Problems With Shopping At Cartier Limited Diamond Choices
As someone who had help thousands of readers around the world buy diamond rings online, I have absolutely no problems in helping people cherry pick the best possible diamond for any given budget. This is because I have access to tens of thousands of diamonds for me to work with anytime.
However, when shopping at Cartier, the available options would probably boil down to a measly 2-3 diamond options if you are super lucky. Sadly, there was nothing within our specifications available in-store for us. At this point, the sales staff made the effort to check the inventory of every single Cartier store in the country and even went as far as checking the Cartier stores from neighboring countries.
Unfortunately, there was still no joy as the search came up fruitless. There isnt a single G or H color VS1/VS2 diamond that is pre-mounted in an 1895 Cartier setting around the 0.50 carat mark.
Mobile App Offers Guided Sale Through The Wedding Ring Assortment
The purchase of an engagement and wedding ring comes with many emotions – combined with an endless option of diamonds, cutting styles, quality, etc. the choice can become overwhelming. With the Cartier service “Set for you”, customers are able to tailor a ring according to their unique preferences.
Cartier wanted to make this task easier, and built an app that guided the bride and groom-to-be through their important decision. Within the app, they can browse through the global assortment and enjoy a guided journey that covers all the important details to think about when choosing a wedding ring, so they can find the ring that fits their preferences the best. Cartier started by building an MVP of the app that was tested on the Japanese market. The app was well received by both the sales associates and customers, and Cartier therefore decided to launch it on a global scale across all markets and continents where they are present. So whether the future bride and groom lives in Tokyo, Sydney, or Miami, buying a wedding ring is a lot easier.
Cartier Love Ring With Diamond Prices
However, Its my opinion that knowing the prices and knowing what you love, is the most important factor here! Anyway, just to give you a rough guide on the prices, the Cartier Love ring with 6 diamonds inlaid costs £4,700. Whilst it doesnt say the cut and clarity of these diamonds, it is worth noting that Cartier only deal in the very top tier of diamond quality. And the Cartier Love wedding band with the diamonds set into the band / paved, rather than the screws cost around £5,950, these rings have 88 diamonds inlaid into them which total around 0.31 carats. Its also worth noting that these bands are the wedding band thickness rather than the classic Love ring thickness.
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Cartier Diamond Ring Prices
When my friend first told me about his budget of $6k, I estimated he could get a super ideal cut F/G color diamond between 0.60-0.70 carats if he shops for an unbranded diamond. Obviously, shopping at Cartier meant significantly higher prices but the question was by how much?
Based on our budget of $6,000, the sales staff showed us 3 diamond rings with the following center diamonds: 0.30 D color VVS1, 0.42 E color VVS2 and a 0.46 G color VVS1 .
There were also a couple of other available options which are near the $8,000 mark in the store. For example, a 0.54 F VS2 diamond was available for around $8,000 but this was way over our initial budget of $6k. Since my friend didnt want to over extend his budget, these rings were out of the question.
Wait What If I Stick To Only Gia Triple Excellent Diamonds At Cartier
When selecting a well-cut diamond, GIA triple excellent diamonds are only a basic prerequisite to start your search in. That is to say, anything below a GIA excellent cut grading is an immediate no-no and should be eliminated.
Now, you need to understand that even within the GIA triple excellent range of diamonds, there are a lot of variations in optical performance and cut precision. You can read this article I wrote on this topic for more details.
For beginners who find it difficult to discern cut differences in glaring spot lightings of jewelry stores, I recommend using an ASET or Idealscope. This levels the playing field and allows you to critically review diamonds for their light performances.
At Cartiers jewelry boutique, we were shown 8 diamond rings with GIA Excellent cut grades. Within these 8 diamonds, there was a mix of polish and symmetry ratings ranging from Very Good Excellent. With these kinds of standards, its no surprise you probably wont find exceptionally well-cut diamonds at Cartier.
Anyways, these ASET images are representative of what I see when I examined Cartiers diamonds physically through my ASET scope. Out of all the 8 GIA Excellent cut round diamonds I had examined, all of them exhibited certain degrees of light leakage under the table.
ASET images reveals how a diamond returns light and how well the diamond performs optically. For more details about ASET images, . You can also make use of the ASET reference charts here for comparison.
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My Full Review Of The Cartier Shopping Experience Begins Here
We visited Cartier on a weekday afternoon to avoid the crowds and thankfully, we were the only customers in the store. Since the objective of the visit was to shop for a diamond engagement ring, its good to have undivided attention from the sales staff.
Unlike some other high-end boutique jewelry stores I had visited, Cartiers service is considered very good and you feel like a king the moment you walk into the store. A doorman politely greets you and holds the door for you while you make an entrance. Since there were no other customers around, we got attended to immediately.
