Best place to buy an engagement ring in Denver area?

[sic_semper_tyrannis]

By "best" I mean "most lube applied to the ass raping they give me". I'm willing to drive a pretty good distance considering the cost, so I would go up to Cheyenne or south to Pueblo if the trip is worth it. Just looking for a place that has affordable options and won't screw me over too much. Price is absolutely my primary factor. I know I'm supposed to stay away from the mall stores and Kay. I've heard mixed things about Shane. Does anyone have any wisdom (other than "For the love of God don't do it! Eject Eject!!") ?

[Skip]

If you know what you want, and know what a good price is (to compare)...

http://www.jfoptionsjewelers.com/

[BPTactical]

Cut a band out of 3/4" copper pipe. Tell her it is a one off, rare artist creation.
I will even lend you a pipe cutter.
Pocket cash you saved and buy gunz n ammo.

[Great-Kazoo]

Cut a band out of 3/4" copper pipe. Tell her it is a one off, rare artist creation.
I will even lend you a pipe cutter.
Pocket cash you saved and buy gunz n ammo.

Can you do that with ITAR issues ;)

[Dave_L]

Not much help with a ring but congrats on the next step! My life got much better after marriage. Wishing you the best!

[ray1970]

Come on guys.

This is obviously a cry for help.

Somebody here has to talk him out of it.

(Unless Bert's advice was an underhanded way of helping the guy out.)

[Madeinhb]

Come on guys.

This is obviously a cry for help.

Somebody here has to talk him out of it.

(Unless Bert's advice was an underhanded way of helping the guy out.)

Beat me to it haha.

There is a simple answer.

DON'T

[izzy]

what about that jewelry store in king soopers?

[BushMasterBoy]

I have a .45 carat engagement ring I'll sell for 400 bucks. Brand new in the box with papers. Got it from AAFES. No woman has ever worn it. Probably less than what you are looking for. PM me if you are interested.

[2XS]

I've had good luck with Shane co in westminster. Give them your price and tell what you want and they wI'll show what they have you can afford no push to buy the most expensive stuff they have.

[beast556]

The jewerly exchange in highlands ranch will be your best bet for a diamond. They're pretty much no BS you tell them what you have to spend and they show you what you can get.

[Snowman78]

I've had good luck with Shane co in westminster. Give them your price and tell what you want and they wI'll show what they have you can afford no push to buy the most exiting they have.


+1, I also have had good luck at Westminster Shane CO.

[Irving]

I believe I got my wife's wedding ring at Shane Co in Westminster as well. I saved a lot of money by only buying one ring. I didn't like how all the wedding rings looked the same, so I bought a fashion ring instead. It has a smaller band, so the diamond looks bigger as well. A lot of women are hung up on having both rings though. Good luck either way.

[newracer]

Not a very good selection but great prices at Sam's and Costco.

[00tec]

+1, I also have had good luck at Westminster Shane CO.

I had the opposite experience at that location.
Pushed us over budget, then tried to talk us into a credit card. (I told them up front I didnt want their card, they said they could extend layaway).
When we left, I immediately got a phone call begging us to come back, changing their story. We felt slighted at that point, never returned.

[fportmen45]

Cut a band out of 3/4" copper pipe. Tell her it is a one off, rare artist creation.
I will even lend you a pipe cutter.
Pocket cash you saved and buy gunz n ammo.

That's ~a size nine - what are you suggesting?

[ray1970]

And just a reminder for the OP....

Two months salary is the rule of thumb.

I stayed under that but my wife's ring was still about $5,000.

[fportmen45]

And just a reminder for the OP....

Two months salary is the rule of thumb.

I stayed under that but my wife's ring was still about $5,000.

& don't go into debt buying it - that's a terrible way to start off your new life together.

[Teufelhund]

Another +1 for Shane Co. Specifically the one off Arapahoe in Centennial.

I've bought quite a few pieces from them over the years, including my wife's wedding/engagement rings. They don't work on commission, yet they're all super friendly and helpful. The girl who helped me with the engagement ring spent three hours with me, happily sorting through diamonds to find the right one. I really like their warranty as well: they'll clean and inspect the jewelry for free, and tighten up anything that's loose whenever you want to bring it by. As long as you bring it in at least twice a year for inspection, if you lose a stone they will replace it for free. I just went in there today and bought something shiny for the wife's birthday.

[funkymonkey1111]

Have heard people swear by costco

[King]

Another recommendation for Shane Co in westy.

[Irving]

Shane Co had replaced a missing diamond on my wife's ring two or the times for free. The last time we figured out a way to improve the mount so it would stop happening. All for free.

[skoodge]

Another +1 for ShaneCo.

