Dianne's Old & New Estates
Categories: Jewelry, Watches, Antiques, Bridal [Edit]
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow2181 Union Street # A
San Francisco, CA 94123 (415) 346-7525
- Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
27 Reviews for Dianne's Old & New Estates
One of Dianne's Old & New Estates' Favorite Reviews
Recycling at its best!
I found Dianne's Lost and Found after a few discouraging experiences searching for an estate engagement ring at other jewelry stores. The few things I knew about this place gave me little hope: 1) the name, 2) they have another store in Disneyland and 3) the store is on Union Street. My then-boyfriend was none too happy to be sent to what sounded like a housewife's vanity business in a part of town that we go out of our way to avoid.
We were so wrong.
This place is FULL of fantastic inventory. Not just old diamonds, old diamonds of great quality spanning lots of different eras. And the staff was just lovely. It's a family business through and through. I was able to pick three rings that I loved for my fiance to choose from, and I just adore the one I got. It's completely unique and just what I wanted. Until I went to Dianne's, I thought what I wanted didn't exist.
Oh! And they threw in a bottle of champagne, too, which was a thoughtful touch.
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TWO WORDS: NOT PUSHY!!
my boyfriend have just seriously started to look for an engagement ring for me. After reading some of the reviews on this place, we finally stopped by one afternoon. The staff is super friendly, knowledgeable and (again) so not pushy. The collection they have is also amazing. We have yet to find the perfect ring... but we will for sure stop by regularly, since they get rings in all the time.
Keep up the good work Dianne's ^_^
What's more green than buying vintage estate jewelry? Whether it's the sentiment of buying something that was created 100 years ago for someone else's sweetie or the distinct, timeless aesthetic of Art Deco, Victorian or Edwardian pieces -- you really can't go wrong with purchasing estate jewelry.
I happened to find this store when I was out for dinner with a girlfriend, about 9 years ago. We were both in wonder and amazement at the gorgeous selection of sapphires (her favorite) and aquamarines (my favorite), rubies and emeralds (our second favorites). There were so many incredible pieces and they let us try them on!
I somehow managed to convince my boyfriend that I had to have a $1200 1920s 2.5 ct aquamarine and diamond platinum engagement ring (he had not proposed) for Valentine's day and have worn it proudly ever since.
A lot.
I've worn this ring so much, in fact, that I have had the prongs retipped three times and the last time was told that I had even cracked the support under the head. Dianne's son, Alex, was so patient and kindly spent time on the phone with me explaining the mysteries of jewelry repair, metals and conservation. I've always felt good about taking my ring back to them for repairs and am very happy to recommend others to visit their store when looking for a special gift.
I'm not really a big jewelry kinda girl. I like funky earrings, subtle pendants and uniquely petite rings. All of which I prefer to be 'eco' and socially conscious...meaning estate, recycled gold, conflict-free diamonds, etc.
I came into Dianne's randomly a few years ago and always stop back by when I'm in the neighborhood. I may not be in the market to buy myself a right-handed diamond ring (just yet), but one of these days...
The staff in here is INCREDIBLE. Super knowledgeable, incredibly generous and friendly. They offer unbeatable prices on estate jewels. Perfect engagement rings for those who prefer tasteful and small and also for those that are into the bigger baubles (think 3 carat cushion cuts...wowza)!!
I'm a huge fan of supporting local as I always say and hope that one day I'll have the chance to actually purchase something at this store. It's one-of-a-kind, just like the merchandise.
And P.S. they offer super great payment plans, layaway, etc. Don't forget to ask about it when buying your new gems.
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VERY nice estate (original and reproduction) pieces with a wide selection for any budget. Service was very friendly and the salesman let me try on multiple rings as he could see I was just learning what my style was.
Although we didn't end up purchasing my ring here I heartily recommend Dianne's for those looking for any Edwardian, Art Deco, etc jewelry item... I'm also considering a ring for my right hand. :)
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About seven years ago, my gilfriend and I fell in love with and purchased two beautiful vintage rings from Dianne as our commitment pieces.
