Rivals engagement ring guy

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by DutchTiger, Apr 15, 2011.

  1. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    After 4-6 weeks of emailing, he finally quoted me a price that didn't seem very competitive. The next day, I went into a cost-plus brick and mortar store and bought a rock with the same specs (4C's) for $1-2,000 less than what he was quoting me. It's hard to know for sure how much less I paid because he isn't very transparent with pricing, but that tells me you probably have some room to negotiate with him.
     
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  2. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    This is the route I’m going to take. I just can’t pull the trigger on something this big without taking some time to look it over.

    Yeah, my only concern is this: as more and more companies get this technology and are able to increase production efficiency, the cost of lab grown will go down. As a result, I am a little worried about the value of a lab grown diamond depreciating over time. It’s the same exact thing, but there’s a stigma attached to it. And the labor and process that goes into it affects the cost and thus the value
     
  3. Cheshire Bridge

    Cheshire Bridge 2017 & 2019 National Champions - Clemson Tigers
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    Same deal here. Went to a highly recommended place in Atlanta and got a rock my wife love and gets compliments on.



    Don't over think this. Stay out of Jared and zales and just make sure it's eye clean.
     
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  4. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    I'm no expert - but if you aren't comfortable don't proceed
     
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  5. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Agree with this. Fiancee gets compliments all the time on the rock I got from the brick and mortar store that was 100x easier to deal with than the rivals guy
     
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  6. Bricktop the white

    Bricktop the white Well-Known Member

    Buying diamonds with value preservation or as an investment is a fools errand unless you're buying investment grade million dollar stones.

    The only downside to a lab grown diamond is that they keep getting cheaper so invariably you'll have overpaid compared to the future, but it will always be cheaper than a mined stone.
     
  7. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    Fair enough, but with lower price comes lower perceived value. If there’s a stigma now, it could potentially get worse the cheaper and cheaper these get

    Don’t get me wrong, I think the diamond industry is a huge racket regardless...just playing a little devils advocate
     
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  8. HuskerInMiami

    HuskerInMiami Well-Known Member
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    The Credit Card thread led me to look at moissanite. Ended up replacing my wife's old wedding ring for less than half the price of original and she gets WAY more compliments. They'll even work with you on the band/other stuff on a ring. I told her what I was planning to do and got her on board (didn't want to blind side her with a fake diamond). She sent them pictures of the design she liked and they made it look exactly like she wanted. It's easy to get carried away and go too big because they're so cheap. I think we ended up going with a 7.75 mm or 1.75 carat equivalent and I'm glad we didn't go bigger. It looks huge.

    Diamonds are a waste of money and only worth something because women have been brainwashed. Do people ever sell their old rings? We still have her wedding dress and original wedding ring. I'd love to recoup some of the money.
     
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  9. HuskerInMiami

    HuskerInMiami Well-Known Member
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    You can't tell a difference. She got it cleaned and the lady at whatever jewelry store was in love with it. Wife told her it was a moissanite and the lady couldn't believe it. The lady was probably an idiot, but it's nowhere near what a CZ looks like.
     
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  10. Uncle Tupelo

    Uncle Tupelo Well-Known Member
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    We are the same:beerchug:. I haven't proposed yet, but my future wife was completely on board with it, and when I showed it to her mom she couldnt believe it wasn't a real diamond. About 40% of the cost, and was custom made for us too.
     
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  11. HuskerInMiami

    HuskerInMiami Well-Known Member
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    We just lie to people and say it's real. Only my wife, me, and the internet know.
     
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  12. blind dog

    blind dog wps
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    Might be the only secret a woman could keep from her friends/female relatives
     
  13. Cheshire Bridge

    Cheshire Bridge 2017 & 2019 National Champions - Clemson Tigers
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    I'm trying to get my wife to do the same.
     
  14. Cheshire Bridge

    Cheshire Bridge 2017 & 2019 National Champions - Clemson Tigers
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    I've looked into it. You cannot tell the difference from one on the lab made diamonds unless you have a special machine to perform some type of test.


    Debeers has a subsidiary that makes these diamonds now.
     
  15. bertstare

    bertstare Non-hick Bert
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    Which place did you go to in ATL? I'm 99% going to go through Lake, but curious as I went shopping last weekend in ATL
     
  16. Cheshire Bridge

    Cheshire Bridge 2017 & 2019 National Champions - Clemson Tigers
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    Solomon brothers.
     
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  17. Owsley

    Owsley My friends call me Bear
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    Got my wife’s band here, and have also had them do some work on her engagement ring. Can’t recommend highly enough.
     
  18. Cheshire Bridge

    Cheshire Bridge 2017 & 2019 National Champions - Clemson Tigers
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    Yeah. I was really surprised at how reasonably priced everything was too. They have a million diamonds and a great selection of settings.
     
  19. ColeTrickle

    ColeTrickle 1-0 Culture, LLC
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    This guy has made so much money off of the rivals main board and orangebloods. Something about him rubs me the wrong way.
     
  20. Teflon Queen

    Teflon Queen The mentally ill sit perfectly still
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    I’m guessing he’s from Texas. Y’all are born and bred to chug dick...doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with him per se.
     
