Qvc diamonds

[Tinkerbelle]

My jeweller is never sniffy about selly telly pieces. But I've never gone in just to ask him for a valuation. Perhaps if a particular jeweller gets quite a few people in asking for quick valuations where the jeweller isn't paid to do said valuation it might be why the reaction is quite negative. Gems TV particularly encourage people to do that.

Unless it really is needed for insurance then a valuation is just for curiosity. If its for insurance then it should be revalued every three years I think. And that valuation will come at a cost.

Antique pieces are always worth valuing. Not least because it provided a check for loose stones or claws that need repairing.

 

[historymystery]

There is a big difference between the reaction being negative and being rude, and it's never good business practice to be gratuitously rude to potential customers. I absolutely agree that it's wrong to expect valuations and specialist time for free - which is why when I went in to my local jewellers I offered to pay and would always do so (I don't work for free, so why should he), but my jeweller declined, saying he'd give a verbal valuation to me for free. Fair enough if jewellers politely decline to value an item OR put a notice up in the shop telling people they will not value items with shopping telly hallmarks, but there is a proper way of going about it. I agree that Gems presenters are very glib in saying "get it valued", but I think most people with common sense realise that a jeweller will, in most cases, make a charge for valuations.

My jeweller is never sniffy about selly telly pieces. But I've never gone in just to ask him for a valuation. Perhaps if a particular jeweller gets quite a few people in asking for quick valuations where the jeweller isn't paid to do said valuation it might be why the reaction is quite negative. Gems TV particularly encourage people to do that.

Unless it really is needed for insurance then a valuation is just for curiosity. If its for insurance then it should be revalued every three years I think. And that valuation will come at a cost.

Antique pieces are always worth valuing. Not least because it provided a check for loose stones or claws that need repairing.

 

[Vienna]

Most of QVC`s jewellery offerings are made in their thousands, mass produced, probably abroad and using bulk bought and cheap materials. Gone are the days when you got weighty gold, nice gemstones, excellent quality and value for money. Nowadays I won`t touch them with a bargepole, even for costume or silver jewellery but I have a few lovely pieces from their heyday which I still wear and I feel they will have appreciated in value, even if only on gold weight alone.
Today`s offerings won`t even last into the long term future with their cheap settings, glass stones, base metals and poor quality diamonds or gemstones.

 

[historymystery]

Vienna, totally agree the quality seems to have slipped - or from what I can see on screen and on their website. And the prices have soared. I bought a silver ring with small rubies from them over 6 years ago, and the rubies total over 2 carats (although in cluster), the silver is really heavy, is properly hallmarked and has not tarnished. I've worn it quite a bit and still looks good - and it cost me £19 plus a couple of quid postage. I don't think for one minute mine will have appreciated in value, but it was a good buy and you wouldn't get it nowadays from them.

Most of QVC`s jewellery offerings are made in their thousands, mass produced, probably abroad and using bulk bought and cheap materials. Gone are the days when you got weighty gold, nice gemstones, excellent quality and value for money. Nowadays I won`t touch them with a bargepole, even for costume or silver jewellery but I have a few lovely pieces from their heyday which I still wear and I feel they will have appreciated in value, even if only on gold weight alone.
Today`s offerings won`t even last into the long term future with their cheap settings, glass stones, base metals and poor quality diamonds or gemstones.

 

[sharonk]

Ok so on the subject of valuations.....
My dad bout my mum a fabulous diamond and tanzanite ring on a cruise ship...well into four figures but it needed sizing when she got home.
She got a certificate of authenticity, giving number of diamonds, clarity, weight and grading of tanzanite ( AAA) when she bought the ring.
Anyway she went to independent jewellers in town and they would not touch it. One jeweller actually told her she had got it off the telly!

long story short is that the ring had to be sent away to be sized, but not until it had been valued first for insurance purposes in the post.
It was sent by a jeweller to Birmingham to get a true value.
To be valued properly a piece needs to be thoroughly inspected and takes time, it's not a case of someone looking at it in a shop.
They took stones out and graded them before putting them back ( yes they charged her)
Turned out the ring was not as described and worth far less than paid, they ended up having an argument with the supplier who tried to refund them the difference but in the end they agreed to a full refund.