I chose a unique shield design in platinum with a larger diamond in the center and smaller diamonds sprinkled throughout the shield. The filagree is ornate and just stunning. My girlfriend went for something more traditional, with a large center diamond and two medium-sized diamonds on the side, also in platinum. Hers is from the 1930s and mine is from the 1920s.
I can't save enough about the quality of the rings and the service at this quaint shop.
Whenever there is an issue (for instance, the filagree on my ring is delicate and I'm not), we bring them back for an expert and precise repair job. They always come back shiny and new looking.
I highly recommend Dianne's Old and New Estates. You'll be thrilled with the excellent customer service provided by the owners of this family run shop!
My boyfriend, now fiance (YAY!), is a socially conscious type. He told me that he absolutely refused to buy a blood diamond. Blood diamonds are warlord-controlled diamonds mined in some countries in Africa that use child labor. The profits from these diamonds are normally used to fund civil wars in Africa. Most NON-blood diamonds are found in Canada; the only other mass producer of diamonds next to countries in Africa.
The other option for purchasing a socially conscious diamond is to purchase estate or vintage engagement rings as a way of recycling. On a personal level, I love estate or vintage jewelry because its unique.
He decided to find a reputable jeweler who sold estate jewelry here in SF. He went to a couple of places, but found that Dianne's Old & New Estates was the best. He said that the person who helped him, Natalya, listened to what he was looking for and did not pressure him into buying anything he didn't want.
Thank you, Natalya for your patience in helping us find the perfect ring!
For more information on Blood Diamonds, please check out the following links.
http://www.stopblooddi...
http://www.amnestyusa....
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If you are looking for the perfect engagement ring that is chic, elegant, drop dead gorgeous, timeless, and your best bang for your buck this is the place to go.
My boyfriend - now my fiance got engaged over New Years 2008! My fiance knowing that my artist and fashionista eye would want to be invovled in selecting my engagement ring took me to Dianne's January 2nd (I mean come on now it is going to be on MY finger for the rest of my life; I better LOVE it).
It was like walking back in time to a place full of beauty and diamonds! This place is truly magical. Let me explain:
Before we headed over to Dianne's we had looked at their website and saw a ring we both liked. I had never tried on engagment rings so I didn't know what it would look on my finger, but I knew I really liked it.
We went to Dianne's and when we told the man behind the counter (Rod - he is fabulous!) we were looking for engagement rings he said, "We'll this may be your first and last stop." We told him our budget and then reached into a case and pulled out the exact ring we had looked at online!!!!! I put it on my finger and almost cried; it was the ring.
The people that run this place are absolutely FABULOUS; there is no pressue and they really love and know what they are doing!!! It is a family run business and they even have an in house jewler that can size your ring within 1-2 hrs the same day!!! Ok ladies that is unheard of.
Even though my breath was taken away by the first ring Rod told me to try on every style since it was my first time. He starting pulling out ring after ring. I must have tried on 30 rings; it was such a fun and awesome experince. As for the prices - I found they had every price range and a good selection for every range. Most people think we spent 10K on our ring when we actually spent half that - I love that even more!
My fiance and I went to Perry's to go think about it and have lunch. We wrote down lots of questions we had and went back. As soon as we walked in Rod pulled out the ring; he just knew.
We bought. Got it sized in 1 hour. Went back to Perry's and celebrated!!!!! Even my fiance said it was such a fun experience that he wants to go back to find his band there.
My ring is beyond beautiful. EVERYWHERE I go I get comletments. I love that my ring is eco friendly and a unqiue piece that won't be reproduced like a cookie like they do at other stores. I have never seen such beautiful craftmanship! It has been 2 months and I still can't stop staring at my ring; I am beyond in love with it.
This is a magical place so venture carefully - you may come out engaged!
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AMAZING service.
Very helpful and non pushy staff...
definitely experts in the field!
All I can say is that my boyfriend/Future Husband searched high and low for an engagement ring, and he found The One here. Not only is the ring beautiful, but the service was excellent. The ring is an Art Deco 1930's piece and had to be resized. I hated to part with it so soon after the proposal -- the next day -- but Dianne's sized and steam-cleaned it, and had it back on my hand within the hour. We'll definitely be back for our wedding bands, and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for something special.
