hearts on fire only cut that shows full rainbow of colors?

[arjunajane]

Date: 6/19/2009 12:38:54 AM
Author: risingsun
I have a stunning HOF wedding set. I came in to my jeweler with a PS education in diamonds and a WF ACA, which I was interested in upgrading. My jeweler didn''t try to sell me a HOF with any misleading information. He believes in his brand with same way that Jon, Brian, and Paul believe in their brands. The spectral colors I see most often are red, yellow and orange, but blue and green are also present. I know that some folks enjoy going into to see HOF and criticizing the diamonds and the sales associates. From personal experience, I can tell you that my HOF is as much a performer--and perhaps more so--than my ACA. I work with jewelers who are informed and educated, not sales clerks. We discuss all the parameters and attributes that make up an ideal stone. We look at it under the microscope and compare the inclusions to the grading plot. We take it into a variety of lighting conditions. I bring my own idealscope to check for light leakage. I do everything at my B&M that I have done online. I am a very demanding client and decided to go with my local B&M because of the extra services that are provided. It was well worth it to me. Not everyone who makes the choice to purchase a HOF is a naive individual who does not know how to make a better choice.

marian,
I''m not sure how your comments relate really to this thread..?
The OP was asking about a comment from a HOF SA which was clearly false and misleading - whether that was due to stupidity on his part, or he was actually trained to say this - who knows.

The fact is, the OP''s experience would unfortunately be the overwhelming one in contrast to yours - you are lucky to have a local B&M that is informed and honest, where you can go to learn and discuss - we know from PS that most are not so lucky.

I don''t see where anyone has said a HOF client is a naive one?

If you are simply trying to give an alternative view of the H&A brand than no worries - but nobody has actually attacked the brand and infact in this thread it has been imho positive about both HOF and B&M''s in general. *shrugs*

 

[CravingDiamonds]

I find it rather interesting what some jewelers will try to tell you when selling you diamonds or even other gemstones. Once you learn a little bit of knowledge from a place liek PS, you can tell the scammer jewelers from the real genuine ones right away.

 

[risingsun]

Date: 6/19/2009 1:53:13 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 6/19/2009 12:38:54 AM
Author: risingsun
I have a stunning HOF wedding set. I came in to my jeweler with a PS education in diamonds and a WF ACA, which I was interested in upgrading. My jeweler didn't try to sell me a HOF with any misleading information. He believes in his brand with same way that Jon, Brian, and Paul believe in their brands. The spectral colors I see most often are red, yellow and orange, but blue and green are also present. I know that some folks enjoy going into to see HOF and criticizing the diamonds and the sales associates. From personal experience, I can tell you that my HOF is as much a performer--and perhaps more so--than my ACA. I work with jewelers who are informed and educated, not sales clerks. We discuss all the parameters and attributes that make up an ideal stone. We look at it under the microscope and compare the inclusions to the grading plot. We take it into a variety of lighting conditions. I bring my own idealscope to check for light leakage. I do everything at my B&M that I have done online. I am a very demanding client and decided to go with my local B&M because of the extra services that are provided. It was well worth it to me. Not everyone who makes the choice to purchase a HOF is a naive individual who does not know how to make a better choice.

marian,
I'm not sure how your comments relate really to this thread..?
The OP was asking about a comment from a HOF SA which was clearly false and misleading - whether that was due to stupidity on his part, or he was actually trained to say this - who knows.

The fact is, the OP's experience would unfortunately be the overwhelming one in contrast to yours - you are lucky to have a local B&M that is informed and honest, where you can go to learn and discuss - we know from PS that most are not so lucky.

I don't see where anyone has said a HOF client is a naive one?

