Proposal Ring - Part 2

[Carnage]

Thank you for the reply. We will strike them out if thats the case

I think their ring designs are lovely, but the diamond cutting is terrible. You look at their diamonds through the scope you'll know what I mean. Hearts and arrows have the unequal shape.

 

[delson_tan]

I think their ring designs are lovely, but the diamond cutting is terrible. You look at their diamonds through the scope you'll know what I mean. Hearts and arrows have the unequal shape.

I got a design from Love & Co. which I got JP to customize since Love & Co. told me they can't customize any of their rings to our liking. What's more, JP got fancy diamonds which is rare among retailers.

 

[final1]

I wouldnt recommend colored diamonds in Singapore.
This is because most Singaporeans are noob about diamonds.
They wouldnt know that this one is more rare/expensive than that one etc.
They may even ask, "how come your diamond so yellow ah?"
Then things would become awkward.

 

[delson_tan]

I wouldnt recommend colored diamonds in Singapore.
This is because most Singaporeans are noob about diamonds.
They wouldnt know that this one is more rare/expensive than that one etc.
They may even ask, "how come your diamond so yellow ah?"
Then things would become awkward.

I doubt they will even recognize it as a diamond in the first place.

 

[DhZ85]

I've just finished my appointment with JP's Casey.

I just wanted to share my journey over here so people who has the same concern and worries that i had to learn from my journey. It may not be the most perfect one, but it was definitely a low budgeted and urgent journey to get an engagement ring.

My challenge was this:
1. Less than two weeks timeline
2. Low budget.

I started off sending an email to JP after reading through this thread. I sent it in with a heavy heart, being ashamed of my low budget(Below 3k) and that i need a ring urgently. They came back politely and professionally asking of my 3Cs requirement and that if necessary, i could go around and take a look at the Local Jewelers. So i replied them with this:
Carat: 0.3 - 0.4
Color : E-F
Clarity : VS1
Collection date : Less than 2 weeks
Price : below 2.5k
(All with the knowledge that i got from what i could gather from this thread)

At the same time, i went to Goldheart, Citigem, SK, Tianpo to check the scene.
(CAUTION: this was just my personal experience. everyone has a different experience)
What i know is that the Cut is very important, so i decided to check on all the premium cuts of each store.
True enough, all the premium cuts that is offered to me which is in the region of 0.3 - 0.45 carats are above 2.5k OTHER than SK.

The Celestial(Starburst) diamond from Goldheart and the Rosella(Rose) diamond from Citigem were really impressive but not within my budget.

SK was offering at a very good price! They had one that was 0.42 carat, E, S1 which was going for $2100 and that was really tempting because it is 8 hearts and 8 arrows. I decided to control myself and mention that i will only make a decision after my appointment with JP.

The only scope test that we did was to take a look at the Arrows on the diamonds. Only 1 shop, TianPo, shown me the loose diamond(Hearts on fire) and shown me both the Arrows and hearts. They also offered to show me the cert number on the girdle.

I went away with quite a heavy heart on whether i should have gotten the diamond ring from SK since i needed the ring urgently.

So the time for my appointment has arrived and i met with JP's Casey.

One thing that truly impressed was that service was impeccable.
Despite my small budget, they continued to give me the full course education of diamonds(HSA,the different scopes, the GIA cert, etc etc) On top of that, they were able to meet my requirements and still gave me all the attention i required. I was able to get the diamond and the settings that i am sure my girlfriend would love.

For my budget, i was able to get the following:
0.36 carat, F , VS1, HCA 1.3,18k whitegold setting. Verified by all the 3 different scopes with minimal leakage, diamond education and a lovely experience. (He mentioned that he will give me the photos of my ring too).
I wanted to spend more but Casey was very nice to me and said "Look at the diamonds, if you don't see any differences, pick the one that is value for money."

I knew, he had my interest at heart.

Thanks Casey and JP for the journey! I am looking forward to my collection.
Also, Thanks Hardwarezone, for all the information for the journey.

 

[Carnage]

Another satisfied customer.

Notice that you got a better diamond than the one from SK?

 

[DhZ85]

I would say that I m assured of the quality of the diamond ring that I am getting.

 

[subprimelive]

Making appointment to view or consult on ring designs

May I ask everyone about the popular jewellery shops mentioned in this forum which need to make appointment. If I just want to bring my SO to view their existing proposal ring designs, is it better that I make appointment or can I walk-in to the shop?

During the first appointment, will the shop, in anyway, pressure me to put down any downpayment, because they spend 2hours plus "educating" me on the A-Zs of buying proposal ring and they spent so much time showing me all their ring designs?

