Buying engagement ring in New York?

moco

Does anybody have experience of buying an engagement ring in New York? We’re going for St Patrick’s day anyway so thought we might have a look when we’re over there. Any idea of what the savings would be, what the quality or rings are like, and where to go?

Thanks

CluelessGirl

Hey.

Yeah my mum bought an amazing diamond ring when she was there. Got a few k off it. Make sure u buy it in a reputable jewellers and get them to post the guarantee and cert of authenticity to you when ur home.

Enjoy NY.

moco

I rang an online jewellers yesterday and he sent me a quote on a ring (after telling me how rubbish the quality of Blue Nile diamonds are). I said I’d get back to him today after talking to my boyfriend.

I e mailed him back this morning saying we were going to look in New York for a ring, and if we didn’t find one there I’d come to him.
He called me straight away and spend the next 20 minutes telling me I’d get sold a rubbish quality ring because I don’t know what I’m looking for, I’ll get cancer from the ring cos they’re allowed to use nickel in their gold, I’ll definitely get caught in customs coming home with it etc.

Grrr. He’s put me off going back to him anyway!

Does anyone know, when you look at Hanikens and ID Jewellery websites, is the price displayed final, or do they add on any kind of extra charges?

Also, I’ve seen people mentioning being able to haggle in these places. How much could I realistically expect to get off the price?

Thanks!

Ps he’s just e mailed me saying this

‘Just another point in terms of sales tax, if you import the jewellery from the US than there is a legal requirement to report the item to Customs when you bring it into the UK. As this point you will have to pay the VAT due which will make the ring the same price as if you had bought it from ourselves. If you don’t declare the item then I believe the implications are quite serious if you were caught as it would be classed as smuggling and the ring would be ceased. ‘

I feel like he’s threatening me now!

SmithySeller

Yes I have experience, and only positive experience. Most small time jewellers from across the States buy in the Diamond District on 47th Street. Please see;

http://www.diamonddistrict.org/home.html

I did a small bit of homework, i.e. reading up on the 4 C's etc.

• Cut
• Clarity
• Color
• Carat weight

We both went and did a lot of haggling in quite a number of shops in the Diamond District. The important thing to remember is buy what your missus loves. You will be shown a very reputable chart that shows how things should be priced, i.e. the 4 C's, I think a colour D with top clarity is the best. Obviously the greater the cut and carat will then make it more expensive. So bearing this in mind a lot of people go somewhere in between.

We for example, did not go by the chart asuch, and decided to get a D colour (very very white diamond, the best), but the clarity was not deemed excellent. But to the naked eye it looks perfect. The end result was a large white sparkler.

The next thing they ask is about the setting, the ring itself. You can choose what you want, remember its a package, so haggle on a combined price.

We found that in one shop some guy (and they are from all over the World) was a bit pushy, and I very nearly shot my budget, because what he was selling me was class, but I simply couldn't afford it. Thank God I walked away. Its easy to get sucked in and buy big. HAVE A BUDGET! He was telling me the clarity of what I was going to buy wasn't great, but hey, I always go back to this. Its what your fiance loves, and she loved it.

So in summary I would recommend it for big savings and to be honest it was a great day out. Yes be prepared to walk into a lot of shops and get a good understanding of things. Dont rush into anything, even mull it over for a night if necessary. Know your 4 C's, have a budget, stick to it, and remember to look for the certificate from I think it's called the GIA, look for it before hand. DONT BE BULLIED.

To this day I have never told anyone what we paid, but lots of people have told me what they paid in Ireland, the UK etc. They are not a patch on what we bought for similar money!

Enjoy..

greenasgrass

What are the excise and duty rates when you come back in?

I assume you have to officially pay for import. Are they strict about this in the airports?

I would imagine it's 2.5% duty and 21% VAT right??

Intothesea

If you're set on declaring your jewellery purchases on re-entry it might be a better idea to buy online with the aid of a phone -- the price difference will be courier costs and the extra taxes on same. Sellers like James Allen and ID are very responsive to customers' requests -- you just need to be sure that you know what you're after in detail. Posts 269 - 277 here address a lot of the issues with buying online.

moco

regarding Vat & customs etc. If flying home wearing a new engagement ring bought in the US, is it the US side or re entering Dublin airport that I could get caught?

Sorry if that's a really silly question!

greenasgrass

moco wrote: »

regarding Vat & customs etc. If flying home wearing a new engagement ring bought in the US, is it the US side or re entering Dublin airport that I could get caught?

Sorry if that's a really silly question!

Dublin Airport. I've looked into this a bit more. You would need to declare it if it is valued over €700 (I think). They would charge you 2.5% duty and 21% VAT.

The choice of declaration is up to you obviously (and I wouldn't reccommend not doing so here). Just be prepared to pay that amount if questioned.

