Diamond earrings

Bionic Monkey

So, my anniversary is coming up, and I'd like to buy my wife a pair of diamond earrings. However, I'm pretty much clueless when it come to jewelry shopping, so I need as much help as possible. Where to shop, big jewelers, or mom & pop stores? I'd like to get synthetic, rather than whatever the hell you'd call normal ones. How will that effect where and how I shop? What kind of price range should I be looking at? Is $200-300 reasonable, or am I deluding myself?

witch_ie

I'm not sure where you should shop, just make sure it's a place you trust to give you "real" or "real synthetic" diamonds and not rip-offs. With regard to the earrings yourself, if you're a clueless jewelry shopper, here's what I recommend:

1) Observe the jewelry your wife wears today - what kind of metal (gold or silver) the settings tend to be.
2) Observe what kind of jewelry she wears on special occasions
3) Chose the earrings according to her style - even studs can be different in shape (round, princess cut, etc.)

Serphimera

I don't know if any major jewelry stores carry artificial diamonds. Why would they when they can get more money from the "real" ones?

Definitely do some shopping around.

Another way to reduce your cost is to buy the setting for the stones (i'm not sure if this is available for earrings) and the stones separately. Then have a local jeweler set the stones.

RoundBoy

avoid large sizes ... its not a ring .. so 1ct, even .5 ct is large... at least on my wife's ears. I broke down and bought something like .35ct or whatever the closest measurement was...

It is very helpful when all sizes are next to each other, and you can judge the relative size ... i spent about $150-$200 ... This was before the man made stuff was around.

Conversely I got earings / ring / necklace for the same price in man made just a little while ago.

Do not let them upsell you... do not fall for the pitty of getting your wife a 'small' diamond when your love is so big. Its all crap. Buy what you want to spend.