If you are simply trying to give an alternative view of the H&A brand than no worries - but nobody has actually attacked the brand and infact in this thread it has been imho positive about both HOF and B&M's in general. *shrugs*

arjunajane,
I wanted to present my own experience with HOF and my vendor. HOF most definitely has a marketing strategy and a presentation that is given to the consumer. [So do many of our online vendors, through videos and such.] I listened politely and then let my jeweler know that "romancing the stone" wouldn't work with me. Then we were able to get down to business. It does sound as if the OP had a poor experience with her SA and decided not to buy HOF. As much we would like to deal with good vendors, I think we also need to act like good customers. I did get the impression that the OP appeared to be "playing" the SA, who was not well informed.

 

[Lula]

Date: 6/19/2009 2:40:34 AM
Author: risingsun

Date: 6/19/2009 1:53:13 AM

Author: arjunajane

Date: 6/19/2009 12:38:54 AM

Author: risingsun

I have a stunning HOF wedding set. I came in to my jeweler with a PS education in diamonds and a WF ACA, which I was interested in upgrading. My jeweler didn''t try to sell me a HOF with any misleading information. He believes in his brand with same way that Jon, Brian, and Paul believe in their brands. The spectral colors I see most often are red, yellow and orange, but blue and green are also present. I know that some folks enjoy going into to see HOF and criticizing the diamonds and the sales associates. From personal experience, I can tell you that my HOF is as much a performer--and perhaps more so--than my ACA. I work with jewelers who are informed and educated, not sales clerks. We discuss all the parameters and attributes that make up an ideal stone. We look at it under the microscope and compare the inclusions to the grading plot. We take it into a variety of lighting conditions. I bring my own idealscope to check for light leakage. I do everything at my B&M that I have done online. I am a very demanding client and decided to go with my local B&M because of the extra services that are provided. It was well worth it to me. Not everyone who makes the choice to purchase a HOF is a naive individual who does not know how to make a better choice.

marian,

I''m not sure how your comments relate really to this thread..?

The OP was asking about a comment from a HOF SA which was clearly false and misleading - whether that was due to stupidity on his part, or he was actually trained to say this - who knows.


The fact is, the OP''s experience would unfortunately be the overwhelming one in contrast to yours - you are lucky to have a local B&M that is informed and honest, where you can go to learn and discuss - we know from PS that most are not so lucky.


I don''t see where anyone has said a HOF client is a naive one?

If you are simply trying to give an alternative view of the H&A brand than no worries - but nobody has actually attacked the brand and infact in this thread it has been imho positive about both HOF and B&M''s in general. *shrugs*

arjunajane,

I wanted to present my own experience with HOF and my vendor. HOF most definitely has a marketing strategy and a presentation that is given to the consumer. [So do many of our online vendors, through videos and such.] I listened politely and then let my jeweler know that ''romancing the stone'' wouldn''t work with me. Then we were able to get down to business. It does sound as if the OP had a poor experience with her SA and decided not to buy HOF. As much we would like to deal with good vendors, I think we also need to act like good customers. I did get the impression that the OP appeared to be ''playing'' the SA, who was not well informed.

Thank you, Marian, for sharing your experience. You are indeed fortunate to have a jeweler that knows how to drop the pitch and work with you as an equal partner. And thank you, arjunajane, for pointing out that I am not slamming HOF or B&M in general. Without a doubt, the HOF stones that the SA showed me were gorgeous. And without a doubt, I was "playing the SA" as Marian noted. I was doing this on purpose to test him. How different this transaction would have been had he simply said, upon viewing my stone under the scope, "this is an ideal cut stone, it''s not a branded HOF, but it is well-cut," instead of pretending that the arrows in my stone didn''t exist! In fact, I became even more suspicious of this SA when he held up a HOF stone next to mine (after scoping mine) and I said, wow, putting two HOF stones next to mine would make a great 3-stone ring! He ignored my comment. I feel that I gave this guy ample opportunity to be honest with me about what he was seeing under the scope, and, again, had he said, your stone is well-cut, we''d love to see two HOF stones next to yours. This store has a full service custom shop, too, so they could create anything on the premises. Instead, he said, well, your setting is such that our jewelers could pop the head off of yours and put a new head on it with this stone (meaning the HOF). I just can''t shake the feeling that he was trying to get me to trade in my "lesser" stone for an HOF, and that''s not cool. Even my comment about the diamond coming from Japan was designed to test him a bit -- if I remember, the H&A cut originated in the far east -- Japan? And maybe that should have been a clue for him -- or maybe I was just being a jerk, too, for not being honest.