D3PO

moco wrote: »

I rang an online jewellers yesterday and he sent me a quote on a ring (after telling me how rubbish the quality of Blue Nile diamonds are). I said I’d get back to him today after talking to my boyfriend.

I e mailed him back this morning saying we were going to look in New York for a ring, and if we didn’t find one there I’d come to him.
He called me straight away and spend the next 20 minutes telling me I’d get sold a rubbish quality ring because I don’t know what I’m looking for, I’ll get cancer from the ring cos they’re allowed to use nickel in their gold, I’ll definitely get caught in customs coming home with it etc.

Grrr. He’s put me off going back to him anyway!

Does anyone know, when you look at Hanikens and ID Jewellery websites, is the price displayed final, or do they add on any kind of extra charges?

Also, I’ve seen people mentioning being able to haggle in these places. How much could I realistically expect to get off the price?

Thanks!

Ps he’s just e mailed me saying this

‘Just another point in terms of sales tax, if you import the jewellery from the US than there is a legal requirement to report the item to Customs when you bring it into the UK. As this point you will have to pay the VAT due which will make the ring the same price as if you had bought it from ourselves. If you don’t declare the item then I believe the implications are quite serious if you were caught as it would be classed as smuggling and the ring would be ceased. ‘

I feel like he’s threatening me now!

This online guy your talknig to sounds like a cowboy. Firstly the quality of your ring will be safeguraded if you ensure its certified either GIA or the american certification which I cant recall the name of.

any jeweller thats telling you you will get cancer due to the quality of ring you will buy is a disgrace . That kind of sales tactic is deplorable. I dont know who he is but Id be telling him to go f**k himself.

SmithySeller

moco wrote: »

regarding Vat & customs etc. If flying home wearing a new engagement ring bought in the US, is it the US side or re entering Dublin airport that I could get caught?

Sorry if that's a really silly question!

Dublin. I am not an advocate of not declaring but.............I went looking for them everywhere, even up in the Sky bar and just couldn't find them :eek:

moco

Does anyone have experience of coming through customs at heathrow from the US?

SmithySeller

Yes, lots of times. God I hate it, Heathrow I mean. I ve never seen nor heard of Customs in Heathrow. Possibly because you do not exit, but go for a connecting flight. But you still end up going through at Dublin anyhow, green blue or red exit in Dublin. I think everyone just shuttles out the widest one, 'nothing to declare'...

moco

Yea, I live in London so I'll be coming out at Heathrow though. I'm worried.:(

Keville

Hi Moco,

I could not recommend ID Jewelry enough. Myself and fiance got engaged in New York last march. They will explain everything to you there and go through the 4 C's with you... They really don't pressure you to buy. Also they sell to trade and their prices are unbelievably low You can email them before you go Yakutiel is the guys name who i was with and his parents own the Shop. You WILL save thousands. I even bought my girl diamond earrings there .4carat studs for $350..... Unreal

moco

I have an appointment in Hanikens but if that doesn't work out I'll try ID jewellry, thanks

Theboinkmaster

moco wrote: »

I have an appointment in Hanikens but if that doesn't work out I'll try ID jewellry, thanks

hanikens are brilliant, do a search on this forum for them

Einstein

We bought our engagement ring in Tiffany's in Florida.
Saved a packet. Same ring over here in the Tiffanys in BT was valued at about 2k more.

Also walked through customs without any hassle.

moco

Einstein wrote: »

We bought our engagement ring in Tiffany's in Florida.
Saved a packet. Same ring over here in the Tiffanys in BT was valued at about 2k more.

Also walked through customs without any hassle.

Did your girlfriend just wear the ring through customs? What about the reciepts etc?

moco

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

hanikens are brilliant, do a search on this forum for them

Yea, this forum is where I found out about them

I've been talking to Marilyn in the store and she's been very helpful. She mentioned the Irish discount and hopefully having our appointment on St Patrick's day might put them in a good mood price-wise too.

So exciting!:D

iguana

Just a word of warning. Any advice on committing tax evasion will result in bannings.

firedancered

Hey!:) We got engaged in NYC november 2 years ago. I did the similar thing and had a look online before I went, at irish companies that make appointments with you over there....
In the end, we just hit the diamond district.
We ended up in a a very reputable jewellers.
We were brought in and sat down and spent about an hour or so there.
The gentleman sussed out my fiance as to how much he wanted to spend, and showed us various diamonds in various sizes. I knew I wanted emerald cut, so it was easy enough.
Once we had the diamond picked out, I tried on different styles with the diamond perched ontop.
And once I was happy with the style and the setting, we sat and watched the jeweller put it all together.
We were given all the certs and I couldn't be happier with the service.
My ring was valued at 3k more here than we paid for it.
I wore it back and walked straight through customs.