I lost a stone in an18 carat gold daisy style diamond ring last month. I have had quotes to replace the diamond and repair the claw which I had caught on something and sheard off.
The quotes were £690 and £665..... For a ring I paid £1,000 for about 5 years ago.
Once it's done, I will be getting a full valuation done, it has 7 stones and working on the estimates, there is a chance the value may have gone up.

Valuation for insurance is different to what someone may offer you to sell second hand.

Back on topic, if you like the ring on Q, send for it, see what you think of it in real life. If you love it, keep it, if not, send it back

I don't necessarily agree with the comment about not getting good quality diamonds in 9 ct, not everyone wants the softer gold so I am sure you can get good stones in 9ct.

Jewellry should make you feel fabulous when you put it on, if it doesn't, don't buy it.

 

[boffy]

Ok so on the subject of valuations.....
My dad bout my mum a fabulous diamond and tanzanite ring on a cruise ship...well into four figures but it needed sizing when she got home.
She got a certificate of authenticity, giving number of diamonds, clarity, weight and grading of tanzanite ( AAA) when she bought the ring.
Anyway she went to independent jewellers in town and they would not touch it. One jeweller actually told her she had got it off the telly!

long story short is that the ring had to be sent away to be sized, but not until it had been valued first for insurance purposes in the post.
It was sent by a jeweller to Birmingham to get a true value.
To be valued properly a piece needs to be thoroughly inspected and takes time, it's not a case of someone looking at it in a shop.
They took stones out and graded them before putting them back ( yes they charged her)
Turned out the ring was not as described and worth far less than paid, they ended up having an argument with the supplier who tried to refund them the difference but in the end they agreed to a full refund.

I lost a stone in an18 carat gold daisy style diamond ring last month. I have had quotes to replace the diamond and repair the claw which I had caught on something and sheard off.
The quotes were £690 and £665..... For a ring I paid £1,000 for about 5 years ago.
Once it's done, I will be getting a full valuation done, it has 7 stones and working on the estimates, there is a chance the value may have gone up.

Valuation for insurance is different to what someone may offer you to sell second hand.

Back on topic, if you like the ring on Q, send for it, see what you think of it in real life. If you love it, keep it, if not, send it back

I don't necessarily agree with the comment about not getting good quality diamonds in 9 ct, not everyone wants the softer gold so I am sure you can get good stones in 9ct.

Jewellry should make you feel fabulous when you put it on, if it doesn't, don't buy it.

i think a lot of jewellers openly hate qvc. i bought a lot of gold stuff from qvc many many years ago and i still wear them now many many years ago. one of the problems with buying cluster/single stone rings that needs sizing is the process weakens the setting. if you think about it. i like buying from qvc as they are good at selling a variety of sizes hence not needing resizing. i avoid buying stuff on holiday. its romantic but usually expensive. you have 30 days with qvc and if you dont like it you can return it.

 

[historymystery]

Absolutely agree about the 9ct gold being much more hard-wearing, of course, and if you're going to wear the ring daily, it might well make sense to go for that. But it is true that most jewellers will set the higher-grade diamonds mainly into 18K. Got to be a demand thing, I'd think - for engagement rings most people tend to want 18K.

Ok so on the subject of valuations.....
My dad bout my mum a fabulous diamond and tanzanite ring on a cruise ship...well into four figures but it needed sizing when she got home.
She got a certificate of authenticity, giving number of diamonds, clarity, weight and grading of tanzanite ( AAA) when she bought the ring.
Anyway she went to independent jewellers in town and they would not touch it. One jeweller actually told her she had got it off the telly!

long story short is that the ring had to be sent away to be sized, but not until it had been valued first for insurance purposes in the post.
It was sent by a jeweller to Birmingham to get a true value.
To be valued properly a piece needs to be thoroughly inspected and takes time, it's not a case of someone looking at it in a shop.
They took stones out and graded them before putting them back ( yes they charged her)
Turned out the ring was not as described and worth far less than paid, they ended up having an argument with the supplier who tried to refund them the difference but in the end they agreed to a full refund.