Once the sales attendant knew about our intentions to buy an engagement ring, we were quickly ushered into a private room where we could comfortably sit, sip a cup of coffee and had the selections brought over from the showroom for our viewing. Overall, the service and attitude of the sales personnel left me with a great first impression.
On a side note, the private room offers a more conducive environment for selecting diamonds as the lighting was significantly softer and less glaring compared to those used in the showroom. Also, there is a separate desktop lamp with white fluorescent lighting that can be used for jewelry inspection.
Anyways, if you are thinking of shopping at a Cartier boutique store, do make use of the private room even if its just for the coffee. You will get treated very well and also get to enjoy personalized service there.
Is Cartier Better Than Tiffany
Whilst a lot of people prefer Tiffany, I personally think Cartier is better than Tiffany. The shopping experience is far nicer and for me it feels more of a luxury brand. I explored both stores when looking for an engagement ring too and whilst the Tiffany stores felt very busy and hard sell, Cartier felt a lot more exclusive and special. Also, Tiffany have a lot of entry level pieces of jewellery, which Cartier do not.
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Can You Use Cartier Love Ring As Engagement Ring
Traditionally, engagement rings followed a particular design. The design featured a metal band, with a single set of a diamond. It was believed that the larger the diamond the more the man loved his wife.
Over the years, however, the design has evolved with more and more people thinking out of the box, in terms of setting, metals, and even stones used. Nowadays you do not have to use diamonds you do not have to use precious stones at all.
So, to answer the question, yes, it is possible to use the Cartier Love ring. Just by what it symbolizes in love, it already makes the perfect engagement ring.
Its design is also unique. Additionally, if you do not want to compromise on your diamond, there are Love rings with diamond pave setting along the length of the entire band.
Cartier Love Ring As A Wedding Band
- Wedding: October 2020 Los Angeles, California
Hi guys! Currently in the process of finding a wedding band for FH. Ive always been obsessed with everything from the love collection and randomly suggested we go try it one day. To my surprise, FH loves it!! I think it looks so good and were both so excited.
Before I pull the trigger, Id love to hear any experiences you guys have had so far in terms of the way it holds up over time. Any pictures are also appreciated!!
- Wedding: February 2005 Shreveport, LA
Wow your ring is stunning! The love band compliments your ring so perfectly too. I dont own one but would imagine it being Cartier it will hold up just fine. Congratulations on your engagement!
If youre getting it in gold, it will be fine. Because its shiny it might show light scratching over time like any gold ring. He can get that polished off or could have a lightly done brushed finish added.
li looks very nice on his hand, but lm not sure what your concern is about holding up over time. I mean it is a gold ring right? People have been wearing gold wedding rings all their lives for generations, many never taking them off. As a pp said, the surface may get scratched somewhat, but you must know that. Nice ring, very nice.
I have the Love wedding band but I wear it as a RHR. Been over 5 years now and its held up quite fine. My DHs wedding band is also from Cartierfrom the C De Cartier line and hes had no issues either.
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Do Cartier Still Sell Vintage Engagement Rings
Cartier was an important jewelry company in France during the 19th century. Their engagement rings were made of precious metals such as gold, silver, or platinum.
Platinum was chosen because it is very hard and durable. Engagement rings are still popular today.
Cartier was known for making jewelry with brilliant stones and metals, and they still offer a wide variety of styles and designs.
Their jewelry was unique and elegant. Cartiers is a famous jewelry company that was founded by Louis Cartier. He had three sons, Louis, Pierre, and Joseph.
Cartiers reputation for luxury watches was built by the famous designer Louis Cartier. He created many pieces of jewelry, including the iconic Love Bracelet.
This bracelet symbolized romantic love. Cartiers reputation for luxurious watches was built by the legendary designer Louis Cartier. Many people still wear the Love Bracelet today.
Why Is A Gia Very Good Cut Not Good Enough
Interestingly, when I told the sales staff that Very Good cut diamonds will have issues with optical performance and/or durability and I didnt want my friend to buy such a diamond. Could you guess what the Cartiers sales staff reply was?
Well, he started to go about saying how Cartiers diamond selection system is way above GIAs grading criteria. It doesnt matter whether a diamond has a GIA Very Good or Excellent cut because Cartier uses their own benchmarks to select diamonds based on its appearances.
Thats a huge claim that would probably work well with 99% of consumers.
Clearly, the sales staff has no idea how diamonds are graded at GIA because I did questioned him whether he knew about the GIAs grading procedures. The sales staff thought GIA only graded a diamonds cut based on proportions. Well, it isnt.
GIAs cut grade is determined based on a combination of measured parameters and visual observations . For people interested in more details, check out the following links for journal papers published by GIA:
In short, I can summarize the factors that determine GIAs cut rating with the chart below.