The sad thing is that I liked the full-service nature of the store (sales, service, custom design); they carry many nice brands, and the 3/4 HOF eternity band that I looked at was gorgeous. I put down a $20 deposit on the ring to hold it for a few days while I was out of town on business, and I need to go in today and make a decision on what to do about the ring. I''ve been debating what to say to this guy. I know I have to fess up about my "story," and I need to address the things he said to me that turned me off. Marian, your post about how you approached your SA was very helpful. I may just go in, tell him I''ve done my research and that I''d appreciate if we can go to the next level (i.e., beyond the "pitch"). If his knowledge is such that he can sit with me and go over the stats of the various stones, then we can probably work together. If he makes me feel that my knowledge is a liability or that he turns out to be not very knowledgeable about his inventory, well, then, I will take my business elsewhere.

In no way do I mean to say HOF are not beautiful stones -- they are. And in no way do I mean to say I don''t want to work with B&M stores -- I would love to have a relationship with a local store! But they do have to move their marketing/sales techniques into the 21st century.

And, as always, thank you everyone who has posted -- I can say that without PS there would not be a diamond on my finger (any diamond) because I never felt confident enough to buy one -- you all are the Consumer Reports of diamond shopping!

 

[Ellen]

sara, great post and well said. I knew you weren''t meaning to slam the brand, just the jeweler. (and deservedly so)

And just for the record, my comment was in no way an affront to HOF either, though I would hope my friend Miss Marian already knew that.

I think it would be worth it to have a "heart to heart" with the jeweler, and see what happens. Having someone local is a great thing, certainly worth trying for. If you do, please let us know how it goes, I must say I''d be extremely curious to hear.

 

[jet2ks]

Sara, I agree with Ellen that your post was well thought out and well written. I wonder if when you go back to the store, could you request a different SA? Maybe the store has someone else that would be up front, more willing to listen and you would "click" with better. If the overall store is very good, maybe this would be a way of forging a relationship (as well as subtly letting the first guy know that you saw through his "pitch" and didn''t appreciate it).

I see nothing wrong with testing a store and playing a SA to some extent. It is many times the only way you will find out how much they know and how honest they will be in the business relationship.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/19/2009 9:04:41 AM
Author: jet2ks
Sara, I agree with Ellen that your post was well thought out and well written. I wonder if when you go back to the store, could you request a different SA? Maybe the store has someone else that would be up front, more willing to listen and you would ''click'' with better. If the overall store is very good, maybe this would be a way of forging a relationship (as well as subtly letting the first guy know that you saw through his ''pitch'' and didn''t appreciate it).

I see nothing wrong with testing a store and playing a SA to some extent. It is many times the only way you will find out how much they know and how honest they will be in the business relationship.

And I agree with mr. jet in turn.

 

[risingsun]

Date: 6/19/2009 8:48:49 AM
Author: Ellen
sara, great post and well said. I knew you weren't meaning to slam the brand, just the jeweler. (and deservedly so)

And just for the record, my comment was in no way an affront to HOF either, though I would hope my friend Miss Marian already knew that.

I think it would be worth it to have a 'heart to heart' with the jeweler, and see what happens. Having someone local is a great thing, certainly worth trying for. If you do, please let us know how it goes, I must say I'd be extremely curious to hear.

