Has anyone used Travis Lejman for appraisals?

[Ice Noob]

Hi all,

I finally found a stone that I want to buy and Travis Lejman was listed as an independent appraiser on PS. I see a lot of recommendations for David Wolf but unfortunately we are having some difficulty in finding a meeting time that works for me, David, and the jeweler. However, Travis is available by tomorrow and seems to provide a great deal of information but I just wanted to hear some customer reviews/anecdotes on service, quality, etc from anyone who has used him.

Here is his website: www.gemlab.com

Thanks,
Ice Noob

 

[elle_chris]

I''ve used David Wolf but if he wasn''t available, I''d probably try Mr. Lejman. It says Independant on his site but he still doesn''t mention that he doesn''t buy, sell or recommend so I''d ask him about that.

 

[Miss Fortune]

where are you located? do you need someone in NY?

 

[Ice Noob]

Thanks for the replies everyone... it seems like not too many people have used Mr. Lejman...

elle - thanks for the input, I will ask him tomorrow. He is quite a bit less than Mr. Wolf as well but if I''ve learned anything in diamond shopping, it''s that you get what you pay for

Miss F - I am based in NYC and that''s why I was thinking of these two appraisers.

 

[Ice Noob]

bump.... any help?

 

[Ice Noob]

FYI... for what it''s worth I think Travis Lejman was *okay* but I would strongly recommend going to David Wolf. Travis is a nice enough guy but very young (mid-20''s, maybe 3 yrs of experience) and it shows. He doesn''t take the time to explain / share information with the customer (me!) and I left not feeling very at east. For example, he didn''t even measure the color against master stones - instead he looked at the diamond and declared it a G. When I asked him to use a master set of stones, he said it''s not necessary because he sees so many stones that he can tell by looking at them and then when he did produce the master set, he almost hid what he was looking at.

My point is that based on what I have read David Wolf makes customers feel much more secure and confident in their decision based on his appraisal. I wish I had gone to him... in the future I will do so.

Ice Noob

 

[glitterata]

I was very happy with Rob Aretz, another appraiser in the NYC diamond district, who was recommended to me on this board by Dave Atlas.

He didn''t use high-tech tools, but he was appraising heirlooms, old-cut diamonds in settings, so I don''t know how relevant all the idealscopes etc. would have been. He did use master stones, a microscope, fluorescent lights, etc. And he clearly has decades of experience and was super nice.

He was training an apprentice at the time (she was nice too), which has to be a good sign, right? If people respect him enough to apprentice with him?

Anyway, I used his services twice (two heirloom stones) and would happily use them again if I ever had an occasion to.

 

[glitterata]

Oops, sorry, Noob--I see I''m too late to help you. Wish I had posted sooner.