After the engagement, we went shopping for wedding bands. After a not-so-great experience at that jewelry store in Union Square -- you know, the one with the signature aqua-blue packaging -- we found ourselves at Dianne's. I was admittedly somewhat reluctant to journey to this part of town, but for some reason there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of jewelers in this 3-4 block radius of Fillmore and surrounding areas, and so here we ventured to take out chances.
It was the best decision we ever made. It's a small shop, but they have a very varied selection and soon the boy fell in love with a platinum band with just the right combination of heft, matte and shiny that fit his personality perfectly.
It had to be adjusted to his size. I put down about half the price of the ring, and told them I'd return once the sized ring was in the store again.
About 2 weeks later they gave me a call to let me know it was ready, but it took us over 3 months to return to retrieve the band. Nonetheless, the shop was very understanding and assured us that the delay was not a problem at all. Once we were back I subsequently stayed a very long time and looked at bands for myself. Dianne herself attended to us, and everything that folks have said here about her patience and pleasantness ring true. I must have tried on nearly every ring in one case at one point and she still kept suggesting more!
We ultimately chose my wedding band here as well; the one we chose also had to be adjusted. Danny also asked them to resize his ring (it was a bit loose). Their metalsmith truly works wonders -- the platinum bore no marks as to what adjustments he made and the rings now fit perfectly. In addition, the boy received a generous discount on the cost of my ring!
Their layaway plan is also fabulous. You could put 10% down and pay the rest off in 12 months; or you could put 50% down and take the ring that day.
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Yes its pricey but I love this place. If your looking for rings or watching you will love it. I have been going there for years. If your looking for a old watch this is the place.
We had the most wonderful experience here last night! So special and amazing. We told Dianne that we had a really tight budget, and she lovingly came back with "Well, we have something for EVERYONE!" and God, was she telling the truth. We found EXACTLY what we were hoping for, and made the aquaintence of a wonderful woman, who has truly made this time in our lives sparkle! ;)
Knowledgeable, helpful, kind and friendly. A wonderful place for jewelry.
Update: When we went to pick up the ring from sizing, we had the pleasure of meeting Alex and Natalia. They were so sweet and wonderful & gave us a special gift bag to celebrate! Three cheers for Dianne's!!!
I know very little about jewelry. I don't know what's good. I don't wear any (no watch, nothing). I don't buy any either.
So this all made the hurdle of finding an engagement ring all the more difficult. My (now) fiance likes the antique look, and this place got good reviews on the yelp, so I checked it out. A look at the cases revealed much in her style, but the service here is what really shone.
Alexander answered all of my dumb questions and maybe a few good ones. He really knows his stuff and can explain it like you're just having a conversation about the weather. The prices were better than i had expected for Cow Hollow and for Alexandrite, though I guess a bit of haggling is expected and I wasn't ready for that. They let me think on the purchase, and despite the ring taking a short trip to the Disneyland branch everything worked out great.
Be sure to mention if the ring you buy is for an engagement, because I got a bottle of champagne, jewelry cleaner, and a polishing cloth as a bonus.
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Dianne's... There is no place like it. My boyfriend and I walked into Dianne's after browsing other stores in the area (without having that feeling that I loved any of the rings). We wandered over to the case with some very beautiful rings and I immediately saw a diamond and platinum ring with sapphire accents. When Natalia pulled it out of the case and I put it on, I started crying (I know, very embarrassing) and everyone got worried about why I was crying. My boyfriend asked if I was OK and all I could sob out was "It's the one". Dianne came over and gave me some tissues and a hug and my boyfriend said "We'll be taking this one".
This store has the largest (and carefully/tastefully chosen) antique and estate collection I've ever seen. Their selection on their website is only a tiny fraction of what is available in the store. They have engagement rings, watches, pins, etc... Dianne is very sweet and she seemed to be as happy for us as we were to find THE ring. She even provided an amazing discount (we didn't even ask!).
Go to Dianne's.
