Great Exeperience with GoodOldGold (Tim/Jonathan) - Finally Set on Michael Bondanza

[gontama]

It took over 3 months for my wife to decide the setting for the diamond I purchased ( https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/great-exeperience-with-goodoldgold-tim-jonathan.63195/ ). It is simple, sleek, elegant, and is much nicer than it looks in pictures. It has a distinct look, and is different from many other (semi-) bezel setting such as Tiffany Etoile we purchased about a year ago and returned within 30 days window when the diamond search really began.

We purchased the Union setting at Toppers in Burlingame (Bay Area). Michael Bondanza, like others, does not guarantee the work if someone else works on their ring. We chose to ask Toppers because I trust their work. Bill Kaplan, the owner, is a really nice gentleman. He is one of very few who is willing to work on a diamond purchased elsewhere. The setter at Topper is also great. Both admit the diamond from GOG is very nice. I really like that kind of attitude, seriously; because they also carry super ideals like hof and lk.

I will post pictures when I have time. My wife wears it almost every day and when she does not, I do not have time to work on a camera I am not so good at. It has been a journey. I have learned a lot about diamonds. I often come here to see/enjoy people helping each other.

Thank you all.

 

[angeline]

Oooohhhh congrats!!! I love Michael Bondanza and have been to Toppers lots of times. BIll is indeed a wonderful gentleman and he has excellent prices.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeasssee post pics! It is cruel and unusual punishment to tell us of this ring and not show it to us! I can''t wait to see it!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Three months is a pretty short time around here!

Glad she found a setting for that beautiful stone! Please be sure to post pictures when the ring is finished!

 

[Kaleigh]

Congrats, I love Michael B. Can''t wait to see some pics!!

 

[gontama]

Angeline - I am glad that you like Michael Bondana. My wife initially wanted Whitlney Boin 2 prong hidden bezel setting, which is also very nice. Later it was found that it is not necessarily strong enough to sustain the diamond for a long time. She then find Michael Bondanza. She has kind of different sense of choosing her goods, but I must admit M.B. is not only unique but elegant. Yes, Bill''s price is super excellent, really, no matter the setting. Almost $1,000 less. Why is that? He should be known more in Bay Area IMO, but may be only me who did not know that.

Thank you Angeline.

 

[gontama]

DS2006 - Yes, I plan to post pictures. I wish I could do as well as Ellen. Her pics are just super. By the way, your diamond is very nice. I have studied yours along with the one you compared agiainst it. GOG provides lots of info I can look at as I get more used to those data. Now, I look at Helium report to see if the mode is "Sarin", "Helium", or "Simple", then look at variences of P/C then look at Star/Upper ratio, and do not forget to make sure that azimth of P/C agree with DiamXray. BS, very often in my case, confirms the data provided. I llke your posts too. Thanks!.

 

[angeline]

Date: 9/5/2007 11:31:10 PM
Author: gontama
Angeline - I am glad that you like Michael Bondana. My wife initially wanted Whitlney Boin 2 prong hidden bezel setting, which is also very nice. Later it was found that it is not necessarily strong enough to sustain the diamond for a long time. She then find Michael Bondanza. She has kind of different sense of choosing her goods, but I must admit M.B. is not only unique but elegant. Yes, Bill''s price is super excellent, really, no matter the setting. Almost $1,000 less. Why is that? He should be known more in Bay Area IMO, but may be only me who did not know that.


Thank you Angeline.

Wow we have the same tastes! I love Whiteny Boin 2-prong as well! I agree that for a larger stone it might not be as strong for the long term. I also looove the Steven Kretchmer that Bill has and on the tension design, the Niessing rings from Germany too.

In fact I think I like just about every ring design! hard not to when there''s a sparkly diamond in the center!

a

 

[gontama]

Hi Klaleigh - will post the pcitures. It turned out to be a very beautiful ring. I will try my best.... Thank you for your interest.

 

[gontama]

Angeline - my wife says that the next ring is "tension settting". My observation is: the more woman get used to diamond/setting things, the simpler, the better to her. I plan (TO BE ABLE) to upgrade a diamond at 3ct...

