Submitted by HarleeQuinzelle t3_zy566n in pittsburgh
Hello fellow yinzers! I am looking for a jewelry store that is local and small. I’m searching for an engagement ring that is likely not a diamond and am a fan of unique settings. I like all kinds of gem stones!
Thank you for any and all suggestions :)
If the reason for "likely not a diamond" is conflict then that may not apply to a lot of diamond ring options at Marlene's since they are vintage.
I’m not saying this to talk smack about Marlene Harris, but you may find that she is less than 100% approving of non-traditional stone choices for something like an engagement ring and will probably try to talk you into a diamond.
I second Marlene Harris. She designed my engagement ring and found antique wedding rings to match. We now use her anytime we want to buy a piece of jewelry.
Agree, Marlene is great and she can get you anything you want. The most unique jewelry collection in Pittsburgh!
Samantha Skelton in Bloomfield has beautiful, unique engagement rings with gemstones in addition to diamonds. I am hoping to have my diamond engagement reworked by her in the future.
Fourth! Check my post history for my custom engagement ring from Sam!
Wow, it’s beautiful! Congrats!
Thank you so much!! I am beyond obsessed with it!
Second and I hope to get an upgrade from her in the future.
I'll third this suggestion. Got my wife's wedding ring from Samantha Skelton and it's absolutely phenomenal.
http://www.waxjewelrydesignstudio.com/#/
Wax on Ellsworth in Shadyside does some interesting stuff.
They did my husband’s ring and it’s really lovely!
Seconded, they can make all sorts of cool stuff
Truvers in mt Lebanon!
I second this. Awesome couple in there.
Good for you! Too many people buy into or are pushed into (in my husband's case) the idea that an engagement ring HAS to be a diamond (IMO, they're rather boring, colorless stones). Look into small jewelry shops that sell estate jewelry, too. Vintage rings are so unique! My nephew proposed last Christmas and, together, they chose to design their own, a moonstone ring, from a small jeweler in the Sharpsburg area but I can't recall the name now.
Was it Metamorph?
Not a small shop, but Orr's Jewelers on Forbes in Squirrel Hill did a custom job for me. I wanted to get my wife a gold pendant with a custom monogram engraving and birthstone placement. I called around to several and they were the only ones able to do a custom monograms. I gave them a drawing of what I wanted engraved and they gave me a quote and image sample of what it would look like.
It is closed now, but we used McNeish in Shadyside about 8 years ago to do custom wedding bands. Our goldsmith/designer we worked with was Kerry Cohagen. I don't know if he is still in the area working for another shop, but if you can find him, he was great to work with through the whole process and we ended up with the most wonderful, personalized design.
Ron had some stellar & sleek designs and Kerry is an excellent craftsman/artisan.
If you can find him, I also cant recommend him enough.
Check out On The Rocks designs. Lisa the owner is a freaking artist! She just opened a brick and mortar shop in Etna.
Brilliant Nuevo Diamonds in the Clark building. Super nice guy, custom made the engagement ring for my wife and I, and reasonable prices too.
My engagement ring is from Mathew Jewelers, a local family-owned business. They’re up in Cranberry, so a little bit of a haul if you were looking for closer to the city. My ring is a sapphire with a unique setting - they specialize in all different gemstones!
Jewelry by Alicia and Scott. Up in Warrendale. Hugely recommend
My fiancé got the gem from a phenomenal lapidary who does amazing faceting (u/shinyprecious) and then had it set at Henne. I love the ring and it sounds like he had a really positive experience.
I got my wife's non-diamond engagement ring from Henne in shadyside. They've got lots of options including custom!
Absolutely do not recommend shopping at henne. They're overpriced and don't seem to really value their customers unless they're celebs, or people who spend $75k+ annually on jewelry.
Wow that was far from my experience (but I'm certainly not going to discount yours!)
I went in with my (then) soon to be fiancee (now wife), we explained what we were looking for, and got a very beautiful tanzanite ring for under $1k, including resizing.
They even opened champagne for us, and gave us a bunch of coupons for couples things around the area.
They did take us over to the $10k+ engagement section first however 🤣
Also had a bad experience with Henne! My then boyfriend tried emailing and calling for pricing on engagement rings and got ignored. So he went in there and tried to talk to someone - he had an idea and just needed a little extra guidance. They treated him like garbage and basically tried to kick him out. He was wearing nice work clothes and had a reasonable budget so he was very off put by it. He went to Mathew Jewelers and they treated him like a king there. Any time I’m in Shadyside, I’ve thought of walking in their with my diamond and sapphire rings and pulling a Pretty Woman on them lol
Husband and I got our wedding bands from Henne and had a great experience. They also resized my engagement ring in a day. I plan to go back there to have a few other pieces cleaned and appraised.
tepsoftball25 t1_j23sf0z wrote
Definitely The Marlene Harris Collection in Blawnox. Very unique, exquisite, vintage jewelry that is one of a kind and is highly recommended in the Pittsburgh region. Her store used to be a chicken coop, it’s so cute.