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If you don't want blood diamonds, consider estate jewelry. We bought our engagement ring here, and the first jewelry I bought for Margaret was at their affiliate in Disneyland. The pieces are retro, hand made, unique, real art, and not nearly as expensive as the cookie-cutter junk you see around Union Square.
Bottom line: Will I buy more? Sure! I love dropping in and seeing what they have in stock.
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This is a great little boutique shop of estate jewelry with owners that really care about the pieces they sell. I found one here I liked in a rose gold setting - an usual color for an art deco piece.
The only downside of Dianne's: there are hardly any engagement rings here under $4,000.
This place is fantastic. The staff was helpful, knowledgeable, no-pressure, and all around sweethearts. My fiance and I went ring shopping today, and this was the first and only stop we made. I now am the proud wearer of a 1940 platinum engagement ring, that was not only well with-in our price range, but is absolutely gorgeous. As we were leaving, and my eyes were welling, we got a hug from Natalia (the awesome Russian woman everyone keeps writing about) and a bottle of champagne to go home and celebrate with.
Side note: they were helping other people when we first arrived, so they called their jeweler to come out and assist us. He wasn't someone who generally dealt with customers, but even he was super nice and informative! Very happy experience, all around.
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I just (today!) got my engagement ring from Dianne's. The store *is* small. But the rings are oh-so-beautiful, and chosen with an eye towards every taste -- from the flamboyant to the classically restrained. Dianne, her son Alex, and Natalya (the charming Russian woman Arwen O. met) were all helpful, thoughtful, and extremely tactful. Unlike lots of other places, no one made us feel uncomfortable about a less-than-luxurious budget or tried a hard sell.
This is the good stuff, and the nice people.
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My experience here was definitely memorable. I went with my bf to look at rings and was helped by Dianne. A borderline kooky lady, who obviously LOVES what she does. She was very patient with me and allowed me to basically ransack her display. After describing what I was looking for, Dianne pulled out a little gem... she's good. My bf took a hint and went back to find it priced higher ... gasp, but the good people at Dianne's honored the first lower price! A week later I was engaged. The ring was a bit too small so she had her expert smith examine my finger and he sized the ring perfectly. This place has an amazing selection of rings, better than I saw at other estate jewelers with excellent customer service.
I helped a guy friend of mine pick out an engagement ring here, and our experience was exceptional. We shopped around at several estate jewelers in the city, made a stressful trip to the gift center, and I phoned places all over the bay area, but Dianne's had the best selection of vintage, deco and edwardian rings that were not astronomically expensive. (under 5k) The no pressure attitude of the staff was so refreshing, and they even were a bit flexible with the price. I am a huge proponent of estate jewelry, (for both political and aesthetic reasons) , and HIGHLY recommend Dianne's to anyone looking for an elegant and unique engagement ring at a reasonable price. Oh yeah, my friend got major props for the ring, and their wedding is this summer!
As far as I'm concerned this is the only place to buy your engagement and/or wedding ring(s) in SF. At this terrific little shop on Union Street you get to avoid sifting through all of the ubiquitous, boring, ugly, gaudy, tacky and/or yellow gold junk that every other jewelry shop seems to think women want, like or desire?!?...and instead go straight to the good stuff.
They have a huge selection of mostly vintage & estate jewelry, with a smaller selection of new stuff. Almost everything is either set in platinum or white gold (a huge plus for folks who are not into yellow gold). The rings themselves are sort of divided by price (size & quality of the diamonds), but they seem to have something for every budget.
Their service is impeccable...not only to they make you feel important as a potential buyer, but they let you take all the time in the world, trying on everything in the shop if need be. To top it off, they gave us a very good trade-in value on a petite vintage ring that we used as credit towards the purchase of my dream engagement ring.
We wound up spending more than we'd originally intended, but my hubby-to-be said, "If you can't splurge on love, then what can you splurge on?" (Yes, there's a reason why I married this man!). They set us up with a 6 month layaway plan, so we left with the ring that very same day. When I got outside, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was...it almost appeared sky blue in the bright sunshine.