When a diamond is graded Very Good by GIA, it means that the diamond didnt meet the standards in one or more areas of Face Up Appearance, Design and Craftsmanship.
Im not stupid and I dont buy the claims. Instead, I want to base my diamond selection criteria on tangible facts and data.
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Vintage Cartier Wedding Band
A stunning vintage Cartier wedding band. This gold and diamond band is a beautiful Cartier piece, decorated with 54 beautiful small round diamonds.
Signed and numbered Cartier ring.
If you have any questions about this vintage Cartier wedding band feel free to ask.
SOLD
- Contact us and request additional pictures
- Free overnight and insured shipping in the USA
- Includes courtesy ring sizing
Gia Very Good Cut Grade Cartier Diamond Engagement Ring Reviews
During our visit to the store, we were recommended a GIA Very Good cut grade diamond by the sales staff and this diamond was based in Paris. Unfortunately, I didnt have a chance to inspect that particular Very Good cut diamond in person. So, I did the next best thing and searched for Cartier rings in the secondary market.
Heres a GIA grading report for a Very Good cut diamond from Cartier which I found on eBay. Someone listed the ring for sale and it has all the relevant certificates of authenticity from Cartier and GIA.
Speaking from a professionals point of view, this is a diamond I cannot recommend to anybody in good faith. The proportions arent fantastic and the diamond runs a heightened risk of chipping due to its Very Thin girdle.
Unlike Cartiers diamond selection standards, I review every single aspect of cut quality when picking out potential diamonds for purchase. Considering the price premium being paid for Cartiers jewelry, one would expect more and not diamonds with Very Good Polish, Very Good Symmetry and Very Good Cut grades. And sad to say, this isnt an isolated case with Cartiers diamond engagement rings.
Heres another Cartier diamond ring listing on the secondary market and I am using it purely as an educational example of the kind of quality you may expect to find:
Without the need to see this diamond in person, I can immediately identify a huge number of issues based on the diamonds grading report. Let me list out the problems below:
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What Is A Cartier Wedding Band Look Like
While there are many people today, who chose to use the Cartier love ring as their wedding band, it does not mean that it is the ultimate Cartier wedding band.
Cartier has been creating wedding bands, almost as far back as the Trinity ring was designed. Over the years, with the evolution of jewelry, the Cartier wedding bands have also evolved into many more variations.
Sometimes borrowing from the existing signature ring collections like Cartiers love collection. As such there are a lot of options to choose from that would suit different personalities and preferences.
All the bands are made of either of the three metals, platinum, yellow, rose, or white gold. You have simple designs like the 1895 Cartier wedding band collection, that mostly involve plain metal bands, of varying widths and can either be rounded or flat.
Some may have a tiny single pave setting of diamond to add to its sparkle. Some bands like the Vendome Louis Cartier collection, have a stacked design sometimes featuring two or more metals.
There are other more elaborate designs with full diamond settings like the Cartier Destinee wedding bands, Broderie de Cartier bands, Reflection de Cartier wedding bands, or borrowed from collections like the Cactus de Cartier collection.
Shocking Price Comparisons Of Cartier Vs Other Jewelers
You probably knew that Cartier is going to charge you an arm and leg because of their branding. So, lets put things into perspective and perform side by side comparisons against some of my recommended vendors. Once you see what the other jewelers are charging for their products, you will realize how excessive Cartiers premiums are.
Comparison #1 Cartier vs. Brian Gavin Diamonds
First of all, lets take a look at what it would cost us for a platinum ring with a 0.46 carat, G color, VVS1 clarity diamond if we were to shop online at BrianGavinDiamonds.com. Remember, we paid $7,000 for our Cartier ring. Feel free to click the images below for more details about the listings.
Guess how much the proposal ring at BrianGavinDiamonds.com cost? With a better clarity and more well-cut center diamond, the entire purchase only comes up to $3,530 . Thats half of what was paid for the Cartier ring and we have gotten a diamond with bigger carat size and brilliance too.
Comparison #2 Cartier vs. James Allen
Now, I contacted Cartiers client services via email and phone to check out the prices of Cartiers diamond engagement rings. Heres a screenshot of the email to show you what I was quoted with. The price of a 0.85 ct diamond with F color, VVS1 clarity would cost around $13,800.00.
At James Allen, heres a diamond with similar specifications and I matched it with a platinum solitaire ring design.
Comparison #3 Cartier vs. White Flash
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Fake Cartier Love Ring: The Font Method
The lettering on the inside of the Cartier 3 Diamond ring should be examined closely. Font differences might reveal a lot about the ring and whether its genuine or not.
When compared to the right picture, where the lettering is thinner, paler, and less prominent, the actual rings numbers and letters are thicker, bolder, and rounder.
In comparison to the original symbols, the replica number 52 is much paler and thinner. The same can be said about the letters too.
