Buying engagement ring in USA

hoxtonbabe

pusscat_1 wrote: »

Though big savings at American stores such as Tiffanys can be made, my daughter got engaged this year in June in New York and her fiance bought a ring there at an independent shop. After taking to a well known UK jeweller yesterday, to have a minor scratch polished out, she was informed the gold was of a very poor standard and porous, the setting shaky and was advised to get the diamond [ok luckily] re- set asap, at a cost of nearly £700, not such a bargain as was first thought! Not sure if there is any way of reporting the store or getting any re-imbursement, any ideas anyone?

Well knowN uk jewellers are the worst at this sort of thing, always quick to rubbish anything not bought over here. I went into all of them from h.samual to goldsmiths, and at the end of it I ended up teaching them! They get even more shaky when I bring out my loupe and ask ask for the certification as i am more interested in the cut rather than the clarity or colour as it is with the cut you get the true diamond sparkle...half of the salespeople i encountered did not know.

I have no clue as to what the setting was from the high at store, but if standard yellow or White gold £700 is very expensive, and would be thinking more about that.

Enterprise_1701C

pusscat_1 wrote: »

Though big savings at American stores such as Tiffanys can be made, my daughter got engaged this year in June in New York and her fiance bought a ring there at an independent shop. After taking to a well known UK jeweller yesterday, to have a minor scratch polished out, she was informed the gold was of a very poor standard and porous, the setting shaky and was advised to get the diamond [ok luckily] re- set asap, at a cost of nearly £700, not such a bargain as was first thought! Not sure if there is any way of reporting the store or getting any re-imbursement, any ideas anyone?

Did they use a credit card? They might be able to make a claim against the cc provider if they did.

backfromtheeast

Sales tax in the US cannot be claimed back ever. It is not a VAT. But most items purchased over the internet sent to a different state do not incur sales tax.

There are firms in the US who specialise in rings bought over the internet, at a lot lower cost than jewellers on the high street.

Hence if you order a ring from a mail-order firm (James Allen I used for example) you can have it sent to a DHL facility in any state of your choosing where you can go and pick it up, thereby not needing to pay sales tax and not having to wonder where to mail it to.

If you then give the ring to someone in the US it is not new anymore .... so do not need to declare it at customs ?

hoxtonbabe

backfromtheeast wrote: »

Sales tax in the US cannot be claimed back ever. It is not a VAT. But most items purchased over the internet sent to a different state do not incur sales tax.

There are firms in the US who specialise in rings bought over the internet, at a lot lower cost than jewellers on the high street.

Hence if you order a ring from a mail-order firm (James Allen I used for example) you can have it sent to a DHL facility in any state of your choosing where you can go and pick it up, thereby not needing to pay sales tax and not having to wonder where to mail it to.

If you then give the ring to someone in the US it is not new anymore .... so do not need to declare it at customs ?

James Allen have some beautiful diamonds and settings.. This thread is making want to spend! Lol.

Not sure how it could work with partner being around but you could get it sent to the hotel, just tell the receptionist to make sure to call you on cell phone so fianc!e to be gets no wind of it...I did this before, I ordered something so it got at the hotel on my arrival day so gave me time to rectify if need be, i admit is was not £££'s worth of diamonds and neither was it a secret so quite straight forward and once you give her the ring there as mentioned, then the whole customs issue is out the window? I doubt they would stop you at the gate and pick out your fianc!e and ask where, how and when that ring on her finger was purchased, well I hope not :-)

claire16c

hoxtonbabe wrote: »

Well knowN uk jewellers are the worst at this sort of thing, always quick to rubbish anything not bought over here. I went into all of them from h.samual to goldsmiths, and at the end of it I ended up teaching them! They get even more shaky when I bring out my loupe and ask ask for the certification as i am more interested in the cut rather than the clarity or colour as it is with the cut you get the true diamond sparkle...half of the salespeople i encountered did not know.

