Gilt

I had no idea I wanted a vintage wedding ring until I fell in love with a STUNNING set from the 1930s at Gilt. I was in without my man and felt kinda funny about it, but the ladies were SO kind and fully indulged me in what must have been at least an hour of staring at my hand and gesticulating excitedly as I mimed through fake conversations in the mirror. Not kidding. It was so much fun.
My (now) husband had no problem, reaching out and procuring this perfect pair from across the country in New York, where we live. PS it appraised for a heap more than he paid.
Fast forward to a couple years later and a tiny diamond fell out of the wedding band. I had to mail it in for repair, and decided to toss in the engagement ring for good measure. Within a week and a half, the rings were returned, all diamonds secure, fully cleaned, re-​rounded and more beautiful than I even remembered!
Jessie and Carley were extremely kind and super informative. I paid a minimal fee for shipping and am so glad I decided not to get hasty and just use a more conveniently located jeweler.
Gilt has provided repeated great experiences on every level, and while I’m certain I have THE PRETTIEST rings in the world, you’ll no doubt enjoy your visit to Gilt and find something gorgeous that’s certainly *almost* as awesome!

I can’t say enough good things about this place. My engagement ring can’t from here, it’s so beautiful and truly unique. The woman who helped us remembered us a year later when we went to pick out wedding bands. Great customer service, she was very patient and had good recommendations. I didn’t shop anywhere else go look at wedding bands because this place is a one stop shop.

I knew my wife wanted a vintage filigree ring and I looked all over town to find one.
The selection at Gilt was dramatically better than anywhere else I looked, and the prices were very fair. The staff was very busy but super nice, and my wife is extremely happy with the ring I chose. If you are ring shopping this place is worth a look.

Horrible experience. I was shocked given all the positive reviews on here.
1. Rip off. They overprice all their merchandise and use sales tricks to get you to think it’s cheap (i.e getting a ring appraised for way more than it will ever sell for, then telling you how much they have discounted it for).
2. Take the jewelry into natural light before you buy it! They use lights in here that make the diamonds glitter and look much better than they actually are.
3. Annoying pushy sales people. They will lie to you to get you to buy anything.
You can do so much better if you look around. Don’t get ripped off like I did.

I have purchased a number of items here for my wife. I like that they have a large selection and you can pretty much find something for every budget. What I have NOT experienced is any amount of rudeness from any of the ladies of Gilt. They have always greeted me with a smile and have always obliged when my wife wants to see anything in the cases. They are prompt with their emails when we have any questions with just amazing service all around!

My fiancé got my engagement ring here and they were very helpful. Beautiful ring and great service when I came in to get the ring sized after we got engaged.

Great service, before, during, and after purchase. We stop by and have the ring cleaned every now and then. Always free and friendly. Great selection of classy jewelry. Bought my fiancé’s engagement ring here.

Wanted to check out this store today, and also needed my engagement ring cleaned before my wedding next week. I asked the lady behind the counter if I could have it cleaned while I looked around. She told me that since I didn’t buy my ring there, she couldn’t clean it for me… told me to go home and use a toothbrush. This ring was made for me, so I didn’t buy it somewhere I can go back to. Awesome way to earn new customers!!! I definitely won’t be back to check anything out as I was planning.

These folks know their stuff. We were perfectly pleased to buy my engagement ring there 8 years ago. We went back for a wedding band recently. With barely a glance, the woman helping us identified my ’20’s white gold ring and found a number of great options of bands to match.
In addition to the wonderful «estate» jewelry, the upstairs local/​regional artist-​created pieces are always something to see.

Went to Gilt a year or so ago and the lady was ride but thought maybe she was having a bad day. Went back today and was treated badly again. Not sure what is going on here.

I purchased a 1912 necklace with tiny freshwater pearls for my wedding day. I enjoyed the selection and my experience so much, that I brought my mom on my wedding weekend and she purchased a beautiful vintage bracelet and a gift certificate for me to use on our anniversary. My husband and I got temporary rings for our wedding until we found ones we really wanted. I recently went in to spend it and panicked because it was slightly expired, but the wonderful assistant said it was absolutely no problem and she helped me pick out my new wedding band (1941)! Not only that, it matches my engagement ring almost perfectly. I wanted to thank the ladies of Gilt for their attentiveness and excellent customer service!

