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luckyamber
05-09-2007, 04:11 AM
So I know that there is a jewelry store in NOS. When I was there last August I got a chance to very briefly walk through. My husband wasn't interested and I didn't want to aggrivate him so it probably lasted all of 10 seconds. My question is do they have nice jewelry? Like estate and antique pieces? Is stuff marked up totally crazy because it's in Disneyland?

Vegitabeta
05-09-2007, 04:13 AM
I think it is quite pricey.

luckyamber
05-09-2007, 04:28 AM
I think it is quite pricey.
I'm not concerned so much with "pricey" as much as "overpriced" you know what I mean? I don't mind paying a fair amount for a nice piece.

Leap for Joy
05-09-2007, 05:52 AM
As I understand it, they sell estate pieces that are pricey in and of themselves. I don't think there is a Disney markup.
Here is a link to a previous thread: Sparkly Store (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=33666)
And here is a link to an article that AVP wrote: Jewel of Orleans (http://www.mouseplanet.com/merchandise/mer010713.htm)

SoCalSteven
05-09-2007, 06:00 AM
They sell probably 99% estate jewelry. All the items are marked with a "circa" type date or "modern" indicating it is a new piece of jewelry.

As far as prices go, I'm not sure. The prices seem resonable for simple items, but considering they deal with lots of very high end stuff expect to find expensive things. Here is a tip, anything in a silver box is over $10,000.

Go in, talk to the folks there, and check some things out! Everyone there is very nice and helpful.

luckyamber
05-09-2007, 06:51 AM
cool, that all helps a lot. Thanks guys!

AVP
05-09-2007, 07:00 AM
I have purchased two pieces from the store (well after I wrote my article about it, so no undue influence there), and I find their prices to be pretty reasonable for what the items are. It's hard to do an apples-to-apples price comparison on jewelry, but vintage watches are easier to compare and their prices are at the low end of the range for similar items.

AVP

adriennek
05-09-2007, 07:07 AM
I have purchased two pieces from the store (well after I wrote my article about it, so no undue influence there), and I find their prices to be pretty reasonable for what the items are.

The piece I purchased appraised for well above the purchase price.

Adrienne

adriennek
05-09-2007, 07:10 AM
BTW, just FYI, the store is not owned by Disneyland. The owners lease the space.

Adrienne

soccerlady16
05-09-2007, 07:30 AM
BTW, just FYI, the store is not owned by Disneyland. The owners lease the space.

Adrienne

Are there other stores that are lease within the park?

crrees
05-09-2007, 07:46 AM
Jen and I saw a necklace for $16,000 it had a giant saphire in the middle with diamonds all around it. Also there was a ring worth $32,000. Both peices were gorgeous. I highly doubt worth those prices though.

Andrew
05-09-2007, 07:51 AM
The piece I purchased appraised for well above the purchase price.
Same. I'm not an estate jewelry expert or anything, but the prices seem reasonable for what they're selling.

crrees
05-09-2007, 09:51 AM
alot of them are cheaper than what they are appraised at. The reason being is rings and sized jewelry cannot be altered so they can only fit one size.

SoCalSteven
05-09-2007, 10:07 AM
Jen and I saw a necklace for $16,000 it had a giant saphire in the middle with diamonds all around it. Also there was a ring worth $32,000. Both peices were gorgeous. I highly doubt worth those prices though.

Some of the pieces they have are very rare and unique. A fine sapphire is very expensive, and if you are thinking of the same necklace I am, it has a pretty good size diamond on it too. They sell the $30,000 rings on a regular basis, so I highly doubt they are asking unreasonable prices.


alot of them are cheaper than what they are appraised at. The reason being is rings and sized jewelry cannot be altered so they can only fit one size.

100% untrue. My fiance's ring that I purchased from there was sized. They even include the sizing on anything that is over $1,000.

Andrew
05-09-2007, 10:13 AM
My fiance's ring that I purchased from there was sized. They even include the sizing on anything that is over $1,000.
Correct. They were happy to size my wife's wedding ring, and even clean it for free when we visit the park.

If you're in the San Francisco Bay area, you can visit Jewel of Orleans' parent store, Old & New Estates (http://diannesestatejewelry.com/pages/retailstores.php). Dianne, Charles and Alex are terrific people. Tell them Andrew and Jennifer sent you. :D

cstephens
05-09-2007, 12:23 PM
Jen and I saw a necklace for $16,000 it had a giant saphire in the middle with diamonds all around it. Also there was a ring worth $32,000. Both peices were gorgeous. I highly doubt worth those prices though.

Depends on what you mean by "worth" it. Perhaps it's not the kind of thing you'd spend the money on, but it really depends on the actual value of the pieces. Speaking only from my personal experience, the quality of the stones can be amazing. The cert on the stones on my ring is exceptional.

I remember seeing a very nice pair of diamond earrings at another jewelry store and commented to the husband how nice they were. And then the person who had been helping us told us they were only $22,000. I almost fell over. After hearing about the quality of the stones, the husband thought it was a fair price. I didn't/don't know that much about gems, so a pair of earrings for that price seemed outrageous to me.

MinnieMomma
05-09-2007, 06:24 PM
I love their lay-away plan. I get over there every month to visit my ring and make a payment (You can mail it in too). They will definitly size the rings. I fell in love with a pair of 1870's French earrings that I decided to think about and they were gone by the time I got back the next day, they were priced at 1400$ But they give you a year to pay it off!! They have some really unusual pieces.

crrees
05-09-2007, 06:38 PM
this ring they could not size, it had diamonds all around it. The lady told me thats why it was being sold cheaper.

