victoriamcdowell
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2005
- Messages
- 2
Hi there,
I owe a thank you to all that have taken the time to leave feedback and have documented their experiences on Pricescope. As such, I would now like to take this opportunity to contribute my story so that I may add to another''s experience searching for the engagement ring of their dreams.
I researched my dream engagement ring for a month. I popped into Tiffany, pounded the streets of London''s diamond district, trawled the internet and read several diamond buying guide books from cover to cover (yes a little bit too much time on my hands for my own good). Whilst I gained an understanding of what I liked, knew all the questions to ask and could speak the language, I realised that the most important thing was to find someone I could trust. Through Pricescope I read several recommendations about Engagement Rings Direct and the service Mark had given. So, two weeks ago my fiancé and I arranged our first trip to New York to meet Mark and celebrate our engagement. Our trip turned out to be an adventure of a life time.
Even with the tyranny of distance and differing time zones Mark and I had several detailed conversations prior to our meeting so he could get a true understand of what we were searching for. Its worthy of me noting here that all the diamond merchants I had met in London had scoffed at my desired specifications and had told me that unless I compromised I would never get a ring. Well, we were greeted with not only four beautiful diamonds to chose from but all were to our desired specification and most importantly within budget. We fell in love with the first – a 1.25, F, SV2, 1:1.4 L/W – which was very important. It was perfect! It turned out to be the smallest in the selection but the way it lit up the room you would believe it was bigger.
We were then given some privacy to discuss our thoughts (didn''t take long) and then Mark promptly arranged an appointment with Justin Krall of Manhattan Appraisers (an independent appraiser also recommended by Pricescope). Mark''s secretary escorted us to visit Justin who then spent an hour taking us through the process of confirming the diamond’s authenticity, showing us the diamond at 30x magnification so we could gain a though understanding of its inclusions, then with the use of some very impressive machinery and recommended specifications he graded the quality of cut and finally gave a market valuation as per the Rapaport diamond report. Please don''t tell Mark but his price was well (and I mean well) below. We then shopped for a temporary setting, which enabled me to wear it immediately (which Mark''s industry discount was 50% on retail and I''m not rushing to change), had it sized, set and then polished. The diamond never left our sight.
Our adventure began at 10am and by 2pm my fiancé was placing our dream engagement ring on my finger and we had every possible guarantee and reassurance that we could hope. What an incredible journey! The whole process, including the behind the scene partners, had been a very professional and pleasurable experience and we spent half that we would have needed to with a London merchant. We thank Mark, his team and Justin for their expertise, patience, knowledge and guidance throughout.
I trust that we will continue to keep in touch with Mark to service our jewellery over the years and we would have no hesitation in recommending him to our friends, family and anyone who will listen to our story.
Victoria…
I owe a thank you to all that have taken the time to leave feedback and have documented their experiences on Pricescope. As such, I would now like to take this opportunity to contribute my story so that I may add to another''s experience searching for the engagement ring of their dreams.
I researched my dream engagement ring for a month. I popped into Tiffany, pounded the streets of London''s diamond district, trawled the internet and read several diamond buying guide books from cover to cover (yes a little bit too much time on my hands for my own good). Whilst I gained an understanding of what I liked, knew all the questions to ask and could speak the language, I realised that the most important thing was to find someone I could trust. Through Pricescope I read several recommendations about Engagement Rings Direct and the service Mark had given. So, two weeks ago my fiancé and I arranged our first trip to New York to meet Mark and celebrate our engagement. Our trip turned out to be an adventure of a life time.
Even with the tyranny of distance and differing time zones Mark and I had several detailed conversations prior to our meeting so he could get a true understand of what we were searching for. Its worthy of me noting here that all the diamond merchants I had met in London had scoffed at my desired specifications and had told me that unless I compromised I would never get a ring. Well, we were greeted with not only four beautiful diamonds to chose from but all were to our desired specification and most importantly within budget. We fell in love with the first – a 1.25, F, SV2, 1:1.4 L/W – which was very important. It was perfect! It turned out to be the smallest in the selection but the way it lit up the room you would believe it was bigger.
We were then given some privacy to discuss our thoughts (didn''t take long) and then Mark promptly arranged an appointment with Justin Krall of Manhattan Appraisers (an independent appraiser also recommended by Pricescope). Mark''s secretary escorted us to visit Justin who then spent an hour taking us through the process of confirming the diamond’s authenticity, showing us the diamond at 30x magnification so we could gain a though understanding of its inclusions, then with the use of some very impressive machinery and recommended specifications he graded the quality of cut and finally gave a market valuation as per the Rapaport diamond report. Please don''t tell Mark but his price was well (and I mean well) below. We then shopped for a temporary setting, which enabled me to wear it immediately (which Mark''s industry discount was 50% on retail and I''m not rushing to change), had it sized, set and then polished. The diamond never left our sight.
Our adventure began at 10am and by 2pm my fiancé was placing our dream engagement ring on my finger and we had every possible guarantee and reassurance that we could hope. What an incredible journey! The whole process, including the behind the scene partners, had been a very professional and pleasurable experience and we spent half that we would have needed to with a London merchant. We thank Mark, his team and Justin for their expertise, patience, knowledge and guidance throughout.
I trust that we will continue to keep in touch with Mark to service our jewellery over the years and we would have no hesitation in recommending him to our friends, family and anyone who will listen to our story.
Victoria…
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