The ladies of Gilt were extremely helpful during our search for the one. Despite ring shopping with my girlfriend (now fiancé), Gilt helped me pull off a surprise proposal.
Gentlemen, take advantage of the two month layaway — they’ll keep the ring locked up in their safe while you get your proposal plans set. Gilt will size engagement rings while they’re on layaway. Your new fiancé won’t want to send the ring off to be sized after you’ve popped the question, so I highly recommend getting it sized ahead of time.
Their selection is excellent. My fiancé is constantly getting attention from strangers wanting to check out her unique ring. The craftsmanship is undeniable. They seriously don’t make them like they used to. Go vintage or go home.

So… I have big hands. And you know what they say about guys with big hands right?
Nooooo not that.
that It’s really hard to find a ring that will slip past my finger nail!
Being quite new to the ring shopping game I very quickly discovered that my search for an antique ring was a mission impossible. Apparently most men’s estate rings are simply melted down for their valuable gold to be made into custom rings that we then buy in hopes of looking like we are wearing a vintage ring.
With this fact in mind I was pretty sure that I would be beginning my search for custom ring makers back here in Vancouver. Ugh. The only thing I knew was that I liked the old style rose gold look and that my sausage sized finger was an unfortunate reality I had to deal with.
So we walked into Gilt with very little hope of finding anything at all.
Asked what I was looking for I responded with my shot in the dark rose gold 1900’s idea… and low and behold the one and only ring they had was just the right thickness and it slipped right on like it was made for me. Wow! No re-​sizing needed.
In and out of the store in what felt like 5 minutes (I’m sure it was more like 10) I had my ring. I’m still shocked at our luck that day.
Thanks for saving my ring from the melters Gilt.

Such an awesome experience shopping at Gilt! We walked in looking to get sized for our wedding rings and wound up buying them, too! They have a beautiful selection of gold bands in all colors of gold. The service was super friendly, accommodating, and helpful. We left relieved to have purchased our wedding bands locally and to have gotten such a great deal on them, to boot!

Phenomenal. Store. As someone completely new to the world of engagement rings, I starting shopping around. I compared both vintage and «ring factory» options in the Portland area and was shocked to find the huge difference in sparkle and presentation of vintage rings, compared to that of «ring factories». I believe the superior diamonds at vintage shops are due to the fact they are hand cut as opposed to computer cut. Logic: hand cut creates larger cuts and larger cuts reflect bigger blocks of light, thus more sparkle? Nevertheless, I’m sold on vintage rings and I’m completely sold on Gilt.
Men: Go here if you want a happy wife.
TIP: Pay in cash for 5% discount.

Wonderful customer service! I had some questions on a certain ring, and one of the ladies even took photos to email to me. When I went in with my guy, they showed us a variety of rings, and they really paid attention to what style I liked.
They have a traditional 60 day layaway which is a nice option if you don’t want to go in debt over a ring.
Great pieces and they seemed very educated on their products. We went on Sunday and while it was slammed with shoppers in the small space, our sales personal patiently showed me pretty much every ring.