Miss Ellen, you know me better than that. You are one of my besties and I lurve you

 

[risingsun]

Sarap~I work as a mental health therapist. On occasion, a new client will want to "test" me to see if I know my stuff. I can see through this pretty quickly. I consider this a therapeutic issue and address it with them openly. My clients can ask me any quesitons they like, but I prefer the honest approach. What I am saying to you is that I don't think it is necessary to "test" your jeweler. Ask your questions in an open and honest manner. If you don't feel that you are getting what you need, then you can move on. When I told my long time jeweler that I had purchased my ACA online, we had a long discussion about it. He was concerned about the quality of the stone. That fear was quickly dispelled when we put it through its paces. When I decided to upgrade, I asked him to take my ACA in trade*. He did and now I have the HOF.

*plus my first born child....j/k

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/19/2009 9:47:32 AM
Author: risingsun
Miss Ellen, you know me better than that. You are one of my besties and I lurve you

 

[partgypsy]

I wouldn''t let 1 comment turn me off of a bricks and mortar if again, get past the sales pitch and there was more to offer. Initially the person who I was going to work with at what became my favorite B&M when I came to have them make a setting for my diamond did say an off-putting thing about internet diamonds (my stone was an internet diamond; ideal cut from Wink), to the essence of there are many stones sold on the internet that look good on paper but have some undesirable characteristic like graining and poor cut, so in essence slamming internet stones. But when the jeweler sat down with me and looked at my stone mentioned that it was a very nice stone and volunteered how much it would cost to have them bring in a stone like that (more than what I purchased it for). Then almost as an apology said something like non-round cuts are trickier (i.e. harder to buy off internet). And they make fantastic 18K settings at very reasonable prices. So I took it more as lack of education about internet diamonds, and they are great and willing to work with outside stones, so there is no problem.

 

[Lula]

Date: 6/19/2009 10:05:19 AM
Author: risingsun
Sarap~I work as a mental health therapist. On occasion, a new client will want to ''test'' me to see if I know my stuff. I can see through this pretty quickly. I consider this a therapeutic issue and address it with them openly. My clients can ask me any quesitons they like, but I prefer the honest approach. What I am saying to you is that I don''t think it is necessary to ''test'' your jeweler. Ask your questions in an open and honest manner. If you don''t feel that you are getting what you need, then you can move on. When I told my long time jeweler that I had purchased my ACA online, we had a long discussion about it. He was concerned about the quality of the stone. That fear was quickly dispelled when we put it through its paces. When I decided to upgrade, I asked him to take my ACA in trade*. He did and now I have the HOF.


*plus my first born child....j/k

Oh, Marian, I got a kick out of your post -- "*plus my first born child"! And I can relate to your comment about your clients testing you because I am an instructor at the university where I''m working on my degree -- a lowly teaching assistant in my students'' eyes -- and they test me all the time!

I''ve been thinking about how I''m going to approach my SA this afternoon. The first thing I''m going to do is apologize to him for "testing" him, and then I''m going to be straight with him about the specs on my stone and where I got it (From Wink! Online! Gasp!). I''m also going to follow your example and let him know I''ve done a lot of research on diamond cut (I''m an academic, we''re not good for much, but we do know how to do research!) and that I''d appreciate it if we can get beyond the pitch. And I''m going to tell him -- and this is the god''s honest truth -- that because I know that my solitaire is an ideal cut stone, I only want to put other ideal cut stones with it, and that''s why I was considering HOF. (My ring is a very simple design and the 1.7 eternity band of .40 tcw. HOF stones is perfect for it without overwhelming it). I''m also going to tell him that I''m still in the looking phase and I am going to be honest with him that I will be contacting Wink to see what he''s got to offer in ideal cut 3/4 eternity bands.

Feedback welcome if you think I''m going down a bad road here!

I did really like this SA (his personality, not his sales skills) and he is the HOF rep for the store (so he said) and the store is independently owned (not part of a chain) so I''m willing to give him and the store the benefit of the doubt because they scored so high on the other things I''m looking for (they guarantee the setting and will replace any stones that fall out; workshop on premises; great brands, etc.). I''m hoping he will be good-natured about it (as I will try to be) and that we can move on.

I''ll let you know how it goes!