I lost a stone in an18 carat gold daisy style diamond ring last month. I have had quotes to replace the diamond and repair the claw which I had caught on something and sheard off.
The quotes were £690 and £665..... For a ring I paid £1,000 for about 5 years ago.
Once it's done, I will be getting a full valuation done, it has 7 stones and working on the estimates, there is a chance the value may have gone up.

Valuation for insurance is different to what someone may offer you to sell second hand.

Back on topic, if you like the ring on Q, send for it, see what you think of it in real life. If you love it, keep it, if not, send it back

I don't necessarily agree with the comment about not getting good quality diamonds in 9 ct, not everyone wants the softer gold so I am sure you can get good stones in 9ct.

Jewellry should make you feel fabulous when you put it on, if it doesn't, don't buy it.

 

[Tinkerbelle]

Do jewellers still sell 22ct?! Just wondering. I've a few 22ct pieces but they're all antique (inherited). I've also got antique pieces that are 15ct. Apparently that was quite common in the 1800s.

My son wears an antique 22ct band ring every day. I've never really thought about how well it would wear but probably not that well in the long term.

 

[diamonds]

I ordered from qvc as it was in last clicks and only one remaining .If it's nice will keep it otherwise will send it back .I did purchase the one I saw in second hand shop and will see how this compares to the one from qvc .Thanks everyone for your advise .

 

[diamonds]

Do jewellers still sell 22ct?! Just wondering. I've a few 22ct pieces but they're all antique (inherited). I've also got antique pieces that are 15ct. Apparently that was quite common in the 1800s.

My son wears an antique 22ct band ring every day. I've never really thought about how well it would wear but probably not that well in the long term.

I did see 22 ct being sold in second hand though they don't use it with diamonds due to it being too soft .

 

[Tiddlywinks]

Asian gold can be 21-24ct - readily available in London, Birmingham etc.

 

[Tiddlywinks]

I don't think 18ct is too soft for everyday wear.

Mr Tiddly has worn his 18ct wedding ring for more than two decades and that has made it through his deployments to three war zones and the operational heavy duty stuff that service life entails. My wedding and engagement rings are 18ct yellow gold and the settings have lasted with daily wear. I chose a rub-over setting for my diamonds to make it more durable.

 

[Bea Frugal]

I ordered from qvc as it was in last clicks and only one remaining .If it's nice will keep it otherwise will send it back .I did purchase the one I saw in second hand shop and will see how this compares to the one from qvc .Thanks everyone for your advise .

Let us know your thoughts diamonds.

 

[diamonds]

I don't think 18ct is too soft for everyday wear.

Mr Tiddly has worn his 18ct wedding ring for more than two decades and that has made it through his deployments to three war zones and the operational heavy duty stuff that service life entails. My wedding and engagement rings are 18ct yellow gold and the settings have lasted with daily wear. I chose a rub-over setting for my diamonds to make it more durable.

No not for daily wear .Asians always wear only 22ct gold .Its only for diamonds or precious stones they don't use them ,only 18

 

[diamonds]

Let us know your thoughts diamonds.

Sure will do .Expecting it on Monday or Tuesday ,they are sending with DX it seems .actually my husbands gift to me for 24 anniversary:mysmilie_47:

 

[diamonds]

Item number is 610021 , if anyone is interested .They seem to have size L&N,

 

[alter ego]

Ooh, the Asian gold is fabulous - it's so yellow it looks totally fake and many of the designs are not me and often hollowed out, but they're still gorgeous. And even hollowed out, they're so heavy simply because of the weight of almost pure gold. I'd agree it's not for holding precious gems, though. The Dubai gold souk (when I went) was literally wall-to-wall gold. Anyone been recently? Is it still the same?

On to diamonds - one of my fave subjects! Wouldn't touch QVC's with someone else's money, sorry. But if someone did, I'd advise them look around and familiarise themselves with colours, grades and cuts first. Then hit some independents and antique sellers. Until you see a lot, you won't really know what you're buying or if you'd prefer a different cut. By then it'll be too late and your beautiful and "good value" Q ring will be next to worthless if you trade up or sell second-hand. I made a mistake with my first 'modern' diamond (my first engagement ring). Bought from a good independent jeweller many years ago. Just under 1ct (the dead-on weights are often not as well-cut in order to maximise the weight), and internally flawless E colour. Cost a lot because of the good old new jewellery mark-up. Good on paper, but since then, I've bought stuff I really love and only second-hand. Apart from being better value, I appreciate the old cuts more.