I like to save my 100^th, 200^th, etc. reviews for places that hold a really, really, really special place in my heart. For my 100^th, I reviewed Mercey Hot Springs (one of those places you love so much that you really don’t want to tell other people about it.)
For my 200^th, I give you GILT, the former home of my engagement ring.
During a brief trip to Portland for Thanksgiving, we spent a day sightseeing the city, much of it in the rain. As we parked in the Alphabet District just after dark, in a light rain, we emerged from the car and were pleasantly surprised by an offer of a free hot chocolate sample from an angelic soul in the doorway of Moonstruck Chocolate Café. (We came back on our return and bought some hot chocolate mix and some truffles, see my separate review of Moonstruck.)
My dearest said, «there’s just this one place I really, really want to check out.» Knowing him, I figured it would be a book store, an art store, a camera shop, or some oddities store. But as we walk up the steps, I realize its a jewelry store… an antique/​estate jewelry store (I later discovered they also have some new pieces by local jewelers on the top floor.)
And as we walk through the door, my heart leaps in my chest, and I wonder… is this??? Does he??? No, it can’t mean??? Maybe it is…
And I turn to look, and he’s smiling at me, and he says mysteriously, «I thought we’d look around.» First we stroll around the edges of the room, which hold any number of lovely pieces. Then he heads towards one or two cases in the center of the room around which most of the staff and customers are gathered.
The two cases are full of rings. And I realize… it IS what I thought it might be. And I flush (turning six shades of pink no doubt) and I suddenly feel about as shy as a 12-​year old wondering if the cute guy will ask me to dance.
It did not take long… we both fell in love with the same ring within a few minutes. I think I tried on no more than six.
He knows me well… he wanted to make sure I would like the ring he chose, but he still wanted to surprise me. He didn’t buy it in front of me (he paid for it by phone the next day and had it shipped back to LA.) And I didn’t see it again for more than a month… but then that’s another story!
The store was cozy, service was extremely helpful and polite, and they back up their prices with appraisals. We were very satisfied with our experience at Gilt!

Fellas — I’m talkin’ to you.
You’re with that special lady and ready to pop the question. You’re looking for a ring. This is VERY IMPORTANT now: Stop yourself from walking into a Zales, Fred Meyer Jewelers, or any of that sort. Literally, STOP. Don’t do it. Get away from Jared. Don’t shop BlueNile.
Now, young man — get thee to Gilt ASAP.
On the bridal/​engagement side, they have antique diamond rings of all price ranges that are simple to ornate, all high quality and all with personality and that pizzazz every lady should want from something she’s going to wear the rest of her life. The staff has been incredibly helpful the several times I’ve gone in. They’ll let you try rings on and browse, give you terminology for things you like and it’s an absolute 0 pressure sale.
On the casual side, they have local artisan jewelry with everything from turquoise stones to beads. They feature over 20 local artists and each artist has an area to display their work and everything is available for purchase.
AGAIN, FELLAS — shopping for anniversary or a just-​because necklace or something else that’s pretty? GO to Gilt. Talk to one of the ladies there. They’ll help you out.

I don’t get what all the fuss is about. Fiancé and I went in to look for his wedding band. Given he’s never bought a wedding band, we had lots of questions. Apparently having questions is not appreciated by the staffers. God forbid wanting to try on several styles. We were passed around from employee to employee, until a very new one took us on. She was friendly, but didn’t know a lot about jewelry.
I tried on a few small «vintage» wedding bands with tiny diamonds. The cost was almost as much as my truly vintage 1930s engagement ring with multiple large diamonds.
I can see how this place appeals to the quirky Portlander. But definitely not the place for those who like to be treated nicely and can tell the difference between old and vintage.

There’s Gilt and then there’s GUILT.
I was guilty of losing BOTH mine and my wife’s wedding rings in Hawaii. I didn’t want to leave them laying around in our bedroom, so I popped them into my shorts pocket. Later in the day, at Lanikai Beach, I forgot all about the rings and went for a dip in the ocean. Now, those rings are laying in the sand at the bottom of the blue Pacific. Let’s just say my wife… was not pleased. Also, my attempt to color the whole incident as somehow «romantic» failed miserably.
We went shopping for new rings today. What a nice little shop this is. The lady who helped us was very friendly and didn’t mind that my wife wanted to try on practically every ring in the shop. I didn’t get any snooty ‘tude, which happens to me quite often when I’m looking at expensive items. (People sometimes assume that because of my booted, leather-​clad biker looks that I don’t have much scratch in my pocket.)
My wife found a very lovely, vintage 1920’s ring that she absolutely loves (more than ring #1) and I got a cool sterling silver ring. Yay! We are both ringed up and I’m out of the doghouse.