 

[hollander]

May I ask everyone about the popular jewellery shops mentioned in this forum which need to make appointment. If I just want to bring my SO to view their existing proposal ring designs, is it better that I make appointment or can I walk-in to the shop?

During the first appointment, will the shop, in anyway, pressure me to put down any downpayment, because they spend 2hours plus "educating" me on the A-Zs of buying proposal ring and they spent so much time showing me all their ring designs?

it is a shop inside another shop or a brand from another brand, confusing eh??? ;-), for you to see the one they have specifically, it is better to schedule a visit. Walk in is not a problem as they will still entertain you, just look for them, but you might end up looking with the rings from the other brand. You must specify ;-)

 

[[GorgeouS]]

I've just finished my appointment with JP's Casey.

I just wanted to share my journey over here so people who has the same concern and worries that i had to learn from my journey. It may not be the most perfect one, but it was definitely a low budgeted and urgent journey to get an engagement ring.

My challenge was this:
1. Less than two weeks timeline
2. Low budget.

I started off sending an email to JP after reading through this thread. I sent it in with a heavy heart, being ashamed of my low budget(Below 3k) and that i need a ring urgently. They came back politely and professionally asking of my 3Cs requirement and that if necessary, i could go around and take a look at the Local Jewelers. So i replied them with this:
Carat: 0.3 - 0.4
Color : E-F
Clarity : VS1
Collection date : Less than 2 weeks
Price : below 2.5k
(All with the knowledge that i got from what i could gather from this thread)

At the same time, i went to Goldheart, Citigem, SK, Tianpo to check the scene.
(CAUTION: this was just my personal experience. everyone has a different experience)
What i know is that the Cut is very important, so i decided to check on all the premium cuts of each store.
True enough, all the premium cuts that is offered to me which is in the region of 0.3 - 0.45 carats are above 2.5k OTHER than SK.

The Celestial(Starburst) diamond from Goldheart and the Rosella(Rose) diamond from Citigem were really impressive but not within my budget.

SK was offering at a very good price! They had one that was 0.42 carat, E, S1 which was going for $2100 and that was really tempting because it is 8 hearts and 8 arrows. I decided to control myself and mention that i will only make a decision after my appointment with JP.

The only scope test that we did was to take a look at the Arrows on the diamonds. Only 1 shop, TianPo, shown me the loose diamond(Hearts on fire) and shown me both the Arrows and hearts. They also offered to show me the cert number on the girdle.

I went away with quite a heavy heart on whether i should have gotten the diamond ring from SK since i needed the ring urgently.

So the time for my appointment has arrived and i met with JP's Casey.

One thing that truly impressed was that service was impeccable.
Despite my small budget, they continued to give me the full course education of diamonds(HSA,the different scopes, the GIA cert, etc etc) On top of that, they were able to meet my requirements and still gave me all the attention i required. I was able to get the diamond and the settings that i am sure my girlfriend would love.

For my budget, i was able to get the following:
0.36 carat, F , VS1, HCA 1.3,18k whitegold setting. Verified by all the 3 different scopes with minimal leakage, diamond education and a lovely experience. (He mentioned that he will give me the photos of my ring too).
I wanted to spend more but Casey was very nice to me and said "Look at the diamonds, if you don't see any differences, pick the one that is value for money."

I knew, he had my interest at heart.

Thanks Casey and JP for the journey! I am looking forward to my collection.
Also, Thanks Hardwarezone, for all the information for the journey.

Congrats on finding your perfect ring! Good work on your research! There's nothing to be ashamed about your budget. As long as you feel that it's worth it, it's good enuff. What matters is you got the ring you like.

 

[hollander]

Hi All,

Any new images of your recent purchase?

 

[redsugar]

Juz collected and paid in full for my ring from JP. As usual, Casey is very polite.

He took some shots using a Canon Macro lens and will post it soon. So happy. Will definitely recommend this to my friends.

 

[hollander]

Juz collected and paid in full for my ring from JP. As usual, Casey is very polite.

He took some shots using a Canon Macro lens and will post it soon. So happy. Will definitely recommend this to my friends.

Congrats!!!!

 

[ethwz]

Right. Then how come the agents are advertising rampantly in the homeseekers forum?

I caught two on the first page- one work from home ad and another attempting to sell a flat in woodlands. I'll need more time to dig through the entire forum. In the meanwhile, feel free to PM me the urls of these agents.

Everyone's help will go a long way to make this neater place to browse content

 

[felali]

I call Shenanigan!!

Just found out that my last post was deleted. Why would hwz delete my post? Someone must have reported because my post was not so pleasant.

