Chicago Jewelers Row - M. Martin vs Dimend Scaasi

[bling!]

Hi Chicagoland shoppers! Can anyone provide some comparison points between M. Martin and Dimend Scaasi on Jewelers Row? We visited both of these stores recently (in addition to Windy City Diamonds and NY Jewelers which we did NOT care for). I think the diamonds at M. Martin were slightly higher priced, but I believe that is because they hand-select the best in class cuts, which seems worth the money to me. But D. Scaasi also had some nice looking stones... Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone had personal experience with either or both of these stores and could provide feedback.

Thanks!

 

[braintree]

I just finished a purchase with Shannon at dimend scaasi. They were fantastic. My girlfriend and I went there on a saturday and spent several hours with shannon. She was very knowledgable. There was no pressure to buy at all. We ended up with interest for a stone and setting but didn''t purchase that night. After countless phone calls and emails with questions to her, we got a stone and setting. I couldn''t be happier with the service and price. Nothing but good things to say.

 

[bling!]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[Ria]

I second Dimend SCAASI... Shannon was absolutely wonderful and extremely patient! They have GREAT prices and will work with your budget! GO for it! They are great!!

Ria

 

[phinsup]

I can''t speak for Diamond Scaasi yet -- though I plan to visit soon. I did, however, visit M. Martin about 2 weeks ago and will not be going back. The guy there pulled out diamonds and placed them under an extraordinarily bright light that was simply blinding -- I could not see any kind of detail in the diamonds at all. Impressive sparkle, but coal would have sparkled under that light. When I asked about objective measuring tools for light return, like Idealscope or ASET, he told me those were just gimmicks. I''m not sure how they expect consumers to evaluate diamonds under those conditions. They want you to believe that they have evaluated the diamonds themselves for cut and I guess you''re just supposed to take their word for it. That''s not how I operate. Not all GIA ideal cut are up to the standard I''m looking for. I want AGS0 as a starting point -- and then we go from there w/ Idealscope and ASET -- I also want hearts & arrows symmetry. He told me that was just a gimmick, too.

 

[lovinsparkles]

Re: D. Scaasi, in my experience they were very friendly. I did not find the person I worked with to be super knowledgeable about diamonds (at least compared to the experts on this board, which is a high standard, I admit). Do a search for the name here, at least one consumer recently had a bad experience. Also, make sure you want to buy your setting there too, they only sell diamonds with settings. You can find many of the same stones on WF for a lower price (plus the other WF perks like a trade-up option), if you''re willing to buy online. I enjoyed seeing the stones in person there, but they also have very bright lights, so try to step closer to the window to see them in natural light. Good luck!

 

[Ms.Goggles]

Date: 12/12/2008 5:15:10 PM
Author: lovinsparkles
Re: D. Scaasi, in my experience they were very friendly. I did not find the person I worked with to be super knowledgeable about diamonds (at least compared to the experts on this board, which is a high standard, I admit). Do a search for the name here, at least one consumer recently had a bad experience. Also, make sure you want to buy your setting there too, they only sell diamonds with settings. You can find many of the same stones on WF for a lower price (plus the other WF perks like a trade-up option), if you''re willing to buy online. I enjoyed seeing the stones in person there, but they also have very bright lights, so try to step closer to the window to see them in natural light. Good luck!

We recently purchased a 1.53 H/VS2 Crafted by Infinity diamond from Dimend Scaasi and were able to get the diamond shipped for free to LA where the setting was made by Maytal Hannah. The two don''t have to be bought together!

For what it''s worth, we looked at & compared James Allen, Good Old Gold & Dimend Scaasi in search of a center stone. They had pretty comparable diamonds, but the price on the D. Scaasi ended up being the best for the quality of the diamond. Good luck!

 

[lovinsparkles]

Date: 12/12/2008 9:40:16 PM
Author: Ms.Goggles

Date: 12/12/2008 5:15:10 PM
Author: lovinsparkles
Re: D. Scaasi, in my experience they were very friendly. I did not find the person I worked with to be super knowledgeable about diamonds (at least compared to the experts on this board, which is a high standard, I admit). Do a search for the name here, at least one consumer recently had a bad experience. Also, make sure you want to buy your setting there too, they only sell diamonds with settings. You can find many of the same stones on WF for a lower price (plus the other WF perks like a trade-up option), if you''re willing to buy online. I enjoyed seeing the stones in person there, but they also have very bright lights, so try to step closer to the window to see them in natural light. Good luck!

We recently purchased a 1.53 H/VS2 Crafted by Infinity diamond from Dimend Scaasi and were able to get the diamond shipped for free to LA where the setting was made by Maytal Hannah. The two don''t have to be bought together!

For what it''s worth, we looked at & compared James Allen, Good Old Gold & Dimend Scaasi in search of a center stone. They had pretty comparable diamonds, but the price on the D. Scaasi ended up being the best for the quality of the diamond. Good luck!

