After going to Ben Bridge, Helzberg, and Kay Jewelers in Victoria Gardens and Montclair Plaza, my fiance and I decided to check out this place because they had a big sign that said "24 MONTHS ZERO INTEREST FINANCING". This option was more appealing than the 12 months no interest most jewelers offered because we'd have wedding expenses to worry about in the upcoming year.
When we walked into the store we were greeted by a pleasant light haired lady. She even gave us bottles of water, cookies and chocolates as I tried on rings. The lighting isn't that good at Georgio and their display cases aren't lit but you can see how the diamonds sparkled. Their stones were much prettier compared to the others I saw at Helzberg and Kay Jewelers as theirs were cloudy, contained flaws and cost more than the ones we saw at Georgio. Ben Bridge on the other hand had an almost flawless stone but it was around 8k just for the diamond.
I told the lady our budget was 3k and she mentioned she didn't work on commission so she wasn't going to upsell us. She wasn't pushy at all and said she didn't want us to go over our budget because she feels bad for couples that do that especially because they had to spend money on their wedding. Her demeanor was very different from the salespeople we dealt with as she seemed more patient and sincerely concerned about our budget. She also asked if my fiance had good credit because the requirements for financing were pretty strict.
One of the rings I loved had a vintage design, a big stone with smaller diamonds on the sides and a matching wedding band. The stone was absolutely beautiful and had good clarity. I tried on a bunch of others that were more expensive and had more stones but kept going back to the same ring. I was in love with the ring but the tag said it was almost 6k so I was confused as to why she was showing it to us. She kept saying don't worry don't worry and in the end she gave us the ring for less than half the cost including the wedding band and tax. I couldn't believe it! The other places only gave a 10% discount and most of them were pushy with messed up diamonds. On top of that my fiance qualified for the financing so it wouldn't eat up our wedding budget. Yay!!
The best advice I can give to others in search of an engagement ring is to make sure you stay within your budget. If you can't afford a huge stone, just change it out later after the wedding or when you have extra money. Wait it out, because you might find the right ring under your budget. In addition, make sure you visit as many places as you can and do your due diligence! Don't buy a ring on the spot unless you've done your homework and it's the one. I was so close to purchasing a ring from Kay Jewelers but decided to wait a day to think about it. Thank god I did. The ring the saleslady at Kay Jewelers was trying to sell us cost $500 less on their website.
Another thing is to buy from a smaller jeweler and stay away from large chain stores. Your ring will be more unique and you'll save money since those places pay for mass marketing. Luckily I have a fiance who is very conservative with money, stuck to his guns and didn't budge on the budget. Although he was approved for almost 10k, it would be too much of a burden to pay off the ring along with other bills like mortgage, school loans, etc. I'm so happy he didn't spend a lot of money on it because I don't feel guilty for making him overspend on a ring (which many men in love tend to do..lol).
If money is a problem, the lady at Georgio said you can take it back at a later time and she will change it to a bigger stone. You just pay the difference. I believe she is the owner of the store which is why she was able to give such a huge discount. This is a big plus because salespeople can't slash prices that much without getting approval from their manager. Her name is Janet Kaymaz. Thanks Ms. Kaymaz for my dream engagement ring and for giving us a great deal! read more