Jackipeeham
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 1
I proposed to my fiance but decided to purchase the ring with her input afterward not because I was worried she wouldn''t like it but rather that she didn''t love it. I wanted the ring that she will keep forever to be one that I did most of the decisions on design, diamond type, etc... but to know she would love it forever by adding her own touches to it.
Early on we went to the diamond district and were scared off from going any further after just 3 stores, the salesman were rude, imposing and just not an environment I wanted to be in. We then got a referral to a privatized jewelry dealer who was retired who swore low commissions due to no overhead. We then found ourselves with a cushion cut we both liked but the price seemed high; since we never shopped diamonds before we figured that the price was just how it should be. Our visit to the diamond district further solidified that opinion since for similar size cushions we were quoted higher but didn''t try to haggle on a practice run.
We had 2 days to pull the trigger on the 2.3ct cushion cut we picked out from the referral. I then decided on the the day before we had to decide to google some reviews of engagement ring purchases, or an engagement ring / diamond talk forum. That''s when I fell upon price scope. We found referrals for Good ole Gold, Whiteflash and ERD. We decided to go with Mark at Engagement Rings Direct because their website had the ring design we wanted, a similar style to the Cinde Mark had on his site.
I gave him a call the next morning and told him the situation and that we only had a short time to make a decision and he honestly told me the price seemed rather high. At first I thought he was saying that just to win me over as a sale but rather he backed that statement up with other diamonds of similar and higher ratings for a lesser price than we had been quoted. We then wanted to go into his office in the city but our hours didn''t line up to well being that we both worked in Long Island and he was in Manhattan. So, he gave the stones to Dan Gillen and we were able to meet with Dan at his beautiful home. He welcomed us in and we got to it. He pulled out a microscope that seemed incredibly powerful, enough to see the stars in the sky as if it were a telescope. He went through showing us the stone, cleaning it every time it was touched to make sure we saw the flaws as identified in the GIA report. He told us his opinions on the stone and did not push us to purchase it. He spent many hours going over the stone and his experience when he was head of a lab at GIA and we asked him many off topic questions about that as well. He was happy to answer them all. Before we knew it, his wife was asleep and we were still at his house just talking about the stone, his recommendation and took our input to tell Mark when the ring was to be designed.
The next day, we decided on that diamond which was a 2.33ct Square Cushion Cut and now it was time to pick the setting. Dan once again met us at his home to show us the setting and we loved it. We told Mark that it was exactly what we wanted and the process began to create the ring.
The next 3 weeks were agonizing for my fiance. She constantly asked me, "Honey do you think Mark will call me today?" "You promise?" Needless to say at the 2 week mark, she got anxious and called Mark. She told Mark we had a dinner which we were telling our friends and family we were engaged because to them it wasn''t going to be official until I had a ring on her finger, and Mark pulled some strings with the jeweler and got it for us early. We then went to his office off of the diamond district and went to the 27th floor (Could be mistaken but it was a high floor) and went into his office. He was a very calm and collected person, and he was with another client so he showed us the ring and let us play with it while he went back with his client. My fiance''s jaw dropped; she couldn''t speak for a bit and got so nervous she tried to hand Mark the envelope of money immediately even before speaking with him. She calmed down and tried on the ring, it was very beautiful. Soon, we went in his office and started speaking about the ring, how we met, where we met and Mark asked us a few more questions. He told us of his experience in going to Vietnam since my fiance is half Vietnamese and was very charismatic. He was as nice in person as on the phone; never did we feel rushed to leave his office after purchasing the ring. He did everything to make sure we were pleased with our purchase and told us to contact him with any questions. This was the service we were looking for with purchasing such an important item.
Dan Gillen was on vacation so we couldn''t say hello to him but next time we will. We told Mark we''d work with them on the wedding bands once it''s a little closer to our wedding date and we cannot imagine using another person to buy jewelry than Mark & Dan at Engagement Rings Direct. At the beginning, the diamond district salesman definitely turned me off of the experience but Mark & Dan made this experience the happiest purchase ever made. I never felt so comfortable giving such a large amount of money to someone for something before.
