Sapphire And Diamond Platinum Engagement Ring?
Q.I just got back from visiting several jewelry stores in my search for a platinum (or silver) wedding band for my fiance. I didn't find any silver (is silver a bad idea?) and the only platinum rings I found had yellow gold in them. He wants a pure silver or pure platinum ring, no gold, not even white gold. Has anyone found these? Also, any jewelry store suggestions? (I'm in San Diego till the weekend but I live in the SF bay area.)
A.We had problems finding his platinum band as well. It seems that there are many goldsmiths, but so few jewelers are actually qualified to work with platinum as its metalurgical behavior is different from gold. I have three suggestions for you: 1) in the back of most bridal magazines there are these little booklets that are put out by the Platinum society or association, call and see if they can give you a recommendation for your area; 2) look for an antique jeweler, most of the rings around the 1920's and 30's were made in platinum and they are tremendously less expensive than purchasing a new one (That's how he purchased my engagement ring); 3) Go to Neiman Marcus and ask about a designer JFA (Jean-Francois Albert), he is very chic (read: really overpriced) but the ideas you get from his bands which are mainly platinum or 18K white gold can be translated into a design by a platinum specialist. There are two more GREAT estate jewelers in SF that I'd recommend. Lang's is on Sutter St across from the Sutter/Stockton garage (where my husband bought my bee-yu-ti-ful 1930's ruby/diamond/platinum engagement ring) and Lydia's is on Geary (I think!) We ordered plain platinum wedding bands from Harold's Jewelery on Main St. in Los Altos. He does mostly custom design work AND he was very fast! Try Tiffanys (as in Breakfast at Tiffanys) in San Francisco. That is where I am getting my platinum wedding band in LA. My 3mm band will cost $650. Silver is a bad choice because it is too soft a metal and will not stand the test of time. I wouldn't buy silver as a wedding band - just doesn't seem classy enough. I just bought my own ring - didn't buy platinum, but considered it. Be ready to spend some bucks if you want to buy platinum. From what I saw, men's platinum rings (around 6 - 7 mm) start at about $1,000, compared to maybe $150 for something comparable in gold. My favorite platinum ring I saw was $1600, and this just had metal, no stones or anything. My fiancee and I just purchased our platinum bands from Wedding Ring Originals in NYC. I highly recommend them. We looked for a jeweler who carried in platinum rings for about six months until we found this one. Their prices are very good and the quality is outstanding. I don't have the number handy, but if you called information in the 212 area code they will have it. Since you live in the SF bay area which is where we live also, I would highly recommend the jewelry store called "Topper" for your search of a platinum ring. I recently got married (Nov 26) and we had our wedding bands from this store. Our wedding bands are made of platinum exclusively to match my engagement ring which is also made of platinum. The store is located in downtown Burlingame (which is just a bit south of San Francisco). If you call up the directory assistant for area code 415, I am sure they can help you with the store's phone number. We are also very pleased with the work of this jewel store. Just wanted to make a comment here, "about class/platinum costing more"... It doesn't cost as much as you might think... For example, most catalogs run out a three hundred percent markup, so it's really the markup which is the bulk of the price on any ring... Take the beautiful Stuller collection of platinum mountings I just installed in my web pages, we simply cut the price in half... Custom manufacturing in platinum costs more than gold by a far way, but for example I have a platinum page of custom manufacturing shown, with prices for most very elaborate manufacturing coming in mostly well under the retail costs of a plain comfort-fit band ring... Platinum is a cool metal, and when trimmed with 18Kt can be really killer modern too...
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