They let me do a layaway way past their stated terms. Helpful people. Id go back.

[colorider]

Buy a diamond from an estate dealer . Then have a custom 1 off ring made That's what I did. Saved a fortune. Unfortunately they guy who did my wife's ring is no longer doing it. He retired.

[sic_semper_tyrannis]

Some great advice so far, I appreciate all the ideas. I do like the idea of having a warranty. I had completely forgot about costco, I'll have to check that out as an option. I really know nothing about jewelry, and didn't realize there are so many factors at play in buying a stone.

For the amount of money these stupid rocks cost, I think it would make so much more sense to just put a down payment on a new car or something equally utilitarian. I doubt that logic plays out the same in her mind though...

[cstone]

Does she want a ring? What kind of ring does she want? Shop together and have her give you ideas on what she wants. Don't let her pick out the ring, but make sure that it will be something she will be happy with. Getting the best price is just like long term investing. What are the odds that the ring will be worth less money 50 years from now.

I pray that you both have a long, happy life...together. [Flower]

[Madeinhb]

Go to blue nile website. Can buy a stone there. Then have a jeweler design a ring and make it. Much cheaper.

[Skip]

Some great advice so far, I appreciate all the ideas. I do like the idea of having a warranty. I had completely forgot about costco, I'll have to check that out as an option. I really know nothing about jewelry, and didn't realize there are so many factors at play in buying a stone.

For the amount of money these stupid rocks cost, I think it would make so much more sense to just put a down payment on a new car or something equally utilitarian. I doubt that logic plays out the same in her mind though...

Funny story... I got my wife a really nice engagement ring (well, for me). Almost 2x salary. We'll just call it about seven Garands worth of ring. She really liked it.

Guess what she wanted for our 10 year? A solid, completely plain, 18K gold band. Original ring was too fancy and she wanted something more casual. Guess which one she wears?

Yes I could be seven Garands richer now.

But you're right, it wouldn't go that way. I think the sacrifice almost matters more than the thing.

[20X11]

Another +1 for Shane Co

[buffalobo]

Buy a diamond from an estate dealer . Then have a custom 1 off ring made That's what I did. Saved a fortune. Unfortunately they guy who did my wife's ring is no longer doing it. He retired.
This^^^. I owned the rock for many years before I met my wife. She got to design her own ring and I saved $4k.

[usmctarzan]

People are always talking about that trice jewelers on the radio...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Graves]

Another +1 for Shane Co. Great staff and no shady biz.

[MarkCO]

This^^^. I owned the rock for many years before I met my wife. She got to design her own ring and I saved $4k.

Agreed, best way to get the most diamond for the least amount of money. We designed her ring and put the stone I got into it. The appraisal was a LOT more than what we paid. At 10 years, she wanted to change the setting to one that was less pronounced and matched an anniversary band she wanted. Even with the change in the setting, a plain gold band (which she had to have for giving birth) and a pendant we had made out of the gold from the original ring, still well ahead of what we would have spent retail.

We use Creekside Jewelers in Golden. They do have some custom designs and estate pieces and Roger does appraisals as well. We go in on our anniversary and he checks the settings and cleans her rings.

Congratulations. A good woman is to be highly valued.

[Irving]

Personally, I would completely ignore the whole value of ring should equal x amount of salary. Total nonsense.

[n2877]

Just remember every kiss begins with Kay. Kay jewelers has the Leo diamond. It's a nice ring

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[BPTactical]

Or I could go classy and use Stainless steel tubing............

[68Charger]

Or I could go classy and use Stainless steel tubing............

How about forming one out of a silver dollar?

when my ring was cut before elbow surgery, my wife was ecstatic that I wanted a tungsten ring to replace it (after she found out how cheap they are)

The trick with the X times monthly salary is to be a student or unemployed when you propose... my wife's ring originally cost me $350- but that was really hard to scrape together at the time. (it was also 1989)

[crays]

Why not see if you have any shotgun barrel scraps rolling around? Surely you trimmed a hunting barrel or two back for HD purposes. 😎

sent from me

[TriggerHappy]

I just bought one in December. The diamond reserve was fantastic, and kaleigh the managing partner is a hunter. But really, her, the owner and staff were great to work with. Their diamond prices are better than any big box stores and they will make exactly what you are looking for. PM me if you have any questions, I would highly recommend and they have made me a crusty for life.

i got carried away on the rock, but they have all sizes and shapes, I can't say enough about them, awesome experience! They even helped and played along with the proposal!!

[gnihcraes]

Shane Co. Centennial. Never had a problem, no pressure. Always have good service when bringing rings back for a checkup/cleaning/appraisal. 25 years now.