Whitney Boin 2 prong hidden bezel is what I thought is the one. But it is ME who noticed that their "HIDDEN" bezel got bigger recently to the point where you can hardly see the girdle reflection, meaning it got thicker, meaning problems reported from customers regarding the durability, which I confirmed from more than a few diffrent sources. It is a nice design however. I was about to pay nearly $5,000 for that wi/ (do not recall what it is called, but some small square diamonds on the ring around the cerner stone), despite the small reward for working hard! Hard to make a woman happy!

 

[gontama]

Date: 9/5/2007 11:53:41 PM
Author: gontama
DS2006 - Yes, I plan to post pictures. I wish I could do as well as Ellen. Her pics are just super. By the way, your diamond is very nice. I have studied yours along with the one you compared agiainst it. GOG provides lots of info I can look at as I get more used to those data. Now, I look at Helium report to see if the mode is ''Sarin'', ''Helium'', or ''Simple'', then look at variences of P/C then look at Star/Upper ratio, and do not forget to make sure that azimth of P/C agree with DiamXray. BS, very often in my case, confirms the data provided. I llke your posts too. Thanks!.

Of course LGF IS A key too.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 9/6/2007 12:23:16 AM
Author: gontama
Angeline - my wife says that the next ring is ''tension settting''. My observation is: the more woman get used to diamond/setting things, the simpler, the better to her. I plan (TO BE ABLE) to upgrade a diamond at 3ct...

Wowzers, that''s one lucky woman you have there!!

Sounds like you really did your homework and ended up with a quality ring that is really beautiful. Good for you! And I''m not surprised you had a good experience with GOG, they''re great to work with.

I can''t wait to see pictures of it, and thank you very much for the compliment!

I''ll add, in case it might help, try practicing on a different ring that she doesn''t wear as much. Then you can figure out what works and what doesn''t, so that when you can finally pry it off her finger, it won''t take too long with the shots.

 

[Skippy123]

I just caught this! Congrats! I hope you post pics.

ETA: the stone is yummy!

 

[gontama]

Date: 10/21/2007 1:21:54 PM
Author: Skippy123
I just caught this! Congrats! I hope you post pics.

ETA: the stone is yummy!

Thank you skippy. She likes the diamond. I plan to post pics of the complete ring when ready. She wears almost every day and I do not have much time. I have not even used ultrasonic cleaner either as I mentioned in the other thread. I would not have spent well over 20K for this diamond if 41P has even the slightest bad thing for beauty. People believe me it is my hard-earned money... I have super respect for Garry/HCA and at the same time I need to emphasize the facts Jonathan represents.

 

[mrssalvo]

wow, GOG and a Michael Bondanza. I can''t wait to see pics. One other pricescoper I can think of has a bondanza setting and it''s remarkable, i''m sure your wife''s is no exception.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay, I remember your stone now!!! But I think you are a little behind on those pics??????

 

[Rhino]

Kind thanks gontama. The pictures you took of the diamond in the other thread came out excellent. Great job. I can''t wait to see the final pictures of how that looks in the setting. Unfortuneately Tim is no longer with us and I have taken back on the job of handing the incoming email which is why I don''t have much time to come here and participate as often as I''d like.

I am off today and wanted to express to you my appreciation. Please let me know when you post pics so I can see the finished product.

Warm regards,

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 10/21/2007 2:09:12 PM
Author: Rhino
Kind thanks gontama. The pictures you took of the diamond in the other thread came out excellent. Great job. I can''t wait to see the final pictures of how that looks in the setting. Unfortuneately Tim is no longer with us and I have taken back on the job of handing the incoming email which is why I don''t have much time to come here and participate as often as I''d like.

I am off today and wanted to express to you my appreciation. Please let me know when you post pics so I can see the finished product.

Warm regards,

I wondered if Tim would be moving on since he finished his law degree. I can''t imagine him liking doing that as much as working with diamonds everyday!!!!