The quality of workman ship can vary widely in jewelry made in the USA, so I would imagine that jewlery made in other countries could vary, as well.

It really depends on the individual piece. There are some very high quality pieces of 22K and 24K jewelry made in India. That said, over all most of it is production line quality not individually made. But that is true of most of the US jewelry made today. Most of that is made in 3rd world countries.

Unless you are having a custom made piece made locally, the quality probably won't be the highest. Also depends on the price. There are pieces being sold on the TV shopping channels that go from $15 to $5000. You have see the piece, feel the weight, and look at the quality of the craftsmanship of the design and gemstones to really tell what it is worth.

I know because I have been making, setting and repairing jewelry for over 20 years. Not to mention buying for over 40 years.
Clare

The piece that I want to buy is from a nationwide, reputable department store. The clerk told me that most of the pieces that they sold there were from other countries.
This particular piece is a gold, two carat, three stone ring with three smaller diamonds on each side. The ones the side are set deeper into the gold and I was concerned about how that type holds up. What do you think, Clare or anyone else?
Also Clare (or anyone else) being that you have been dealing with jewelry for many years, you may know the answer to another question I have... If a customer buys an expensive (several thousand dollars) ring from a reputable department store and a diamond is lost within a couple of years or so, it seems that the store would/should replace the diamond regardless of whether the customer buys a protection plan or not. It just seems to me that when a person spends that much money there should be trust within the seller and also the buyer in the craftsmanship. It's kind of like buying a new car and the motor falling out within a short time. Anyway, would you recommend buying a protection plan or demanding a repair and replacement if a diamond falls out of any expensive ring within a short time, and has not been abused? We bought one at Christmastime (gift from DH) and didn't buy the plan. I told them that I trusted that if we were spending this much on a ring that it would last longer than a year or two. Not sure what I should do with the three stone one or if my decision was a good one with others bought.
Thanks! Lulie

Lulie - Without seeing the ring, it is hard for me to say anything about the quality. Legally they would not be obligated to replace the stone if it fell out unless you did buy the plan. What is their return policy?

You could buy it and have it checked by a private jeweler to see how well it is constructed and if there is any problems. And also he/she would tell you the quality of the diamonds. I would make sure the jeweler is a Graduate Gemologist of the Gemological Institute of America and a member of ASA.

Here is an article from the ASA that has some good information on buying jewelry. Step By Step Process for Buying and Appraising Jewelry .

I have not bought jewelry from a department store. Mainly because I think their prices are too high for the quality they sell. Most of the jewelry I have seen is not that high of quality. I would go to a big diamond store in your area if it a diamond ring you are interested in. Do some comparison shopping. You can't just go by size of the stones, there is also cut, color and clarity. The only big store I would trust is Costco. I know, hard to believe but they guarantee their stones and there is a full money back policy if you want to return it for any reason.

Here is a news story that gave high praise to Costco diamonds. And here are some of the rings they have at the store or online.

Do lots of reading and research before you make your final purchase. And lots of comparison shopping even online at HSN, QVC and ShopNBC.
Good luck.
Clare

I have a brother-in-law who is a Certified Master Bench Jeweler. That's the highest, best, designation that can be given to someone who actually creates jewelry.

"If a customer buys an expensive (several thousand dollars) ring from a reputable department store and a diamond is lost within a couple of years or so, it seems that the store would/should replace the diamond regardless of whether the customer buys a protection plan or not."

I disagree. So much can happen to jewelry, that it shouldn't be the responsibility of the store after the item is sold. Jewelry that is worn daily is, naturally, more susceptible to damage than something that is worn only occasionally. Also, chlorine is a known problem with white gold. The (nickle) alloy in the metal is attacked by the chlorine and can make it brittle, leading to breakage. Even if you have yellow gold rings, but the diamonds are set in white gold prongs, and you wear the rings in your pool or spa, you would be slowly damaging the prongs and risking loss of the diamonds. Why should a department store or a jewelry store be responsible for that? At least yearly, you should take your jewelry to a reputable jeweler and have it checked to make sure that the prongs are not damaged (even if you never put them in chlorinated water) and that the stones aren't loose.

Also, when you are looking at and pricing jewelry, remember that there is a 300% markup.

And, several years ago, my brother-in-law said what Clare said, above -- that Costco has great prices on quality diamonds.

