appraisal experience...and recommendation

[skimmy]

i have learned SO much from this forum and wanted to share and "give back" to this great community so...
here goes!

in the hunt for my sparkly, i met with quite a lot of jewelers - all of whom came with great recommendations. in the end, i picked my jeweler based on the diamond i wound up buying. being the classic NYer, i was a little skeptical but she won my confidence by how much she knew and was able to teach me - on top of all my pricescope education! that being said, i wavered on the need for an independent appraisal. (the jeweler i bought the stone from is a GG and gave me an "appraisal" that i could use for insurance purposes. she also came with several very strong recommendations.)

well...my skepticism won out and i went through the appraiser list on pricescope. i made an appointment with deborah villepigue, which we had to cancel because of the impending snow blizzard. she was super super nice...more concerned with my safety than making her appraisal fee!! we rescheduled and she was GREAT. not just great because she gave us a positive appraisal, but because she took the time to educate us along the way and tell us what she was doing as well as share her thoughts on the stone. she answered any and all questions i had and really confirmed for me the need to have an independent appraisal because she was able to add something of value to the whole experience - outside of just an appraisal certificate!

her hours were extremely accomodating and her rates definitely beat (and then some!) the quotes i got from other appraisers. she even plotted my earrings for me at no charge!! walking away, she made me feel like she was more concerned about me as a person rather than me as a customer. if you are in the NYC area and are in need of an appraiser, i have no reservations recommending deborah.

thanks for letting me get up on my soapbox!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Yeah, I''ve heard nothing but good things about Deborah as well.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 1/27/2005 2:46:14 PM
Author:skimmy
i have learned SO much from this forum and wanted to share and ''give back'' to this great community so...
here goes!

in the hunt for my sparkly, i met with quite a lot of jewelers - all of whom came with great recommendations. in the end, i picked my jeweler based on the diamond i wound up buying. being the classic NYer, i was a little skeptical but she won my confidence by how much she knew and was able to teach me - on top of all my pricescope education! that being said, i wavered on the need for an independent appraisal. (the jeweler i bought the stone from is a GG and gave me an ''appraisal'' that i could use for insurance purposes. she also came with several very strong recommendations.)

well...my skepticism won out and i went through the appraiser list on pricescope. i made an appointment with deborah villepigue, which we had to cancel because of the impending snow blizzard. she was super super nice...more concerned with my safety than making her appraisal fee!! we rescheduled and she was GREAT. not just great because she gave us a positive appraisal, but because she took the time to educate us along the way and tell us what she was doing as well as share her thoughts on the stone. she answered any and all questions i had and really confirmed for me the need to have an independent appraisal because she was able to add something of value to the whole experience - outside of just an appraisal certificate!

her hours were extremely accomodating and her rates definitely beat (and then some!) the quotes i got from other appraisers. she even plotted my earrings for me at no charge!! walking away, she made me feel like she was more concerned about me as a person rather than me as a customer. if you are in the NYC area and are in need of an appraiser, i have no reservations recommending deborah.

thanks for letting me get up on my soapbox!

so what did you get????????????????????????????

 

[skimmy]

oh! details...duh!

i got a lovely 3.06C sq em / asscher. i posted the specs on here awhile back because i was unsure about the depth (it''s only 60.4%). but i kept staring at it and could see the steps and it didn''t seem flat to me. so we bought it. and this is where i was like...hmm... do i love it b/c it''s only 60.4% depth which makes it look more like a 3c rock? but when deborah confirmed that it was a really great cut, that was just icing on the cake and really confirmed for me we had made a great choice!

i haven''t posted pics in the SMTR folder b/c...he''s asked my dad but hasn''t asked me!! (i told him i''d rather be surprised by HOW he proposes...not WHAT he proposes with!) so the sparkly is still sitting in its box pouting...or is that me pouting???

thanks again...i sure as heck could not have done this w/o all the things i''ve learned here!!

 

[windowshopper]

holy cow! you are a lucky girl--do you know how you will set it?

 

[skimmy]

awww...thank you!!

yup...i''ve had it set already too. (see why i''m pouting?!)

it''s in a platinum setting with pave down the top of the band. i think 7 round brilliants on each side with the milgrain edge and bead setting. this was the other cool part i learned about the ring through the appraisal process...apparently my jeweler took care of quite a lot of extra details that normally could be passed over. she drillled/gouged the holes to set the RBs and then polished underneath them

so that they were smooth and then put the RBs into the setting! then i got the split prongs on the corners...but they''re more like one single that was split into two but not really.

i''ll post pics as soon as it happens!