I fully think that Mark & Dan and I''m sure the rest of the ERD crew are a pleasure to work with. If anyone has any particular questions about them feel free to PM me and I will be more than happy to answer any questions.
Early on we went to the diamond district and were scared off from going any further after just 3 stores, the salesman were rude, imposing and just not an environment I wanted to be in. We then got a referral to a privatized jewelry dealer who was retired who swore low commissions due to no overhead. We then found ourselves with a cushion cut we both liked but the price seemed high; since we never shopped diamonds before we figured that the price was just how it should be. Our visit to the diamond district further solidified that opinion since for similar size cushions we were quoted higher but didn''t try to haggle on a practice run.
We had 2 days to pull the trigger on the 2.3ct cushion cut we picked out from the referral. I then decided on the the day before we had to decide to google some reviews of engagement ring purchases, or an engagement ring / diamond talk forum. That''s when I fell upon price scope. We found referrals for Good ole Gold, Whiteflash and ERD. We decided to go with Mark at Engagement Rings Direct because their website had the ring design we wanted, a similar style to the Cinde Mark had on his site.
I gave him a call the next morning and told him the situation and that we only had a short time to make a decision and he honestly told me the price seemed rather high. At first I thought he was saying that just to win me over as a sale but rather he backed that statement up with other diamonds of similar and higher ratings for a lesser price than we had been quoted. We then wanted to go into his office in the city but our hours didn''t line up to well being that we both worked in Long Island and he was in Manhattan. So, he gave the stones to Dan Gillen and we were able to meet with Dan at his beautiful home. He welcomed us in and we got to it. He pulled out a microscope that seemed incredibly powerful, enough to see the stars in the sky as if it were a telescope. He went through showing us the stone, cleaning it every time it was touched to make sure we saw the flaws as identified in the GIA report. He told us his opinions on the stone and did not push us to purchase it. He spent many hours going over the stone and his experience when he was head of a lab at GIA and we asked him many off topic questions about that as well. He was happy to answer them all. Before we knew it, his wife was asleep and we were still at his house just talking about the stone, his recommendation and took our input to tell Mark when the ring was to be designed.
The next day, we decided on that diamond which was a 2.33ct Square Cushion Cut and now it was time to pick the setting. Dan once again met us at his home to show us the setting and we loved it. We told Mark that it was exactly what we wanted and the process began to create the ring.
The next 3 weeks were agonizing for my fiance. She constantly asked me, "Honey do you think Mark will call me today?" "You promise?" Needless to say at the 2 week mark, she got anxious and called Mark. She told Mark we had a dinner which we were telling our friends and family we were engaged because to them it wasn''t going to be official until I had a ring on her finger, and Mark pulled some strings with the jeweler and got it for us early. We then went to his office off of the diamond district and went to the 27th floor (Could be mistaken but it was a high floor) and went into his office. He was a very calm and collected person, and he was with another client so he showed us the ring and let us play with it while he went back with his client. My fiance''s jaw dropped; she couldn''t speak for a bit and got so nervous she tried to hand Mark the envelope of money immediately even before speaking with him. She calmed down and tried on the ring, it was very beautiful. Soon, we went in his office and started speaking about the ring, how we met, where we met and Mark asked us a few more questions. He told us of his experience in going to Vietnam since my fiance is half Vietnamese and was very charismatic. He was as nice in person as on the phone; never did we feel rushed to leave his office after purchasing the ring. He did everything to make sure we were pleased with our purchase and told us to contact him with any questions. This was the service we were looking for with purchasing such an important item.
Dan Gillen was on vacation so we couldn''t say hello to him but next time we will. We told Mark we''d work with them on the wedding bands once it''s a little closer to our wedding date and we cannot imagine using another person to buy jewelry than Mark & Dan at Engagement Rings Direct. At the beginning, the diamond district salesman definitely turned me off of the experience but Mark & Dan made this experience the happiest purchase ever made. I never felt so comfortable giving such a large amount of money to someone for something before.
I fully think that Mark & Dan and I''m sure the rest of the ERD crew are a pleasure to work with. If anyone has any particular questions about them feel free to PM me and I will be more than happy to answer any questions.
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