Proposal ring from major brands -- need haggling?

[WineLuver]

Hi all,

I plan to buy proposal ring, and probably from big brand (CTF, CSS, LF, etc).

Not a big fan of haggling, but also not a fan of being ripped off.
Is it "expected" that buyers will haggle (if so, around what %?), and their asking price will be marked up?

Thanks.

Any tips will be appreciated.

[shri]

Looked at Blue Nile?

[WineLuver]

Looked at Blue Nile?

Yup I have...

Call me traditional but feels I can't just visualize/imagine what it will look like in real life....
so was thinking of (HK Rent included) offline stores...

[Cheeky Kiwi]

I made my own proposal ring

As for the wedding ring I told the wife - a ring or a trip to Antarctica

She chose snow, ice, -35 degrees celsius and her 7th continent and we had a blast

[shri]

Yup I have...

Call me traditional but feels I can't just visualize/imagine what it will look like in real life....
so was thinking of (HK Rent included) offline stores...

But .. good place to validate pricing.

If you know any long term Indian residents in Hong Kong, ask them - there are a few good Indian jewelers who don't do the whole retail thing and are well trusted by the Gujarati and Sindhi communities.

[seirin]

Never tried the local jewelers but the western ones will definitely charge a lot more than if you find your own jeweler like Shri mentioned. The only way to know is to price compare.

[drumbrake]

I presume you are looking for a diamond?

The big chains are (much) more expensive for the same quality diamond. Go off high street - lots of options in office buildings in TST / Whampoa. I think as long as you get the GIA certificate then you should be safe.

And yes, you can ask for a discount (big brands or smaller retailers).

[hiki08]

Don't have personal experience with those stores for diamond rings but I would certainly expect some haggling, especially on the "workmanship" fees. If it's similar to gold (which I have bought from them for wedding gifts), the raw material price would be fixed but they can discount on the service add on (to make the ring).

I know of independent diamond/jewellers both western and local who would provide the same price or marginal discount to the Blue Nile price if you pick something from the site (and source some for you to see in person before deciding), with the intention that you would avail their services for ring making. Cost of turning it into a ring can be surprisingly cheap too.

[aquaman]

guys, cmon, its the same if its not coming out of a little blue box

[MABinPengChau]

I made my own proposal ring

As for the wedding ring I told the wife - a ring or a trip to Antarctica

She chose snow, ice, -35 degrees celsius and her 7th continent and we had a blast

We used my mother's engagement ring, which she gifted to us, ex husband too cheap to even have it re-sized so...yeah. Shotgun wedding not like there's a long engagement.

I turned it into a necklace, then gave it to my niece for her use. All 3 marriages ended in divorce, pehaps time to retire this diamond. It was estate jewelry my father got in Manhattan, heaven knows how that personn died...I don't even like diamonds, so I never cared one way or the other. It is a very nice stone, my niece may have sold it by now, she's always broke...