That''s great to hear MsGoogles -- I am pretty sure that wasn''t the policy there when I was looking. I knew I wanted a particular designer setting, so I couldn''t go with DS for the stone in the end. I''m glad to hear that''s not the case any longer -- much more customer friendly.

 

[annadragon]

I''m considering a stone from them as I type this. I''ve worked with Marta and Isaac and both have been fantastic about answering boundless questions from me. When I spoke with Isaac, I explicitly told him I would be having the stone shipped to my jeweler to have it set. There was no mention of a policy that required me to purchase a setting from them.

 

[bling!]

Well, we ended up purchasing my ring from M. Martin (the boyfriend is holding is hostage now, but I''ll post pics when he decides to give it to me!).

So, for future shoppers - a few comparison points:

- We worked with Steve Martin at M. Martin Jewelers - he is probably the least pushy salesperson I''ve ever worked with, he met with us twice (each visit was 1.5 hours) and we never felt pressured to make a quick decision. He took the time to explain to us how a GIA "excellent" cut can represent a large range of quality, and how he hand-selects the best in class diamonds. He showed us, side by side, two GIA "excellent" diamonds, one which he sells via internet database/to mall retailers (a "paper pretty" diamond) and another diamond which wasn''t as paper pretty (lower color/clarity grading) but had absolutely fantastic sparkle thanks to the cut. Of all the comparisons I was shown at various jewelry stores, THIS was a difference I could see. It also completely scared me away from purchasing on the internet, because I saw firsthand that just because a diamond looks great on paper doesn''t mean it is going to look great in person.

- At Dimend Scaasi, we worked directly with Isaac. He was friendly and knowledgeable, but definitely comes across as more of a salesperson. When we were at the store, he boasted that they were running a 3% discount on all stones 1.49 cts and under. We were there on a Saturday, and my boyfriend asked if he called to place the order on Monday, would the 3% discount still apply. Isaac''s response? "Well, it might. It''ll apply until I take the advertisement off the website, and that might be Monday". Come on. A good businessman would say "absolutely!". That rubbed me the wrong way. I liked the stone that Isaac showed us, a 1.41 H/SI2, but it wasn''t blowing me away. I don''t know what it was about it - probably the fact that I really wanted a 1.5. In any case, we left and I went onto Dimend Scaasi''s website later that night. To my surprise, they had TONS of diamonds listed that Isaac had not shown us. I e-mailed Isaac (he responded very quickly, another plus) and he said those weren''t stones they carried in-house, but he could get them in for me IF I wanted to BUY them sight unseen. I mean at that point, I might as well buy a diamond from Blue Nile! I haven''t seen it, and the guy selling to me hasn''t seen it - scary. Conversely, when we called Steve Martin back at M. Martin, we told him we liked the stone he had (1.6 J/SI2) but I was having trouble accepting the J color (even though the stone was beautiful!) and I wanted to see it next to an I color stone. Steve called my boyfriend back the next day and said he had gotten a 1.5 I/SI2 but that he didn''t like the stone, and wasn''t going to show it to us. He promised he''d call as soon as he found a better stone. He called the next day with a stone he felt was worth showing us, so we paid our second visit to the store. Of course, I ended up with that 1.6 J/SI2

But I felt like he went the extra mile to get us what we wanted and make us confident in our purchase. And I didn''t have to BUY the comparison stone in order to see it, either!

I know there are many people on this board who are very happy with Dimend Scaasi (remember, though, most of those buyers are "internet" purchases, too - it''s a different experience when you go to the store!) and I definitely wouldn''t steer anyone away from going there as they have a nice selection and unique settings - but I''d recommend M. Martin first

Really, it all comes down to personal preference. We also visited NY Jewelers on our first trip to Wabash because it was well-rated on Yelp - I couldn''t get out of there fast enough! It was like a used car dealership! But they were clearly willing to negotiate on price, and some people probably get a thrill out of that

 

[SOX FAN 66]

I shopped at both places but bought my diamond from M. Martin. I do have to take exception to one of the comments made on this post that I do not understand. M. Martin was the only company that DIDN''T have blinding halogen type lights in their store. I found Steve Martin to be extremely knowledgeable, and liked that he was a GIA graduate gemologist. He did explain to me that while there are different machines which retailers use as selling tools, that none of these machines are sanctioned or used by GIA. I also figured that if these machines are not used by an independent laboratory, they could be biased in favor of the jeweler using them. Anyway, Mr. Martin spent a lot of time with me. He explained the GIA system to me and how to use it. He designed a mounting for me that came out exactly the way I wanted.

I also visited Dimend Scaasi. They were friendly, but I didn''t feel they were as knowledgeable. They had a lot of diamonds on their web site, but I ran into the same trouble as on the other posting. They were not available unless I wanted to purchase them sight unseen. This turned me off. There was one stone they showed me that I was considering. However, when I searched around the internet, I found this same stone (same certificate) being sold by them on the internet for $500 less than they wanted to charge me. Is that the premium for walking into their store?

