Pearl rings - REALLY glad I decided to sleep on it - p. 14

[Deetee]

I can answer the diamond question. Small diamonds like on that ring are nearly valueless. I actually ordered a few larger diamonds on eBay for about 5-10 dollars each. The small diamonds are just leftovers from cutting the larger ones.

Edit: by larger, I mean larger than the ones in your ring, not actually large 1 carot diamonds or anything. I think they were 1/16 or 1/8 carats.

[Sophia]

I find the pricing not surprising at all.  Zales does not sell to consumers who know their jewelry.  They sell jewelry which which should be very inexpensive at an inflated price.  Partly because the locations aren't cheap, and partly because they can.  After all, if it had been a sturdier stone, you wouldn't have had second thoughts.  Sorry. 

[Slartibartfast]

Rule of jewelry advertising: nobody ever pays "full price" for anything, other than possibly engagement rings.  Sometimes you'll see small print in jewelry sale ads saying "Actual sales may not have occurred at regular price" - which means they're pulling a price out of thin air so they can give you "50% off" or "80% off" or whatever.  The percentages don't mean a thing.  Buy it based on the amount of money versus how much you like the ring - jewelry stores are even worse than department stores about always having a "sale" going on.

(Some other industries take the opposite approach - makeup is almost never on sale, for example, but frequently has a "free gift with purchase."  It's a really fascinating area of study.)

[Iris]

I just wanted to POD Slartibartfast. Very wise advise to keep in mind when buying jewelry.

[AnnaJ]

Not specific to this ring, but just a vote for not spending the money on a class ring.  I only knew one friend who wore a class ring more that an year or two, and at the prices for those rings they can be expensive clumps of metal in jewelry boxes.  Even if you don't buy this particular ring I think you'll be happier buying a 'general' ring - you can always think of it as your class ring, but it won't be so limiting.

[Hmmmmm]

Rule of jewelry advertising: nobody ever pays "full price" for anything, other than possibly engagement rings.  Sometimes you'll see small print in jewelry sale ads saying "Actual sales may not have occurred at regular price" - which means they're pulling a price out of thin air so they can give you "50% off" or "80% off" or whatever.  The percentages don't mean a thing.  Buy it based on the amount of money versus how much you like the ring - jewelry stores are even worse than department stores about always having a "sale" going on.

(Some other industries take the opposite approach - makeup is almost never on sale, for example, but frequently has a "free gift with purchase."  It's a really fascinating area of study.)

I agree with all of this.  See if you can find an independent jeweler in your town who does custom jewelry, take them an image of the ring and ask them to quote based on the type if metal and quality if pearl you would like.  They may not be able to do an exact replica but they could probably do something similar and would be very clear on the sturdiness of the setting. 

[otterwoman]

(Some other industries take the opposite approach - makeup is almost never on sale, for example, but frequently has a "free gift with purchase."  It's a really fascinating area of study.)

A little on the makeup part. Stores usually buy their products from a manufacturer, and then sell the product at whatever price they want. The store can offer sales, the store can sell at a loss if they want (loss leaders). However, makeup and fragrances ( high end stuff in department stores) are actually owned by the manufacturer until the customer (you) buys it. That way the manufacturer can control the price across all sales points. So, you never see sales, but you will see free gifts.

That's what was explained to me years ago.

[Nuala]

  Even if you don't buy this particular ring I think you'll be happier buying a 'general' ring - you can always think of it as your class ring, but it won't be so limiting.

DH gave me a sapphire ring when I finally got my BA (25 years after graduating from high school), and we always refer to it as my class ring.

[RebeccainGA]

I would recommend shopping around online, if you feel like a pearl ring is what you want. Ice.com has some gorgeous things, often at a significant discount (and I own several things from them, including some beautiful pearl earrings). They cater to the pricy market (thousands of dollars for diamond engagement rings) but also carry a really nice selection of less expensive things (I think the earrings I have were about $40 - pink pearls in a drop setting).

I will second, third and fourth the Zales marks up things comments, too - I had a friend go to buy her engagement rings there (she and the fiance were going to wear engagement rings). She got so mad at their customer service she walked out, and was glad she did - her mom found nearly identical rings at a local shop for 1/3 the price.

[jpcher]

I have a pearl ring that was bequeathed to my by my late grandmother when I was 8 yrs old. By the time I reached my 20's I decided to wear the ring daily. It was set in prongs, much like a diamond setting. I took it to a jeweler once because, after about 5 years of daily wear, the pearl started rolling in the setting. I thought the prongs came loose. Jeweler admonished me "You're wearing this every day, aren't you?" Sure enough the pearl was disintegrating.

My MIL gave me a pearl pendant of hers after LDH passed away. I wore it on a gold chain, never removed it, and it discolored, changed it's shape, and finally fell off of the pendant. I did not take proper care of that pearl.




On the flip side, my mother's engagement ring was a pearl. She only wears it for special occasions, or when going out to church or even shopping, pretty much whenever she left the house. She never wore it around the house. To this day it's as beautiful as it was 56 years ago.



Yes. Pearls are delicate. They can last a long time, if you don't abuse them.



OP -- that ring is gorgeous! If it makes you happy? I say go for it.


 

[AylaM]

I did end up getting the ring.  I had checked out a few different places and looked online, but found very few rings that I likes as much as that one.

It turned out to be gold and not silver, and based on the cost of gold rings now (we were looking to replace mom's mother's ring, but it is going to be so expensive, so we decided to wait) I got a pretty good deal on it.

Especially since they did give me the warranty - used items were not supposed to have the warranty, but the computer gave them the option and they gave me the option.  So I got the ring + warranty(which includes resizing) for less than I would have gotten ring+resizing.

Yay!