As you know, I’m the marketing director for Raymond Lee Jewelers. As you should know, RLJ has a fabulous social team that posts new goodies to our social networks every single day. All the engagement ring eye candy you could want, on the daily! And I’d say 90% of the time, the piece we’re showing off that day on Instagram or Facebook is already listed for sale in the online showroom. So we like to share the link to that exact product, so fans and engagement ring hunters can shop to their heart’s content.
Click on the image to check out the engagement ring setting! It’s also pictured with this band on either side.
We’re always happy to share the price of our pieces – we want buyers to find them and take them home and love them forever! We don’t see the point in being coy, that’s why every item we sell has its price listed in bold, ready for purchase. We just aren’t “price upon request” jewelers. We (and yes, I know I’m using a lot of royal we right now but I’m just speaking for the store here) really believe that jewelry is for everyone. We’ll find you the perfect ring that fits your budget, and we believe that the best customers are informed customers. That starts with letting them actually gauge the market. The vast majority of shoppers I’ve met are savvy, have realistic expectations about what they’re looking to purchase, and aren’t in the mood to be jerked around. As someone who shops, um, a lot, I can relate.
The best example I have is my experience wedding planning. Every time I looked at a venue, or florist, or DJ, or dove release wrangler online, I was looking for one thing first: how much does this wedding wizard cost? Can I afford you? Or am I completely out of my league here and really, step away from the Preston Bailey, ma’am-ing myself here? And the vast majority of the time, I couldn’t get a price. Maybe I was lucky to get a range (that spanned several thousands of dollars.) Some of them had forms you could fill out online, but most of them made you actually pick up the phone and call another human. Real talk I’m still a millennial, albeit at the top end of the bracket, so obviously I didn’t want to deal with that at all. I just wanted a nice, easy, clear price! But these vendors couldn’t give me one. And it’s not because they were trying to be difficult, and mostly not because they were trying to get my contact information to share with ever vendor under the sun to the point where I’m still getting emails years later. And mostly not so they could get me on the phone with a catering sales manager who could “close” me.
And despite my experience in their shoes, it was still pretty frustrating.
So when Pinners, Facebookers, Twitter-ers, Instagrammers, Tumblr-ers and Snapchatters alike just want to know how much this ring costs thankyouverymuch, it pains me to sometimes say “Well, it depends.” That’s the jeweler equivalent of “We can do anything you want! [It will cost you though.]” in wedding speak.
But unless it’s one of our estate rings or original designs, which means it’s ready to sell as-is, I can’t tell you how much the ring in this picture costs, exactly. I can tell you how much the setting is! And I will, happily! I can tell you how much the entire stack is, minus the center stone, and I do, whenever you ask. But a ton ton(!) of the rings our team Grams every day are our beautiful designer settings from Verragio, Uneek, and Gabriel. And those are all set with place holder cubic zirconia. Every last one.
So when the people just want to know how much this ring would be, exactly as pictured, but with a diamond instead, I can’t say. When someone asks “About how much would this be with a 2 carat diamond, hypothetically?” I can’t say – because remember, I can’t tell you how much a 2 carat diamond costs.
Diamonds, even those of the exact same carat weight, can still vary thousands of dollars in cost. This is because diamonds are graded on 4 C’s, not just the one. Clarity, Color, and Cut all work together with a diamond’s carat weight to determine its cost.
So the best solution to this issue is, unfortunately, to pick up the phone and call us. We can tell you exactly how much the diamond you’re looking for, in that setting, will cost. But! Don’t click away yet – there’s another, non-interactive solution. I can give you the setting’s cost (and details, and a direct link to it) along with a link to our diamond search database. You can use this to choose the parameters you want and see how much a diamond might cost you. If you only know how many carats you want, set the parameters to VS – SI1 clarity and G-J color. Here’s why. This will get you the closest ballpark answer to your question. And if/when you’re ready to pull the trigger, any one of the RLJ team is there waiting to answer more questions!
