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Good local jewelry stores?

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Started 6 months ago by think_tomorrow
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think_tomorrow

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Hey all,

This might be the first post I make... I apparently registered this username 7 months ago, I've been referring to CU for advice and information for a while now but wasn't aware I'd actually signed up before. Hmmm. Anyways, I moved to Columbus about 2 and a half years ago for medical school. I've made the decision that I'm going to be proposing to my girlfriend in the next year, and my mind has been utterly destroyed by shopping for engagement rings for the past week or two. I may be overly-analytical in my purchasing decisions - I mean, I can't spend $200 on a netbook without 3 weeks of research, and this ring is something I want to be around when I have grandkids. I'm frugal, but I'm not at all adverse to spending money - I just want it to be money well spent.

I've been looking online a lot, often because it's easy and available when I have time (which is usually weekends) but I've seen so many horror stories of stones falling out and poor quality once rings were received that it has made me leery. I'm also a "shop local" kind of guy, I love gallery hop and the small independent stores and restaurants in the Short North, and if this is a major purchase I could make locally that would be nice.

Okay, I am making this all tl;dr. To boil it down, I have limited time to shop around and I'm wondering if there are any local jewelers who you'd recommend. I don't think I have the budget for custom but I'd consider it too.

Posted 6 months ago #
Snarf
Dystopia
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I've made many purchases at Edward Warren Jewelers in Pickerington. It's been around 20 some years and is locally owned and operated by Warren Miller who is super nice.

I've also had custom work done there that is amazing, fair and pretty quick if you need it to be.

Can't recommend talking to Warren enough.

Posted 6 months ago #
peter
Downtown
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Just got engaged so I'm up on all this stuff!

1. Grandview Mercantile (for estate pieces, if that's what she's into).
2. Worthington Jewelers.
3. William Weidinger (everything there is made by him, impressive).
4. Argo & Lehne.

Posted 6 months ago #
DTown
Discovery District South
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Denig Jewelers on High Street in Worthington. Great staff, great store.

Posted 6 months ago #
vestanpance
Harrison West/at work OSU
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I've made purchases (included my wife's engagement ring) at Kimberly's Diamond Corner in Powell. Good prices and personal service

http://www.yelp.com/biz/kimberlys-diamond-corner-powell

Posted 6 months ago #
JKimsey

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Beechwold Custom Jewelry - Gustavo is easy to work with. He makes great pieces and offers affordable prices. He made my wife's engagement ring and I went back to him to have a custom piece made after our son was born.

Posted 6 months ago #
Saint Murrays
Harrison West
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Sawchuk Jewelers in Hilliard is were I went. Great prices and friendly to work with, you don't feel pressured at all. Just make sure you are firm with when you want the ring as they are super busy and sometimes get behind.

http://www.sawchukjewelers.com/

Posted 6 months ago #
Roland
Clintonville
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Had a good experience with Worthington Jewelers.

Had a bad experience with Alexanders in the Short North.

Posted 6 months ago #
Timeone

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Grandview Mercantile has got some great stuff and affordable

Posted 6 months ago #
sabele

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We had a fabulous experience at Worthington Jewlers. They even got creative to re-use gold from my original engagemnet ring which Jared ruined.

Posted 6 months ago #
L-Rag
German Village/Columbus
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Another vote for Worthington Jewelers. Although we bought my wedding ring set elsewhere (because we happened to find something we liked before-hand), the people at WJ's were fantastic when it came to finding a stone. No pressure...they let me and my husband browse the book, look at what they had in stock and passed no judgement. The woman who helped us was helpful and knowledgeable but never once tried to convince us of anything we weren't interested in. And when we chose a stone that really spoke to us despite not being "perfect", there was no trying to up-sell us. Very very happy with that experience.

Posted 6 months ago #
meltsintowonder

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I've been making all major jewelry purchases at Worthington Jewelers for the past 6-7 years. Joe and Bob have a great thing going here. No hard sales. Great value. Interesting pieces along with more mainstream styles. No plans to ever go somewhere else because they make jewelry buying easy and comfortable along with their ability to do a lot of custom work. I also go there for watch repair although watches aren't a focus.

Posted 6 months ago #
think_tomorrow

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Wow! Thanks for all of the great suggestions, I see there is a consensus on at least a few places and many more good leads. I will be checking these out in the next few weeks, wish me luck!

Posted 6 months ago #
bob.os
Columbus *not* Cbus
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JKimsey said:
Beechwold Custom Jewelry - Gustavo is easy to work with. He makes great pieces and offers affordable prices. He made my wife's engagement ring and I went back to him to have a custom piece made after our son was born.

JKimsey said:
Beechwold Custom Jewelry - Gustavo is easy to work with. He makes great pieces and offers affordable prices. He made my wife's engagement ring and I went back to him to have a custom piece made after our son was born.

My wife and Mother in Law both speak highly of Gustavo. He rescued my MiL's wedding ring and my wife is considering having him re-create her deteriorating antique engagement ring, so consider that the most powerful endorsement of this post.

I bought my wife's engagement ring at a pawnshop in Birmingham Alabama, so that's out of the question. We got our wedding rings at a friendly place in the Short North that is neither of those things any more, so nix that. We had the engagement ring appraised by a reanimated corpse at Argo & Lehne in Upper Arlington, so if that's your thing, go for it.

From reading the recommendations here, I can't argue with any businessman named Bob, so Beechwold Custom Jewelry or Worthington Jewelers is the way to go.

Posted 6 months ago #
turbo ninja
Formerly Crumb Bus, Oh. Now Durm, NC.
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Grandview Mercantile has excellent prices and service, but the selection is (by nature) smaller and ever-changing. I bought my wife's engagement ring there and the ladies took great pleasure in helping me decide between the two finalists - putting each one on and standing across the showroom so I could see which one looked sparklier from a distance, offering practical advice on cut and quality of the stones, and even working with me on price because I could pay cash.

We even went back when it was time to buy my ring.

The downside of the Merc - limited selection - made it a challenge to find a matching wedding band for her engagement ring, and we used Diamond Exchange on Gay Street to make us a custom band that matches perfectly.

We had great experiences with both stores, from service to price to quality.

Posted 6 months ago #
ThisGuy

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William A. Weidinger, Goldsmith & Jewelry Designer
http://www.williamweidinger.com

Can't say enough good things about Bill... Love the finger shaped rings..

It's worth a visit just to learn about how different light shows the stone differently...

Posted 6 months ago #
TalkingHeadsFan

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Thanks for everyone's feedback. I've got an antique engagement ring; the diamond popped out recently, but I have been hesitant to take it anywhere. You hear stories of jewelers switching stones. Mine isn't big (I'm not sure of its quality, even), so I don't know if that's a legitimate concern, but there's the value of not losing what was given to me.

Posted 6 months ago #