I have no clue as to what the setting was from the high at store, but if standard yellow or White gold £700 is very expensive, and would be thinking more about that.

I agree £700 just for the gold sounds horrendously expensive.

Also, I dont even think it has to come from another country for them to rubbish stuff, my friends husband (then fiance) bought her a white gold ring, from a uk high street jewellers. As the ring didnt fit her quite properly, they went back into a couple of jewellers ( I cant remember now if it included the one where he bought the ring from) to change the size.

The jewellers told them that white gold needs recoating in the rhodium every 6 months which over a few years will end up costing a fortune and theyd be much better off changing the ring for the platinum version. Neither of them knew much about jewellery and ended up doing this!

This cost them £700 to get it changed to a platinum version, and my friend couldnt believe it when I said well Ive had my white gold ring for 18 months and it doesnt need recoating yet but I got a quote from my local jewellers for £10 to redo it for when it does. So youd have to be married for 70 years (if you even got it done every year) to match the cost!!

So lets face it, they are just out to make money!

phatbear

backfromtheeast wrote: »

If you then give the ring to someone in the US it is not new anymore .... so do not need to declare it at customs ?

Really didnt wana get involved with this post as it would appear the MO is to evade vat/duty on importation of goods, which regardless of your opinion is against the law.

Anyway the only point I will make is the above point is poop, if this were the case then you could bring anything back duty free into the country as long as you are travelling with someone, ie i buy a macbook and give it to my other half i/she still needs to pay the vat and duty on the item when we return to the uk

ferf1223

claire16c wrote: »

The jewellers told them that white gold needs recoating in the rhodium every 6 months which over a few years will end up costing a fortune and theyd be much better off changing the ring for the platinum version. Neither of them knew much about jewellery and ended up doing this!

This cost them £700 to get it changed to a platinum version, and my friend couldnt believe it when I said well Ive had my white gold ring for 18 months and it doesnt need recoating yet but I got a quote from my local jewellers for £10 to redo it for when it does. So youd have to be married for 70 years (if you even got it done every year) to match the cost!!

Interesting - I have never heard of such a thing and my white gold engagement ring and wedding ring (both bought in the US as I was living there at the time) are perfectly fine 10+ years on.

frugalfrancine

Hi Mr Wright

I would wholeheartedly recommend JamesAllen.com. My husband bought me my engagement ring there. They are an American online jeweler with very good prices and products and variety.They ship for FREE to the UK (and to other countries). For some people, it is more cost effective than shopping locally.

But they are an online only jeweler. If you are keen on buying in person, there are many opportunities in the US. But the best opportunities are online (even at Amazon, etc). If you see something great online, you could probably request express shipping to your hotel or something. I have done that a lot (but I am not everyone! my husband works a lot in the US and I travel a lot too so i am very comfortable with doing things like that).

where will you be in the US? Macy's should have some duty free options (but they're expensive!). But there are so many sales in America. No other country has the types of sales they have in America. There are coupons online and in newspapers and even in stores. It is the land of sales and discounts. you can usually find a 10% off or 20% coupon for macy's in any local paper in the USA.

littlereddevil

pusscat_1 wrote: »

I still find the best deals on diamonds are in Dubai, my '50th' ring was valued back home at 4 times its cost, just make sure to purchase from the diamond and gold mall, which are all authorised dealers and not be tempted in the gold souk![/QUO

Some of the jewellers in the gold souk also have branches in the diamond and gold mall ??

claire16c

ferf1223 wrote: »

Interesting - I have never heard of such a thing and my white gold engagement ring and wedding ring (both bought in the US as I was living there at the time) are perfectly fine 10+ years on.

My mums wedding ring is about 30 years old and does actually look yellow gold now so the rhodium does wear off over time for sure, but definitely not every 6 months!

Thats very good if yours is still ok 10 years on. I was expecting to have to get mine recoated perhaps in 3-5 years.