In July my fiance and I met with a couple local jewelers. She had her heart set on a tiffany style ring, the tiffany soleste. She loved the double halo setting and the cushion cut diamond. After working with a couple local jewelers and not being satisfied with what they had to offer, I moved my search online and found the pricescope forums. I lurked around for a month reading posts and learning about cushion cut diamonds. I learned that Mark @ ERD was a well-respected Pricescope vendor and an expert on cushion cut diamonds. I had done some preliminary research on cushion cut diamonds and had narrowed down what my fiance wanted, so in September I contacted Mark to begin a search with him. I had also contacted several other online vendors but Mark's experience and attention to detail really set him apart. Mark drew on his expertise to only present diamonds of the highest quality that were within my budget and met my requirements of the 4 C's. When he found a diamond that he liked better he would let me know about it and let me decide. Mark was always willing to offer additional information and to further educate me. My experience with other vendors was that if you didn't ask, they wouldn't tell. He was also very patient and was never pushy.
I was originally only shopping for the diamond through ERD but after viewing their available setting options on the ERD website, viewing youtube videos of some custom work ERD had done, and consulting with Mark on pricing I decided to go with ERD for the setting as well. I went back and forth on the details of the setting and finally agreed on the final details of the setting and diamond with Mark and at a great price! I was really nervous about this part because I am located in the midwest and was not able to physically see any of the process until completion. But Mark kept me informed on the status of the ring, and he provided pictures of different stages of the ring through completion. Prior to agreeing on the final details of the ring Mark provided me with great images of the diamond, CAD images of the setting, GIA reports, and ASET images that made the experience as close to physically seeing everything as I could get via the internet. I placed all my trust and confidence in Mark, and he lived up to his reputation. At one point I wasn't able to pay for the ring on our agreed upon date due to a family funeral that took me out of the country, and Mark was very sympathetic and understanding. Our communication was all done by email and phone, and I really enjoyed the personal touch that Mark brought to the experience. I wasn't just dealing with a sales rep who knows high-level data, I was dealing with the owner.
In November, I received the ring from ERD and I couldn't be happier with the finished product. I had high expectations of this ring, but WOW, Mark and the ERD team really exceeded my expectations. My fiance loves her ring, it's perfect for her, and it's exactly what she wanted and a little more
. She has received several compliments on the ring, and I too have been commended on doing a great job. Most people are surprised to learn that I did most of the shopping work without her help. Because of how detailed and delicate the ring looks, they expect that a woman had a lot of input in choosing it, but I really owe that to Mark and his team at ERD for providing such a perfect ring. I think some of her friends are even a little envious of her ring .
I highly recommend Mark and the ERD team to anyone who wants a great diamond engagement ring, particularly one with a cushion diamond. They did an amazing job and we couldn't be happier!
The final specs of the ring ended up being:
Center stone:
Cushion modified brilliant - GIA certified
measurements: 6.69 x 6.20 x 3.90
ratio: 1.08
carat: 1.21
color: F
clarity: VS2
polish: Excellent
symmetry: Very Good
Fluorescence: none
Setting:
Platinum setting with .86 carats of E and F color VS clarity .005 and .01 ct round brilliant diamonds
Engagement ring: 2.07 ctw
I'll attach a few pictures in a separate post.
I was originally only shopping for the diamond through ERD but after viewing their available setting options on the ERD website, viewing youtube videos of some custom work ERD had done, and consulting with Mark on pricing I decided to go with ERD for the setting as well. I went back and forth on the details of the setting and finally agreed on the final details of the setting and diamond with Mark and at a great price! I was really nervous about this part because I am located in the midwest and was not able to physically see any of the process until completion. But Mark kept me informed on the status of the ring, and he provided pictures of different stages of the ring through completion. Prior to agreeing on the final details of the ring Mark provided me with great images of the diamond, CAD images of the setting, GIA reports, and ASET images that made the experience as close to physically seeing everything as I could get via the internet. I placed all my trust and confidence in Mark, and he lived up to his reputation. At one point I wasn't able to pay for the ring on our agreed upon date due to a family funeral that took me out of the country, and Mark was very sympathetic and understanding. Our communication was all done by email and phone, and I really enjoyed the personal touch that Mark brought to the experience. I wasn't just dealing with a sales rep who knows high-level data, I was dealing with the owner.
In November, I received the ring from ERD and I couldn't be happier with the finished product. I had high expectations of this ring, but WOW, Mark and the ERD team really exceeded my expectations. My fiance loves her ring, it's perfect for her, and it's exactly what she wanted and a little more
. She has received several compliments on the ring, and I too have been commended on doing a great job. Most people are surprised to learn that I did most of the shopping work without her help. Because of how detailed and delicate the ring looks, they expect that a woman had a lot of input in choosing it, but I really owe that to Mark and his team at ERD for providing such a perfect ring. I think some of her friends are even a little envious of her ring . I highly recommend Mark and the ERD team to anyone who wants a great diamond engagement ring, particularly one with a cushion diamond. They did an amazing job and we couldn't be happier!
The final specs of the ring ended up being:
Center stone:
Cushion modified brilliant - GIA certified
measurements: 6.69 x 6.20 x 3.90
ratio: 1.08
carat: 1.21
color: F
clarity: VS2
polish: Excellent
symmetry: Very Good
Fluorescence: none
Setting:
Platinum setting with .86 carats of E and F color VS clarity .005 and .01 ct round brilliant diamonds
Engagement ring: 2.07 ctw
I'll attach a few pictures in a separate post.
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