wanting the documentation of AGS or GIA to go with it - Tiffany grades their own stones and frankly, I put zero trust in that (as ame stated). Also, I wanted a custom setting that I could call all my own - you can't get that at Tiffany unless you're a celebrity or have some sort of pull for them to work with you. Sure, they sell pretty stuff and if you're not wanting to go searching or don't have other high-quality vendors available to you, it's the perfect place to go in order to get a pretty ring. But if I'm going to be completely honest here, my AGS Ideal was on-par or out-sparkled anything they had in stock (Orlando location) when I quickly browsed rings and looked at wedding bands. But in the end, what makes me happy won't necessarily make the next girl happy because we all want things for different reasons.
 
#65
missD said:
WOW! What a horrid experience!!!!!

Ame, how did you know that they recycled that stone into a new setting again?
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Unfortunately I don't but considering the experience, I wouldn't be shocked if they had. It was NOT damaged prior to them setting and sizing the ring.
 
#67
I my personal opinion, going to Tiffany's or any other well-known Jeweller, is you're paying for the NAME- in this case, the "Tiffany stamp"

I have an "etoile" style wedding band (with the scattered diamonds). I had a jeweller custom make it for me, so while it's similar, it's not exactly what Tiffany has.

I remember being in Tiffany's one day and one of the SA's remarked/noticed my band. He thought it was Tiffany, but as he bent down to look at it, said, "oh.......it's not one of ours!". I felt like a piece of crap.....and the look he gave me was worse than the comment he made. In retrospect, I wish I have a chance to re-live something similar in their store again, because now I'd now how to respond. There's "uppity" and then there's RUDE.

I have 2 rings from Tiffany- the Schlumberger 16-stone XO band in platinum and the 3 roses Melee pave ring. Love them both- each hold a unique memory and sentiment. I prefer items that are handmade to mass-produced, machine-made ones. The ONLY reason my above rings were bought at Tiffany was 1- I LOVE them, and 2- replicating them would never be the same.

Leon Mege, a well-known jeweller and artist said on his website that the MAIN difference between HIS 6-prong solitaire and Tiffany's, is HIS IS HAND MADE!!!

I personally adore minor setting imperfections. This way, I know someone created it by hand....and took the time to carefully craft it.....as opposed to a machine. Similar to receiving a Certificate written in Caligraphy by hand as opposed to a PC. We've become too modernized for our own good in some respects. My crystal glasses/stemwear for example are ALL entirely made by hand....each one is slightly different in size......but ever so slight. Many people are turned off by this and won't purchase these types of goods......I LOVE and appreciate them. Then again, I'm a glass artist.......none of my pieces are exactly alike and if I'm ask to replicate, it's near impossible. And I understand and appreciate the time it takes to create something beautiful.

Tiffany, Cartier, VC & A, Harry Winston...I'm sure I've missed someone......they're all about MARKETING and indulging in fantasies. They do a great job too.....after all, they have $$$$ to advertise, yes?

But if I had say, big $$$ to spend on gems......I'd be sourcing something privately and getting a true artist to create something custom that's not seen everyday. My recent ring was custom.....sure the setting is something that anyone can have, but my stone is UNIQUE and I customized it to my specs........not another one like it anywhere. That thrills me more than the thought of popping into Tiffany's!
 
#69
dusty paws said:
yes, almost 50K for a 2ct stone.

i'm sure if you priced that elsewhere it would not be 50,000. and do i really need a 50,000 engagement ring? not really.
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That's about how I look at it. Get me a $10k one and pay towards the mortgage with the rest!

Contessa you did say it best: I like the handmade. However, I demand absolute perfection, so Leon is in for it with me. lol
 
#70
ame said:
That's about how I look at it. Get me a $10k one and pay towards the mortgage with the rest!

Contessa you did say it best: I like the handmade. However, I demand absolute perfection, so Leon is in for it with me. lol
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Besides.....if you're spending the $$$, I'd want the attention that goes with it!

And custom/handmade is more fun! Call me spoiled! I like the focus to be on ME.....not entirely the ring....or the store.

Believe me........Tiffany's could care less (and you won't receive better treatment) if you walk in with $50K cash in-hand....spend it or not......makes no difference to them
 
#71
It seems I'm one of the few who had a really good experience with the Tiffany's that we bought my e-ring from. The SA lady was really understanding and super nice. She always returned our emails and phone calls. We were on a budget and she understood that (we got excellent treatment even though she knew we weren't spending major bucks). The SA even put up with my picky-ness (I had to have the dimensions and stats on each of the rings we were considering). We did business with her for about 3 weeks before we finally commited to one and she was just as nice as the first day we met her (all this through the phone/email since we were in a neighboring state - no Tiffanys where we lived.. but we did go to visit the store to see the final selection.. she even had one shipped from NYC for us to view). Maybe my experience was rare.. but she was awesome. I cannot say the same for their SAs in the silver dept.. they seemed more stuck up than the fine jewelry SAs.

In terms of Tiffany E-ring vs Non-Tiffany... I say choose the one that makes your heart sing. In my case... it made my fiance's heart sing too lol... We looked at several other places with equally, if not, better rings. We even had offers from local stores who said they would do a custom job for us that will be just like the Tiffany Ribbon ring that we both loved. We considered it and after the quote they gave us.. it was only a couple hundred less than the Tiffany price (although the stone was a better grade). I don't care much for bigger.. or the shinest stone you can get. My mind was set on a 0.5 ct ring.. my body cringed at having a 1ct or larger stone on my finger (it just wasn't for me). So we ended up getting the Tiffany one because we figured if we were just going to replicate it.. and it wasn't that much of a difference anyways.. then why not. We looked at the sites that pricescope had mentioned too and looked at custom jobs of the Tiffany Ribbon.. but they all had slight differences that turned me off (like one was too square at the loop... one had a band that was too thick.. one had diamonds that go all the way around the band.. etc). We did stay in budget and got a ring that we were very happy about.
 
#72
I had a very positive experience with my SA. My fiance and I have such a good relationship with him that my fiance is thinking of inviting him to our wedding- LOL!

I have been shopping at Tiffany's for years (I have over 50 pieces between silver, gold and antique- about 3/4 were bought from Tiffanys), and I only dealt with one negative nilly- one in Philly. Plus, I go in quite often just to look. Most of my experience have been in the NY/NJ area. I do not know if that makes a difference.
 
#75
Contessa said:
Besides.....if you're spending the $$$, I'd want the attention that goes with it!

And custom/handmade is more fun! Call me spoiled! I like the focus to be on ME.....not entirely the ring....or the store.

Believe me........Tiffany's could care less (and you won't receive better treatment) if you walk in with $50K cash in-hand....spend it or not......makes no difference to them
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:yes:

Personally I went to my jeweler with a 3,51 ct diamond , a sketchbook full on designs and a scrapbook full of pictures. He made my dream come true. I was in his shop every other day and he was a total sweetheart. Best customer service ever...

Plus I got "lessons" on diamond market from his wife, she is a gem expert!
 
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