When you shop for jewelry online or in-person, the inexperienced can make a lot of mistakes. Unless you’re someone who really knows what they’re paying for, it’s easy to overspend or purchase something that doesn’t suit the wearer’s style. Here are some easy tips to remember when you buy jewelry.
Set A Budget
Jewelry is available at various price points. Fine jewelry can cost less than $100 while similarly-designed luxury jewelry pieces can cost $1,000s. Know what your price range is before you start searching.
What’s The Stone?
You may insist on buying diamond jewelry or have another gemstone in mind. Every stone carries a different meaning and some may have an emotional connection to you. Know what you’re looking for when it comes to the stone.
Silver Or Gold?
Some jewelry is made from gold, other in silver. They are quite a bit different. For example, compare this collection of gold statement rings to their silver counterparts and you will get a completely different feel.
Know Your/Their Taste
Do some looking around online. Browse different collections. There is jewelry in all sorts of looks, from bohemian chic to modern minimalist, luxury jewelry, and artisan, handcrafted pieces.
Jewelry is as diverse as any sort of clothing. Some like big, expressive jewelry and others greatly prefer modest pieces. This is where a lot of miscalculations happen when it comes to buying jewelry gifts for someone – not knowing their style ahead of time.
Choosing The Right Jeweler
You don’t want to overpay or buy low-quality jewelry. This is a common mistake, both in-person and online.
Ensure you are buying from a reputable source. Ideally, you want to find a brand that’s sustainable, eco-friendly, and ethical with where they source materials and how they put their jewelry together. This can take some digging, especially for brands that lack transparency or purposefully want to obscure the fact that they aren’t very ethical in their operations.
Don’t Guess Ring Size
This tip is for if you’re buying for someone else. You don’t want to buy them a ring that needs to be resized.
It’s not the end of the world if you do but it’s an extra step you don’t have to take. If you don’t want to outright ask the person what ring size they use, take an existing ring that the person you’re buying for likes to wear and trace the inside of the ring on a piece of paper or bring it into the jeweler.
The average size for women is 7 and for men a 10 although this varies significantly from person to person.
Trust Your Eyes
If it looks good to you and feels like a good purchase, at the end of the day, you have to trust your eyes. A clerk can insist on certain style choices or preferences but this isn’t going to be their jewelry – it’s yours. This is one of the many benefits of buying jewelry online. You can take your time, without being confronted by someone trying to sell you.
Look At The Fine Print
A lot can happen with jewelry. Maybe you buy it as a gift and they don’t like it. The gemstone could fall out. A clasp could break. This is why it’s important to look at a jeweler’s return and refund policy.
Some may offer warranties. Those make sense in certain scenarios. Your credit card may offer extended warranty coverage on such a purchase as well.
Understand the terms before buying jewelry. With it being a high-priced item, if something happens in those first few weeks, you’ll want to make sure you can get it fixed or exchanged.