Another pet hate apart from £stupid mark-up is the gem quality (or total lack of!). I wandered into one of our best known jewellers a few weeks ago and was horrified to see the stones on sale. So included they just looked like cracked and cloudy ice. They were all on display in the same cabinet so you had nothing to directly compare them with, but around the corner they had Vera Wang diamonds, which admittedly were much better quality, but then explained as much higher priced due to the designer premium.

I've noticed that most of the diamonds on Q are visibly included. That American woman is always banging on about the colour and the sparkly cut, and yes, a lot are G-H colour (fairly good), but the cloudiness? Hardly sparkly, even if the cut is good. I also notice they've started selling the Hearts and Arrows type cuts in Diamonique, and are banging on a lot about that, but I've not seen any H&A cuts in diamonds.

Across the way was a Clogau shop. Better diamonds, but £5k more for a 1ct? They're truly laughing all the way to the bank. I also get a bit wound up about their touch of gold line. Just exactly is a touch of gold?? If it's Welsh Gold you want, look for the Maiden (Welsh lady hallmark and 100% Welsh gold up to the carat percentage), or Cymru y Metal (varies, but 5% minimum). They do have beautiful designs, but a book of Celtic designs will give a load of inspiration. My niece wanted Clogau as it's Welsh gold and a Celtic design, but we got a Maiden gold 18ct band from eBay and took it to an independent jeweller with pictures of the design she liked (but with a few of her own tweaks - cheeky I know, but not as cheeky as Clogau's mark-up!). The jeweller got some loose stones in for her to look at (GIA graded). It took several months, but her ring is gorgeous, full Welsh gold with a traditional Celtic design and a beautiful stone for £4k less than Clogau. I tried hard to get her to decide on a old stone, but it's her ring and a new cut was her preference. Youngsters!

The thing to remember about older cuts is they look different as they're not precision cut like the modern brilliants. I have a gorgeous Old European Cut and another equally lovely, but totally different Old Mine cut stone. The Old Miner doesn't get as many comments, but the Old European is so flashy (in colour) that I've never worn it without it getting attention. Most people ask if it's real as they can see there's something different about it (lovely chunky cuts), but can't put their finger on exactly what. When I explain what it is people ask where they can get one. Well, a lot of antique or independent jewellers will have them, though sadly, a lot will have been re-cut into modern brilliants and sold as new in a new mount. Very sad.

 

[alter ego]

Item number is 610021 , if anyone is interested .They seem to have size L&N,

The baguettes don't look very well-set tbh. There'll be plenty of second-hand or sales on the high street after Christmas. 62 diamonds... yes, there'll be plenty of sparkle due to the nature of diamonds anyway, but it's still over-priced and if you like smaller stones, have you thought of a similar design in diamonique?

 

[historymystery]

I've noticed the rubover settings are appearing more often now on modern jewellery.

I don't think 18ct is too soft for everyday wear.

Mr Tiddly has worn his 18ct wedding ring for more than two decades and that has made it through his deployments to three war zones and the operational heavy duty stuff that service life entails. My wedding and engagement rings are 18ct yellow gold and the settings have lasted with daily wear. I chose a rub-over setting for my diamonds to make it more durable.

 

[historymystery]

I've only seen it in antique pieces, to be honest. I have a ring in 22ct that was a great-grandma's, but I don't wear it as I'm worried about the softness of the gold - it looks like it has had hardly any wear, probably because she only wore it on high days and holidays. QUOTE=Tinkerbelle;831563]Do jewellers still sell 22ct?! Just wondering. I've a few 22ct pieces but they're all antique (inherited). I've also got antique pieces that are 15ct. Apparently that was quite common in the 1800s.

My son wears an antique 22ct band ring every day. I've never really thought about how well it would wear but probably not that well in the long term.[/QUOTE]