Three stone E-ring Upgrade Story and Review – Mark Morrell/GOG/RockDoc

Some of you may remember my tale of woe about six months ago.  The story is so embarrassing to admit, knowing what I know now, but maybe it will help someone else.

Background story - DH and I purchased a three stone 2 ct tw diamond ring in St. Thomas while on a cruise in January ’06.   We knew only the basics about diamonds, it was an impulse purchase, but was backed by the cruise ship shopping guarantee that it would be the quality we paid for, so we figured we had nothing to lose.   After being at home for a few weeks, we had it appraised and it was a J/I2 (the claim was G/SI1).    It was worth half of what we paid.  I posted my story here, started communicating with RockDoc (Bill Lieberum – www.consumersgemlab.com), who out of the kindness of his heart volunteered to help me out as he had contacts in the Caribbean jewelry industry.  He made calls, we made calls (credit card dispute, cruise ship guarantee claim), it was a VERY stressful and long process.  Even after they finally agreed to refund my money, they kept the ring for 6 weeks before finally crediting me at the end of May.  Lesson learned forever, and my thanks to Bill for helping us out here, not only with the calls but with “emotional” support and encouragement to hang on, especially as we were ready to give up many times.   I wouldn’t have this ring now if it weren’t for him.

While this was all going on, I was spending time getting educated here

Settings – I wanted to keep the simple three stone look but wanted to avoid a basket setting as it reminded me of the “bad” ring.   I liked trellis settings.  I went around to local B&Ms and really disliked everything I saw.   They seemed…flimsy. Additionally, I preferred the side stones to be about a half the center, which I had trouble finding stock settings for.   So, I decided to go custom.

Mark Morrell – I first contacted him in early May and told him what I was looking for: 3 stone trellis, set low, euro shank, something I could wear all the time and was not going to be cumbersome.   He told me this was his busy season with many bridal projects but he could do it later in the summer if I could wait so I agreed and I began to source the stones

GOG – I decided I wanted H&A cuts.  I found several stones that looked promising and called Tim up to discuss.   He went through them all with me, very patient, and I ended up selecting a 1.1 I / SI1.   Tim indicated it was extremely well cut, and that it had only a non eye visible carbon inclusion.   Then he ordered two matching H&A stones of .53.   It took only a couple days for them to come in and he immediately posted all the info on his website so I could see them

RockDoc – I had decided I was going to use Bill to appraise my new diamonds, so I arranged for the 3 stones to be shipped directly to him from GOG.   

Then I started stressing about the carbon spot.  It was totally irrational but in my mind this carbon kept getting bigger and bigger until I was imagining it smack in the middle of the table!   I shared this nonsense with Bill who profoundly said “if you don’t want a carbon spot, you don’t want a carbon spot, no matter how small”.   He advised me to pick a second diamond from GOG and ship it over as well and then have him select the better of the two.     GOG was fine with this.   All I had to do was put a deposit ($500) on each of the two diamonds.   The second diamond that I selected was a  1.21  I / VS1. 

RockDoc Evaluation – June - Bill took a week or two to check them out but I didn’t get any complaints from GOG.   He immediately ruled out the 1.1 and focused on the 1.21 - not for the carbon but for the better light return.   This really surprised me because, going by my amateur self-ps-educated knowledge, the 1.1 should have been the better of the two.    Of course at this point I totally trusted him and that’s what I was paying for.

When his evaluations were completed, he sent me many documents & photos, and we had a 2 hour conversation going through them all.  He was extremely patient and is obviously very passionate about what he does.   I was very happy that I used an independent appraiser, not only for peace of mind, but because I learned 2 interesting things about my diamond:   1) I found out it was more like an “H” that an “I”   and 2) AGS made a mistake on my certificate.   It recorded it had a faceted girdle but it was actually a bruted girdle.   Thank goodness I know this, can you imagine down the road, if I learned that this diamond didn’t match the cert – I’d certainly think the stone was switched along the way.    Next, Bill sent the 3 selected diamonds directly to Mark Morrell, and the other diamond back to GOG.   The cost for all of this was around $300, which included the 2 overnight shipments back to MM & GOG.   GOG doesn’t charge for the first shipment, which was to Bill.   I would highly recommend if you are going to invest a significant amount of money in a diamond that you get it independently appraised regardless of who you buy it from.    It’s like getting an inspection before you buy a house.

Mark Morrell Visit #1 – Late June - DH and I are fortunate enough to live within driving distance to Mark, so we were able to see the diamonds in person, and also saw his first CAD image.   We ended up staying there 2.5 hours.   Here is another vendor who is very passionate about his work to say the least.  He spent a lot of time with us, just going over the diamonds themselves.   They were simply beautiful, I was very pleased – thanks GOG.   The CAD image was also just what I expected, so no modifications were needed. 

Mark Morrell Visit #2 – early August – The setting was ready and I went over to check it out.   Again I stayed a couple hours.   This was a relatively simplistic setting compared to some of the other work Mark does but you’d think I was spending a million dollars, the way he treated me.   He spent at least ½ hour just perfecting the sizing for my finger.  It is very rare these days to find someone so passionate about the work that they do.  The mounting itself was just perfect, very substantial, gorgeous.   He totally understood what I was asking for.    Next, all that needed to be done was setting the stones which takes him about a week.

Mark Morrell Visit #3 – one week later, I came over to pick it up.   It was a beautiful New England summer day and he took me outside to show it to me….it was perfect!  

Insurance – I worked with Bill Castro of Chubb per Bill’s suggestion.  Bill provided the appraisal of the final ring for me as part of his appraisal cost (a summary version with photos, which is all Chubb requires).

Summary – I am positively thrilled with this ring.   It is so comfortable, I almost forget it’s on.   It fits absolutely perfectly.   Although I ended up spending considerably more money that I had for the original ring  (THANKS TO PS!  ), there is no comparison in terms of quality, and I am so happy I have a quality piece to pass down to my daughter.    I really enjoyed the process of working with three vendors (Bill, GOG, Mark) who were so passionate about the work they do and committed to quality and customer service.   The experience of working with the three vendors together as a team was very smooth, it is obvious that they know how to work together well and have a lot of experience working together.

Here is one pic and I will post more in SMTR.

______________________________
"You kept making all the stops?"
"Well, people kept ringing the bell!"
**ls gift**

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Piece of cake and a candle.
**ng gift**

........... Karl has joined the diamond trade and is now posting as Karl_K

Rhino
Good Old Gold