That was over 2 yrs ago...and I love the ring just as much to this day. I love the fact that it is a vintage piece from the 1950's (no "new blood" has been shed of it), that it is a one of a kind piece of art, that the artist who created it managed to make a round diamond look square in it's fishtail setting (they did not have square diamond cuts back then), and best of all that the ring has a history all of it's own which is being recreated in the here and now.
I'm looking forward to going back to Old & New Estates someday in the future... probably to buy a nicer wedding band (the one I got wound up being a $20 plain white gold band off ebay, b/c by that time we'd already run through the wedding budget).
I highly recommend this place...as do quite a few of our friends who've had a similar shopping experience here. Save yourself the stress and headache, and just go here...
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Small but gorgeous display of estate jewelry. We went in looking for engagement rings and were helped by a charming Russian woman with a thick-thick-thick accent who said "darling, remember to try on many, many rings before you make a decision." Who doesn't want to hear that advice??
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Made shopping for my engagement ring a real pleasure! It was the first store we went to, and we found something right away! we forced ourselves to look at other stores- but my fiance said that was the ring and he loved the store and the service. If you're looking for something unique and value family business and politically correct diamonds, you have to check this place out.
I'm so happy with my ring- it is truly special!
My boyfriend and I had been looking at rings for months, I had finally decided just to go with the generic solitaire engagement ring because we only wanted to spend around $1000 and you can't get a custom designed ring with a decent diamond for that price. We shopped high and low and decided to buy online because we were so unimpressed withe service we were getting at mall stores ,due to our limited budget I assume. That is until I stumbled (well, actually found on Yelp) into this store. It is small but I told the sales woman my budget right off the bat and she said, oooh, we have so maany my daahhling! It was totally sweet and not at all patronizing like the robotic mall people. She let me try on practically every ring in the store and she let me try them on side by side - usually stores won't let you have more than one out of the case at a time so you feel like a burden asking them to take them out again. I found a beautiful art deco ring from the 50's and it was about $500 over our budget, but Natalya gave us the "special" discount and my boyfriend (who I brought back later that day) was sold. Natalya spent tons of time with me and I didn;t think we would buy that day, but she still gave us all of her attention and didn't make us feel pressured to spend more. Natalya seemed to be having as much fun as I was with the whole process and we ended up purchasing the ring, she gave us many congratulations and a bottle of champagne to celebrate! It was a wonderful experience and we will definitely go back to get out wedding bands. They also do free sizing, oh, and there's the whole "not a blood diamond" aspect of vintage jewelry. I would give them 10 stars if I could!!! Also... if you can't pay all at once, they will give you the ring with a 20% down payment and you can pay over 6 months with no interest - good deal!
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I can't say enough good things about this store, and about the experience of shopping for and buying an engagement ring and wedding band here. The selection is amazing, there is NO sales pressure AT ALL, they were patient, helpful, friendly -- and when I say friendly, I mean, the owner's son went out and bought us coffee and brought it back to the shop while we browsed, SERIOUSLY nice and friendly people. When I was agonizing between two engagement rings, they were tactful about giving us time and space to talk about it and mull it over, they were very flexible about setting things aside for us and putting the two rings on hold so we could sleep on it. And when I asked Dianne for her opinion of which ring looked better on me, she gave her honest opinion that the much-less-expensive one (which had already won my heart) really did look better on me and was the ring for me. Every good thing in all these five-star reviews is true -- they let you pull out as many rings as you want, they write down all the details about the ones you find interesting, they make intelligent and artful suggestions and recommendations, they give you free sizing, they'll resize for free later if you think it's the right size and then wear it for a while and change your mind, they know the history of the rings they're selling, they have a wide wide range of prices and are as happy to show you the inexpensive rings as the expensive ones, they deeply understand the different styles, craftsmanship, and materials of various vintage and antique periods... the reason this review is one huge breathless run-on sentence is that there's just so many good things to say about this place. I love it. It's become one of the good memories we're gathering of the whole getting-engaged-and-married phase of our lives. Thank you, Yelp, it was Yelp reviews that led me to Dianne's, and I *love* it!
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whoever is their buyer has great taste... why can't i have two engagement rings?
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