The diamond is still missing.

Jann could you please reply to my sms or PM me. Thanks.

A friend of mine who also bought from JannPaul told me about something going on recently in this thread that may make us worry a little about our diamonds...

This thread is right on my firefox bookmark bar, and I do drop in once in a while to gawk at the beautiful pictures (it was a wonderful journey looking for the RIGHT engagement diamond! I even purchased my own Ideal/ASET scopes!). And nice to see some old-timers again (hello, dawnmin!)

This thread is supposed to help fellow previously-clueless ring buyers find the best diamond ring for their girlfriends. But once again, we're beset by questionable posts that in my opinion, may potentially prevent some buyers from enjoying the experience and finding the perfect proposal ring.

(sure, we're rather biased here - though with good reason - but we still advocate shopping at the malls, and the solid websites like bluenile, goodoldgold, whiteflash, jamesallen, and google!)

Just a couple of points to mention, hopefully as the last coffin nail to this incident...

-

1) Credibility?!??
If my diamond ever falls out from the prongs, I'D BE AT THE SHOP KICKING UP A RUCKUS, NOT BEGGING AT THE FORUMS FOR ATTENTION OR A REPLY!

And, anyone who has gone through the process of buying from JP and visiting them multiple times, will know that either Casey or Jann will always be there!

2) Precedence
Readers who dug around this thread, and especially the first thread, will know that there are the fellow jewellers/brands/competitors that contribute with posts every now and then. Some were nice and informative, a couple only wanted to promote their brands, and there were those that were unscrupulous.

I think I know what feitonglong is trying to do, and it is NOT NEW.

3) Prong Test & Credibility (again)
From what I know, JannPaul does prong tests before they finally pass you the ring. I'm not really sure what it involves, but I remember keywords like vibration testing. It was in January 2011 that I collected my ring, almost 2 years ago, but I did remember them asking me to wait another 1 day before collection because they needed to go through that test.

I believe that really helps make sure the diamond is well-set into the setting.

feitonglong's diamond disappearing into thin air with the prongs still intact, sounds rather far fetched to me...

 

[felali]

I've just finished my appointment with JP's Casey.

I just wanted to share my journey over here so people who has the same concern and worries that i had to learn from my journey. It may not be the most perfect one, but it was definitely a low budgeted and urgent journey to get an engagement ring.

My challenge was this:
1. Less than two weeks timeline
2. Low budget.

I started off sending an email to JP after reading through this thread. I sent it in with a heavy heart, being ashamed of my low budget(Below 3k) and that i need a ring urgently. They came back politely and professionally asking of my 3Cs requirement and that if necessary, i could go around and take a look at the Local Jewelers. So i replied them with this:
Carat: 0.3 - 0.4
Color : E-F
Clarity : VS1
Collection date : Less than 2 weeks
Price : below 2.5k
(All with the knowledge that i got from what i could gather from this thread)

At the same time, i went to Goldheart, Citigem, SK, Tianpo to check the scene.
(CAUTION: this was just my personal experience. everyone has a different experience)
What i know is that the Cut is very important, so i decided to check on all the premium cuts of each store.
True enough, all the premium cuts that is offered to me which is in the region of 0.3 - 0.45 carats are above 2.5k OTHER than SK.

The Celestial(Starburst) diamond from Goldheart and the Rosella(Rose) diamond from Citigem were really impressive but not within my budget.

SK was offering at a very good price! They had one that was 0.42 carat, E, S1 which was going for $2100 and that was really tempting because it is 8 hearts and 8 arrows. I decided to control myself and mention that i will only make a decision after my appointment with JP.

The only scope test that we did was to take a look at the Arrows on the diamonds. Only 1 shop, TianPo, shown me the loose diamond(Hearts on fire) and shown me both the Arrows and hearts. They also offered to show me the cert number on the girdle.

I went away with quite a heavy heart on whether i should have gotten the diamond ring from SK since i needed the ring urgently.

So the time for my appointment has arrived and i met with JP's Casey.

One thing that truly impressed was that service was impeccable.
Despite my small budget, they continued to give me the full course education of diamonds(HSA,the different scopes, the GIA cert, etc etc) On top of that, they were able to meet my requirements and still gave me all the attention i required. I was able to get the diamond and the settings that i am sure my girlfriend would love.

For my budget, i was able to get the following:
0.36 carat, F , VS1, HCA 1.3,18k whitegold setting. Verified by all the 3 different scopes with minimal leakage, diamond education and a lovely experience. (He mentioned that he will give me the photos of my ring too).
I wanted to spend more but Casey was very nice to me and said "Look at the diamonds, if you don't see any differences, pick the one that is value for money."