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  21. Cheshire Bridge

    Cheshire Bridge 2017 & 2019 National Champions - Clemson Tigers
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    I didn't like how he said something along the lines of being the direct source to jewelers in the Southeast. His price ended up being more expensive than two of my local jewelers. Owsley did you check out the rivals guy?
     
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  22. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    Anyone who tells you this is lying. There’s no “direct source” to any consumer jeweler. Close to 90% of the world’s uncut diamonds go through Antwerp, then various other exchanges before making it to consumer sales.
     
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  23. ColeTrickle

    ColeTrickle 1-0 Culture, LLC
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    Good one
     
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  24. Owsley

    Owsley My friends call me Bear
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    Nah, I had a family ring.
     
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  25. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    he was telling me about his 3 (or was it 4?) houses when I was going through the process with him in mid 2018.

    By his account, they bought a house in Park Hill neighborhood of Fort Worth, but couldn't decide if they wanted to live here (instead of Austin) or not. He indicated they were leaning towards selling the home after not ever living in it.

    That was about the least of the things that rubbed me the wrong way, but the actual transaction worked out fine.
     
  26. ColeTrickle

    ColeTrickle 1-0 Culture, LLC
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    Yeah he loves the humble brags.
     
  27. Brocktoon

    Brocktoon Well-Known Member
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    I used him and it's a pretty intensive sales pitch. Expect super long emails. In all the back and forth, he actually ordered the wrong band. When I messaged him about it, he said he'd try to replace it and kind of blamed it on me. He said he asked for the design number and I responded with the name/description, so that's why it got confused. Whole thing kind of soured me on the transaction. Luckily the wrong band actually looked really good and I just kept it.

    But overall the ring looked great, price seemed a little high. We had to get it resized locally and the jeweler commented on how good the stone was, so it feels good to know that what I received was quality. I could see how the intensive sales and not being able to see the ring beforehand would not be ideal for some people.
     
  28. John McGuirk

    John McGuirk member of the blue tiger club
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    Just depends on whether or not you buy the story he’s selling or you believe the testing labs. I compared and got a much larger diamond at a better cut and clarity online at Blue Nile or James Allen
     
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  29. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    Im posting in this thread hammered. But I need help/tips. My budget is only 4K on the ring so I’m pry screwed but any and all help is appreciated
     
  30. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    Plain small gold band, one single unique shape diamond, no halo, no cushion, not a round or not a square diamond. Ps love you more!
     

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  31. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    Obviously I’m not ready to get married but she is so be kind please
     
  32. IrishLAX2

    IrishLAX2 So you’re telling me there’s a chance
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    You’ll likely get a better price online than you will in a storefront, no matter how good the guy is you’re going to
     
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  33. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    I’m bfe Nebraska with the closest town of 20k aN hour and a half away so I prefer that
     
  34. IrishLAX2

    IrishLAX2 So you’re telling me there’s a chance
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    I used rarecarat.com to find a diamond, stonealgo.com to validate it, then brought it to a local jeweler to have it officially appraised and set. Got appraised for about 50% more than what I paid.

    Use the credit card option to pay though, even if it’s a bit more expensive. Just for the extra assurance.
     
  35. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    Thank you any and all info is appreciated
     
  36. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    I bought on bluenile.com. Free re-sizing and lots of other services as well. They have tons of options that can fit any size budget
     
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  37. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    Thank you. Like I said idk wtf I’m doing cuz
    This is beyond me but I’ll take any info
     
  38. IrishLAX2

    IrishLAX2 So you’re telling me there’s a chance
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    And if you live together, use an incognito window when you’re shopping online. Otherwise you’ll both get inundated with engagement ring ads.
     
  39. tjosu

    tjosu This is kind of like the breakfast club, huh?
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    They have a whole section on education where you can read up on everything. I also would just google a lot of questions i came up with too if that site didn’t clarify it enough
     
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  40. hudson

    hudson Oh, you know...stuff.
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  41. sc_chant

    sc_chant Be A Dog
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    I used jamesallen.com and was extremely please with everything. Think I ended up less than $4k. I'd definitely recommend them even if it was just for research. I'll have a Busch Light in your honor oldberg
     
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  42. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    Fuck thanks fella
     
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  43. REGGNECK

    REGGNECK You wanna know what I been down , DONT BOTHER ME
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  44. Doc Louis

    Doc Louis Well-Known Member
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    Very true especially since stores are shut down now
     
  45. Patface

    Patface Touch & Go Like A Dantonio Heartbeat
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  46. oldberg

    oldberg Thinkin bout thos beans
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    Can you send his info my way?
     
  47. bertwing

    bertwing check out the nametag grandma
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  48. Patface

    Patface Touch & Go Like A Dantonio Heartbeat
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    Coming your way.
     
  49. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    another family member just used him and said Lake treated him well. FWIW.
     
  50. gowolverines8

    gowolverines8 Well-Known Member

    Looking into rings right now, whats everyones feelings on lab vs natural diamonds? and/or your significant others feelings? You just get so much more value for a lab one. I am just so split, my girlfriend loves designer type shit but is also a tree hugger type.