I felt M. Martin puts more effort into choosing the stones they sell. I also thought their stones looked better. I think Dimend Scaasi is more oriented toward slightly cheaper internet type diamonds, whereas M. Martin is more quality oriented. I am extremely happy with my purchase and I am sure, after all my shopping, I made the right decision.

 

[mryan]

Date: 12/3/2008 1:34:08 PM
Author:bling!
in addition to Windy City Diamonds and NY Jewelers which we did NOT care for

I fealt the same way. I went to jewelers row more just to look at sizes and get info and went to these 2 places and it was horrid. NY Jewelers take you in the back and you can hear each salesperson giving the same lines to each customer. as for windy city they say #1 rated by someone on the window but I was near insulted at the diamonds they showed my girlfriend and myself. I was never going to buy from B&M but still was unsettling!

Thank god for GOG!

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 1/24/2009 9:28:27 AM
Author: SOX FAN 66
I shopped at both places but bought my diamond from M. Martin. I do have to take exception to one of the comments made on this post that I do not understand. M. Martin was the only company that DIDN''T have blinding halogen type lights in their store. I found Steve Martin to be extremely knowledgeable, and liked that he was a GIA graduate gemologist. He did explain to me that while there are different machines which retailers use as selling tools, that none of these machines are sanctioned or used by GIA. I also figured that if these machines are not used by an independent laboratory, they could be biased in favor of the jeweler using them. Anyway, Mr. Martin spent a lot of time with me. He explained the GIA system to me and how to use it. He designed a mounting for me that came out exactly the way I wanted.

I also visited Dimend Scaasi. They were friendly, but I didn''t feel they were as knowledgeable. They had a lot of diamonds on their web site, but I ran into the same trouble as on the other posting. They were not available unless I wanted to purchase them sight unseen. This turned me off. There was one stone they showed me that I was considering. However, when I searched around the internet, I found this same stone (same certificate) being sold by them on the internet for $500 less than they wanted to charge me. Is that the premium for walking into their store?

I felt M. Martin puts more effort into choosing the stones they sell. I also thought their stones looked better. I think Dimend Scaasi is more oriented toward slightly cheaper internet type diamonds, whereas M. Martin is more quality oriented. I am extremely happy with my purchase and I am sure, after all my shopping, I made the right decision.

HI:

I am unfamiliar with this verbage/quantification--can you please edify me?

cheers--Sharon

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 1/24/2009 12:45:40 PM
Author: canuk-gal

Date: 1/24/2009 9:28:27 AM
Author: SOX FAN 66
I shopped at both places but bought my diamond from M. Martin. I do have to take exception to one of the comments made on this post that I do not understand. M. Martin was the only company that DIDN''T have blinding halogen type lights in their store. I found Steve Martin to be extremely knowledgeable, and liked that he was a GIA graduate gemologist. He did explain to me that while there are different machines which retailers use as selling tools, that none of these machines are sanctioned or used by GIA. I also figured that if these machines are not used by an independent laboratory, they could be biased in favor of the jeweler using them. Anyway, Mr. Martin spent a lot of time with me. He explained the GIA system to me and how to use it. He designed a mounting for me that came out exactly the way I wanted.

I also visited Dimend Scaasi. They were friendly, but I didn''t feel they were as knowledgeable. They had a lot of diamonds on their web site, but I ran into the same trouble as on the other posting. They were not available unless I wanted to purchase them sight unseen. This turned me off. There was one stone they showed me that I was considering. However, when I searched around the internet, I found this same stone (same certificate) being sold by them on the internet for $500 less than they wanted to charge me. Is that the premium for walking into their store?

I felt M. Martin puts more effort into choosing the stones they sell. I also thought their stones looked better. I think Dimend Scaasi is more oriented toward slightly cheaper internet type diamonds, whereas M. Martin is more quality oriented. I am extremely happy with my purchase and I am sure, after all my shopping, I made the right decision.

HI:

I am unfamiliar with this verbage/quantification--can you please edify me?

cheers--Sharon

Yes, actually most of us here have bought absolutely top quality diamonds from internet vendors who have a better in-house selection than almost any other jewelry store (as in, take a look at Good Old Gold and WhiteFlash)!!! A full range of diamonds from the top to the bottom are available both in jewelry stores and through internet vendors. I never found a jeweler locally who carried primarily excellent cut stones yet their prices were certainly higher.

Incidentally, I think Dimend Scaasi''s policy is that they will not sell a SETTING without buying a stone from them, not the other way around! I actually did purchase a ring from them but decided it was not exactly what I wanted and they did accept the return and promptly refunded my money. Just thought I would add that since it is pertinent to the topic of the thread!

In addition, I know of at least one PSer who had a good result buying from NY Jewelers. I think you just have to know what you are looking for and know pricing well enough to know what you should pay, and not base the decision on secondary factors. The objective is to get the best stone at the best possible price!