I knew, he had my interest at heart.

Thanks Casey and JP for the journey! I am looking forward to my collection.
Also, Thanks Hardwarezone, for all the information for the journey.

I always encourage my friends to first spend time at the usual shops in our malls (SK, Lee Hwa, Tianpo, Goldheart, Tiffany, etc).

THEN make an appointment with JannPaul.

After that, easiest decision they'll ever make!! (painful $$, yes; but easy and clear choice)

There are other shops around seem similar or even better than what JannPaul is doing, but I'm damn sure they don't have JannPaul's toys (e.g. DiamondDock, Sarin Scanner, etc, not sure what else they've got recently), and we've all witnessed their shenanigans, falsifications, and hard-sells before.

 

[felali]

I always encourage my friends to first spend time at the usual shops in our malls (SK, Lee Hwa, Tianpo, Goldheart, Tiffany, etc).

THEN make an appointment with JannPaul.

After that, easiest decision they'll ever make!! (painful $$, yes; but easy and clear choice)

There are other shops around seem similar or even better than what JannPaul is doing, but I'm damn sure they don't have JannPaul's toys (e.g. DiamondDock, Sarin Scanner, etc, not sure what else they've got recently), and we've all witnessed their shenanigans, falsifications, and hard-sells before.

I almost feel guilty now promoting one jeweler above others instead of talking about diamonds... Just hoping potential shoppers read the thread well to discern the gems from the fluff!
(back then, GoodOldGold was my first choice)

 

[felali]

have been in love & co before.
Generally, felt the diamonds were overpriced for the quality. Did not buy from them.

For wedding bands itself (not talking about diamonds), think love & co is pretty popular?

I think Love & Co has great wedding bands... And the shops have that great ambience that really puts you in a lovey dreamy state, quite conducive for looking through designs!

 

[firewalker85]

A friend of mine who also bought from JannPaul told me about something going on recently in this thread that may make us worry a little about our diamonds...

This thread is right on my firefox bookmark bar, and I do drop in once in a while to gawk at the beautiful pictures (it was a wonderful journey looking for the RIGHT engagement diamond! I even purchased my own Ideal/ASET scopes!). And nice to see some old-timers again (hello, dawnmin!)

This thread is supposed to help fellow previously-clueless ring buyers find the best diamond ring for their girlfriends. But once again, we're beset by questionable posts that in my opinion, may potentially prevent some buyers from enjoying the experience and finding the perfect proposal ring.

(sure, we're rather biased here - though with good reason - but we still advocate shopping at the malls, and the solid websites like bluenile, goodoldgold, whiteflash, jamesallen, and google!)

Just a couple of points to mention, hopefully as the last coffin nail to this incident...

-

1) Credibility?!??
If my diamond ever falls out from the prongs, I'D BE AT THE SHOP KICKING UP A RUCKUS, NOT BEGGING AT THE FORUMS FOR ATTENTION OR A REPLY!

And, anyone who has gone through the process of buying from JP and visiting them multiple times, will know that either Casey or Jann will always be there!

2) Precedence
Readers who dug around this thread, and especially the first thread, will know that there are the fellow jewellers/brands/competitors that contribute with posts every now and then. Some were nice and informative, a couple only wanted to promote their brands, and there were those that were unscrupulous.

I think I know what feitonglong is trying to do, and it is NOT NEW.

3) Prong Test & Credibility (again)
From what I know, JannPaul does prong tests before they finally pass you the ring. I'm not really sure what it involves, but I remember keywords like vibration testing. It was in January 2011 that I collected my ring, almost 2 years ago, but I did remember them asking me to wait another 1 day before collection because they needed to go through that test.

I believe that really helps make sure the diamond is well-set into the setting.

feitonglong's diamond disappearing into thin air with the prongs still intact, sounds rather far fetched to me...

Yeah, I found this to be weird too.. If I were to lose a diamond (touch wood!), I would head to the shop and not the forums..

I appreciate what JannPaul is doing, by empowering us consumers with better knowledge when buying a diamond. It allows us to make an informed decision, rather than just relying on sales talk.

 

[Shingoz]

hey guys, a very practical question, are those rings from chain stores like lee hwa fixed price? negotiable?

dont want to feel too malu when i ask if there's discount.

the last time i asked whats the ring made of the sales person gave me a weird look...and replied 'its 18k white gold, its industry-wide standard'. i guess he can tell i am a super green horn easily.

btw i was quoted about 4k for a 0.55 with quite nice specs (e colour, vs1, 3 ex)