[Shooter45]

I had great luck and experience in Amore Jewelry in Parker Colorado. The owner is amazing and we found an extremely rare custom ring from the 1920's era at a great price. Can't say enough about the place and will continue to shop there.

[hurley842002]

Another shout out to ShaneCo, specifically the Centennial store. I was about 50% paid up (layaway), on a $3,000 ring, when things went south in the relationship. They refunded all of what I paid, no questions asked. I suppose I'm not the first person to have that happen, but I thought it was great of them. I've also bought a few other items from them, and they've always been great.

[kawiracer14]

I didn't read the whole thread so not sure if this was suggested but you should buy online and avoid paying the sales tax in CO.

Bluenile.com is one of many options.

[sniper7]

Shane Co was been great to us. My wife's engagement ring had lots of little diamonds along with the main stone. Some of the little ones kept popping out and getting lost and they replaced them no questions asked no extra cost. Eventually it turned into a pain and we picked out a new ring full credit from old ring applied.

Years later my wife lost her wedding ring at the lake and Shane co went above and beyond to get us the same ring and and even higher quality diamond.

Now that ring wasn't free which brings me to my next point. If you are going to buy an expensive ring, put it on a seperate amendment with your insurance company. If I didn't do this it would have cost me about $8k.

[hurley842002]

Also worth noting, ShaneCo will let you upgrade the stone as long as you own the ring, and you only have to pay the difference in value. So if you couldn't quite afford the size rock you wanted in the beginning, you could upgrade later on.

[davsel]

Does she want a ring? What kind of ring does she want? Shop together and have her give you ideas on what she wants. Don't let her pick out the ring, but make sure that it will be something she will be happy with. Getting the best price is just like long term investing. What are the odds that the ring will be worth less money 50 years from now.

I pray that you both have a long, happy life...together. [Flower]

ShaneCo was easy to deal with. I picked out a diamond and a mount, and waited for them to mount it. 20 minutes later, the saleslady came to me and said they had broken the diamond when mounting it, so they offered me a bigger/better diamond at no additional charge.
I've also had good service at Jared's in Colorado Springs.

Having purchased four engagement rings over the years, my advice is to get the biggest/best (size matters) diamond you can afford and have them put it into the smallest/cheapest mount they have. Then, after she says "yes," go back to the store together so she can pick out the mount she really wants, as CStone said. The above stores will mount it while you wait. There is a huge variety of mounts and you do not stand a chance picking out the one she really wants by yourself.

Best of luck.

[CO Hugh]

May take more work, but check Craig's list or some other place including jewelry stores or pawn shop to buy a used one, ie a tiffany.

Used stones are not worth much, ie try to sell the ring back to a jeweler.

To have a happy marriage might be best not to tell her you bought it used.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/

http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-de-beers-2011-12?op=1/#e-creation-of-debswana-a-joint-venture-between-the-company-and-the-nation-of-botswana-meant-a-significant-shareholding-claim-in-de-beers-by-the-african-country-8

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/02/AR2010070203990.html

[CHA-LEE]

The little lady and I have been using the Shane Co exclusively for all of our expensive jewelry purchases. Their warranty is awesome and the customer service has been great. There was only one instance where a sales associate was an idiot. In that situation I simply told him to get someone else to help me and that is exactly what was done no questions asked.

If you are buying a ring for someone else you need their input on the size, style and design for it to be something that they really want. How would you feel if your girlfriend bought you a car that you had zero opportunity to provide any input on selecting? Especially when the primary purchasing requirement was to make it as cheap as possible. How likely would it be that the car would be something you really wanted?

You also need to be an educated buyer and know the value of the different metals for the settings, durability of the metal, and clarity / quality of the stones. Metals have different levels of durability and show wear differently. For example, platinum is fairly soft and can bend and scratch very easily compared to Gold.

Buying an engagement ring or wedding set can be a significant investment but it still needs to be within your reasonable budget. The quality of what you are buying is a very important factor that will dramatically sway the price. Us "Dudes" don't understand the importance "Chicks" place on a high dollar wedding set as there is always something else more practical that the same amount of $$$ could be used for. But we have our expensive vices as well. Tally up how much you have spent on ammo, safes, guns, motorized toys, tools, or whatever else. Once you do that an expensive wedding ring will probably be chump change in comparison. The only difference is that you are taking the big punch to the wallet all at once with a wedding set.

[ben4372]

+1 for Shane Co. My advice would be buy big and sparkly rather than the highest quality stone. Or check out a synthetic diamond. Seriously, if it "shows" well to the naked eye you can get a way bigger stone. And that's what the ladies want. And fellas. I don't judge.