She wasnt BSing me either she knew that we werent buying jewelry and that we were just looking and very interested in hearing about the stones.

Personally I dont look at diamonds the way i used to- they arent rare nor are they unique. Thats why i dont see the point in spending that type of money on diamonds. New ways of creating perfect diamonds are being created every year and no one died for them.

Or instead of artificially created diamonds - which shine white light just like regular diamonds - one can buy moisonnite (sp?) for a fraction of the cost which is a diamond "substitute" but can be made perfect.

There is a national park in the US where one can go sifting through dirt for diamonds. I do however find that really cool because in that way the stone is unique to the person. It now has sentimental value, and if it were cut personally for the person its different. But to spend 32k on a diamond is slightly ridiculous. But thats just my opinion, no means to offend anyone. If someone wants to spend that much on jewelry by all means it helps keep our economy going.

luckyamber
05-09-2007, 07:00 PM
this ring they could not size, it had diamonds all around it. The lady told me thats why it was being sold cheaper.

She wasnt BSing me either she knew that we werent buying jewelry and that we were just looking and very interested in hearing about the stones.

Personally I dont look at diamonds the way i used to- they arent rare nor are they unique. Thats why i dont see the point in spending that type of money on diamonds. New ways of creating perfect diamonds are being created every year and no one died for them.

Or instead of artificially created diamonds - which shine white light just like regular diamonds - one can buy moisonnite (sp?) for a fraction of the cost which is a diamond "substitute" but can be made perfect.

There is a national park in the US where one can go sifting through dirt for diamonds. I do however find that really cool because in that way the stone is unique to the person. It now has sentimental value, and if it were cut personally for the person its different. But to spend 32k on a diamond is slightly ridiculous. But thats just my opinion, no means to offend anyone. If someone wants to spend that much on jewelry by all means it helps keep our economy going.

That was sort of unneccesary and offensive. I was just asking about what sort of pieces they have. Some of us make our living in the business and study stones in depth. I won't bother to tell you everything I find wrong with what you said, but maybe you should realize that "if you don't have something nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all" applies to message boards as well.

Leash81
05-09-2007, 07:48 PM
Here is a picture of my wedding set which was purchased in the Jewel of Orleans to give you an idea of some of their stuff.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e226/Leash81/Wedding/333Gillmer11-17-06.jpg

adriennek
05-09-2007, 08:40 PM
My ring is a sapphire. I put it on layaway. When I was down to one or two payments left to go, they sized my finger and sent it out to be sized for me so that the day I made the final payment, I could wear it home. :D

Adrienne

Tinkermommy
05-09-2007, 08:49 PM
I love their lay-away plan. I get over there every month to visit my ring and make a payment (You can mail it in too).

I stopped in with my then-10-year-old a few months ago, because SHE wanted to look. The salesperson was very kind to her, gave her a business card, and told her that they have a layaway plan. I loved that!

adriennek
05-09-2007, 09:05 PM
I stopped in with my then-10-year-old a few months ago, because SHE wanted to look. The salesperson was very kind to her, gave her a business card, and told her that they have a layaway plan. I loved that!

I made very regular visits to my ring during our layaway period. Each and every time, they went to the back and dug it out. They let me put it on and admire it and show it off to whoever was in with me that day.

They are very generous to let you try on rings. I also learned a lot about jewelry and gems going there. They taught me about the chemical composition of different gems (Did you know that rubies are "red" sapphires. There are pink sapphires but when they get red enough, they are called rubies. And emeralds are a soft gem, which is why they're often in an emerald cut because it's a sturdier cut. Sapphires are stronger but, of course, not as strong as diamonds. And true alexandrite is RARE but they tend to get a few pieces of it!)

I'm actually not a person who's into jewelry at all. I now own three pieces - my ring, my diamond and a single pearl on a chain that my father gave my grandmother and she wore it all the time - I asked for it when she died. I just don't see a lot of sense in spending a lot of money on jewelry - it's not my 'thing'.

But all my pieces have special meaning. My pearl and engagement ring are obvious. My sapphire - it's my birthstone and my eldest son's birthstone. The setting is a bit unique in that it's almost identical to my engagement ring. :eek: The sapphire is a more oval cut than my round diamond, but the style of the ring and the setting is identical - even to that my rings both have gold ring and platinum settings, both have 6 prongs. They're simple and I prefer a simple style.

Even though I don't necessarily "go for" jewelry, my sparkly store ring 'spoke' to me. Every time I went in there I tried it on. The day I decided to get it the manager even called the store owner and said to him "You know that ring Adrienne has been looking at for months? She's finally going to buy it." LOL.

So it has a story to tell and, big surprise, I love stories. ;)

Adrienne

Sguidgit
05-09-2007, 09:43 PM
I always try my best to check out this store on most of my visits. Usually I don't find anything unique AND that I like. However, this last visit I found a pretty ring. It was a band, and it had tiny diamonds and sapphires, and it criss crossed I believe. It was $800 I believe. I have since tried to search for a ring like it (not that I'll buy it haha, but out of curiosity) and I haven't found anything like it. Personally, I love simple band rings since I'm so tiny. :) I love this store, even if I don't get anything. Always nice to look at old estate jewelry.

luckyamber
05-10-2007, 06:44 AM
However, this last visit I found a pretty ring. It was a band, and it had tiny diamonds and sapphires, and it criss crossed I believe. It was $800 I believe. .

I love little bands. I have a diamond and plat one and a sapphire & diamond plat band that I stack together.