[Dantilla]

I designed my wife's ring, and got it wholesale with a local guy who supplies a couple high-end stores.

It appraised at three times what I paid for it, and I had a lot of fun in the proccess. I also got a great education about diamonds.

If you don't have an option like that available, the first advice is to stay away from the mall jewelers. The local little independant guys sell higher quality stuff, and will usually negotiate, whereas most mall employees are just paid retail workers, with no real expertise or authority to negotiate.

I have a friend who owns a hole-in-the-wall type independant jewelery store, and he is continually amazed at the silly high prices the mall ratailers charge for low-quality stuff.