I will check out Costco. From what I have seen around here, the prices for what I am looking at now, are so much higher at the jewelry stores. I guess as you said, though, the quality is probably better.
Lindsey, I was talking about just normal every day wear and having a stone fall out after a short period of time.
A woman told me the other day that she had bought a nice diamond ring at at Zales I think it was, and the diamond fell out after a few months. She didn't have the protection policy, but they replaced the ring. That would be the honorable thing to do. Good business.
I know that they wouldn't be legally liable, or obligated, but possibly for the sake of good business, they would replace a diamond. Who knows. I hope it doesn't happen to me.
I'll do a little more research.
Thanks for all of the good info. Oh, return policy is 60 days. I had checked out the color, and clarity stats and all were better than average.
Lulie

Even "normal, every day wear" can vary a lot from person to person.

I haven't asked my brother-in-law his opinion, but in my opinion (and I think he'd agree) -- I don't necessarily consider Zales to be high-end jewelry store.

I just took a look at the Zales web site -- which leads me to this question/comment regarding the stone that Zales replaced for the woman you mentioned...

When looking at diamond jewelry on the Zales site, you can narrow the choices by selecting carat weight, metal color, etc. One of the choices is "certified." Allegedly, their certified diamonds are the best ones. I saw stones that were listed as "colorless" that are also "certified." As you most likely know, the color ratings for diamonds are by alphabetical letter, with "D" being a totally colorless diamond. Diamonds with a color rating of "E" and "F" are also considered to be colorless, yet an experienced professional can tell there is color to them. Diamonds with a color rating of "G" through "J" are considered to be "near colorless." Obviously, the closer to "D," the less color in the stone, although most folks wouldn't be able to discern color in any of them unless they were unmounted and placed side-by-side for comparison.

Then, there is clarity... Diamonds are graded when viewed under 10x magnification. The very best diamonds are Flawless -- there are no internal or external flaws or blemishes. Next is Internally Flawless -- at 10x magnification, there are no visible inclusions, although there might be some surface blemishes. There is a wider range of clarity designations once any flaws "come into play." The rating that would be one step under Internally Flawless is VVS1 -- Very, Very, Slightly Inlcuded 1, which means there's an inclusion but it's very, very difficult to see when viewed under 10x magnification. VVS2 means essentially the same thing, except there would be more than one inclusion. Then we get to VS1 and VS2 (very slightly included) -- still difficult to see under 10x magnification, but more noticeable than the inclusions rated VVS. Anything in the VVS and VS ratings is considered a "minor inclusion." Next step down is SI1 then SI2 -- these are "slightly included" and the flaws are easily seen at 10x magnification. The are considered to be "noticeable inclusions." The lowest clarity ratings, I1, I2, and I3, are "obvious inclusions" -- these flaws are obvious to the untrained eye, even without magnification.

OK, so the point I was getting to is this -- Zales is advertising "certified" "colorless" diamonds that have a color rating of H and a clarity rating of SI1 and SI2.

I don't have that big a problem with the H color rating, because it IS in the top half of the "nearly colorless" range, but I have a huge problem with a clarity rating of SI1 and SI2.

Any diamond, no matter how lousy it is, can be a "certified" diamond. All it means to be "certified" is that someone who is qualified to appraise diamonds has appraised that particular diamond, and you are given a certificate with a photograph of the diamond, the stated color and clarity ratings, a carat weight, the cut (round brilliant, emerald, oval, etc.), and a chart showing the location of any and all flaws.

So, this woman who told you about Zales replacing her diamond might have had a diamond that really wasn't the best quality, and it didn't cost Zales a whole lot to replace it.

Remember, there is at least a 300% markup on jewelry.

At least 10 years ago, my hubs asked his brother how much it would cost to get a 1 carat oval diamond for me. Brother-in-law gets them at the lowest possible cost. At that time, my brother-in-law's cost for a 1 carat oval diamond for the color and clarity that I want (color no lower than F, clarity no lower than VVS1) would have been $10,000. Right now the Zales web site has, in the "loose diamonds" category, a 1.06 carat oval diamond -- it's "certified" -- on sale for $2,400, normally $6,800. You KNOW that they're still making a profit at $2,400, so you know that it can't be great quality. The color rating is stated to be "F," which is one of the three in the "colorless" category; but the clarity is rated "I1." Yuck.

I agree with Aptosca, if you want a good diamond ring and a company that stands behind it head to a jewelry store, preferably a higher end one. In the past several years I have worked at 2 jewelry stores, one an small independent but very high end store and the other a chain, mid market store. Both offer a diamond guarantee at no extra cost. As long as you take the ring in to be checked every 6 months, should you lose a stone it is replaced free. The stone is free, you pay for the gold work, unless you have purchased the extended warranty.

Lindsay, while in theory I agree with much you have to say I can't discount those that want a larger stone tho flawed or off color. Some folks can't afford the best of the 3 C's. And we also sell certified stones, but they are not sold as anything other than that, the buyer knows exactly what they getting...which I do like.