[feal]

Someone else suggested it but bluenile is pretty close to wholesale. I'd at least check it to see the ball park of what you should be spending

[sic_semper_tyrannis]

Thanks for everyone's feedback. After checking out different stores and websites, I ended up going with Shane Co, which was a pretty common recommendation in this thread. The customer service was fantastic, and the warranty they provide seems like a huge benefit should anything ever go wrong. They aren't the cheapest, but they aren't the most expensive either. Timeliness was an issue in my specific situation, so buying online would not have worked for what I have planned. Shane was able to get the whole ring put together in 48 hours, and that wasn't even with a rush put on it. Frankly, for the quality of the final piece, I am actually paying a little less than I had expected. In the end I started focusing less on cost and more on quality, and I am happy with the final product and happy that I didn't cheap-out on such an important purchase.

[sic_semper_tyrannis]

The little lady and I have been using the Shane Co exclusively for all of our expensive jewelry purchases. Their warranty is awesome and the customer service has been great. There was only one instance where a sales associate was an idiot. In that situation I simply told him to get someone else to help me and that is exactly what was done no questions asked.

If you are buying a ring for someone else you need their input on the size, style and design for it to be something that they really want. How would you feel if your girlfriend bought you a car that you had zero opportunity to provide any input on selecting? Especially when the primary purchasing requirement was to make it as cheap as possible. How likely would it be that the car would be something you really wanted?

You also need to be an educated buyer and know the value of the different metals for the settings, durability of the metal, and clarity / quality of the stones. Metals have different levels of durability and show wear differently. For example, platinum is fairly soft and can bend and scratch very easily compared to Gold.

Buying an engagement ring or wedding set can be a significant investment but it still needs to be within your reasonable budget. The quality of what you are buying is a very important factor that will dramatically sway the price. Us "Dudes" don't understand the importance "Chicks" place on a high dollar wedding set as there is always something else more practical that the same amount of $$$ could be used for. But we have our expensive vices as well. Tally up how much you have spent on ammo, safes, guns, motorized toys, tools, or whatever else. Once you do that an expensive wedding ring will probably be chump change in comparison. The only difference is that you are taking the big punch to the wallet all at once with a wedding set.

I understand everything you said and even agree on many points. I took all of those into consideration before I even made my original post. In my specific case, I actually have a very good idea of what she likes, and I was able to custom design a ring with personal touches that I think will knock her socks off (well I hope so anyway). If I totally screwed the pooch, then at least we can go back to Shane and change it up, but I don't foresee that happening. As for buying a car as a gift without input, I completely understand the analogy, but it is a risk I'm willing to take. She in particular will value the sentimental nature of the ring I selected, and she would never dare (or know how) to do anything car related without my knowledge.

And yeah, the ring < my ammo supply. But I'm a dude, so I appreciate the utility and practicality of one much more than the other.

[sic_semper_tyrannis]

Personally, I would completely ignore the whole value of ring should equal x amount of salary. Total nonsense.

I agree completely. The cliche is utter horse shit and needs to die. That being said, it's about right for what I ended up paying. But not because of the cliche...

[Irving]

It's not a cliche so much as rooted in tradition. If you left your wife, she'd ideally have two months worth of your salary in the value of the ring to help her back on her feet. Modern relationships often have two incomes, and most women hardly consider the history of that social norm.

[GilpinGuy]

Good call on Shane Co. I'm late in this thread but this is who I went with 7 years ago and couldn't have been happier since. Warranty included, which we had to use when one of my wife's smaller diamonds came loose. No hassle and quick turn around. Had my ring polished a few times too.

Funny story: My wife and I stopped into a jewelry store near Colorado Mills (forget the name - right across from Target) to look at stuff. We're looking at these "chocolate diamonds" and I say something like "I don't like those at all...." to my wife. The sales beeotch interjects and says smugly, "Those are very popular right now". Me: "Not with me". Snotty beeotch walks away.

Later, my wife is looking at something and she's bs-ing with the same beeotch. I just walk up and stand there when they're talking warranty and the sales bitch says something about how Shane's warranty is bullshit and they don't stand by their guarantee, etc. I say, "We just had my wife's wedding ring repaired under warranty and had no problems." Sales beeotch says, "But you had to pay for it, right?". Me, "No....let's go babe."

Congrats man!

[TheGrey]

Late to the game, but I agree that you should talk with her and get her input. I did NOT want a diamond, and didn't want a ton of money sunk into a ring- I just don't see that as practical at all. We ended up going to a goldsmith and he listened to my input and I got exactly what I wanted in an engagement ring, for under $400.

And it's still beautiful, many years later.