P.S. On a completely different, but related, topic -- is $1500 reasonable for a HOF 3/4-eternity band, 1.7mm wide, 18kt. gold, .30 ctw.? The price didn''t seem that awful to me based on what I''ve seen online for microbands set with ideal cut stones, but am I missing something? I''ve been reading lots of posts lately about how it''s okay to negotiate prices with B&M vendors, but if this price is in the ballpark, I don''t want to insult the guy.

And is wearing white gold next to my platinum solitaire ring a bad idea?

 

[risingsun]

Date: 6/19/2009 10:40:04 AM
Author: sarap333

Date: 6/19/2009 10:05:19 AM
Author: risingsun
Sarap~I work as a mental health therapist. On occasion, a new client will want to ''test'' me to see if I know my stuff. I can see through this pretty quickly. I consider this a therapeutic issue and address it with them openly. My clients can ask me any quesitons they like, but I prefer the honest approach. What I am saying to you is that I don''t think it is necessary to ''test'' your jeweler. Ask your questions in an open and honest manner. If you don''t feel that you are getting what you need, then you can move on. When I told my long time jeweler that I had purchased my ACA online, we had a long discussion about it. He was concerned about the quality of the stone. That fear was quickly dispelled when we put it through its paces. When I decided to upgrade, I asked him to take my ACA in trade*. He did and now I have the HOF.


*plus my first born child....j/k

Oh, Marian, I got a kick out of your post -- ''*plus my first born child''! And I can relate to your comment about your clients testing you because I am an instructor at the university where I''m working on my degree -- a lowly teaching assistant in my students'' eyes -- and they test me all the time!

I''ve been thinking about how I''m going to approach my SA this afternoon. The first thing I''m going to do is apologize to him for ''testing'' him, and then I''m going to be straight with him about the specs on my stone and where I got it (From Wink! Online! Gasp!). I''m also going to follow your example and let him know I''ve done a lot of research on diamond cut (I''m an academic, we''re not good for much, but we do know how to do research!) and that I''d appreciate it if we can get beyond the pitch. And I''m going to tell him -- and this is the god''s honest truth -- that because I know that my solitaire is an ideal cut stone, I only want to put other ideal cut stones with it, and that''s why I was considering HOF. (My ring is a very simple design and the 1.7 eternity band of .40 tcw. HOF stones is perfect for it without overwhelming it). I''m also going to tell him that I''m still in the looking phase and I am going to be honest with him that I will be contacting Wink to see what he''s got to offer in ideal cut 3/4 eternity bands.

Feedback welcome if you think I''m going down a bad road here!

I did really like this SA (his personality, not his sales skills) and he is the HOF rep for the store (so he said) and the store is independently owned (not part of a chain) so I''m willing to give him and the store the benefit of the doubt because they scored so high on the other things I''m looking for (they guarantee the setting and will replace any stones that fall out; workshop on premises; great brands, etc.). I''m hoping he will be good-natured about it (as I will try to be) and that we can move on.

I''ll let you know how it goes!

P.S. On a completely different, but related, topic -- is $1500 reasonable for a HOF 3/4-eternity band, 1.7mm wide, 18kt. gold, .30 ctw.? The price didn''t seem that awful to me based on what I''ve seen online for microbands set with ideal cut stones, but am I missing something? I''ve been reading lots of posts lately about how it''s okay to negotiate prices with B&M vendors, but if this price is in the ballpark, I don''t want to insult the guy.

And is wearing white gold next to my platinum solitaire ring a bad idea?

I think that your approach will be just fine. With HOF, the price is the price. They won''t negotiate--of course, you can give it a try

Their workmanship is excellent and it will sparkle like crazy. I''m not so sure about wearing platinum next to white gold. It may cause dings and such to the platinum. Others can add to this, but I would stay with platinum, myself.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/19/2009 11:05:17 AM
Author: risingsun
I think that your approach will be just fine. With HOF, the price is the price. They won''t negotiate--of course, you can give it a try

Their workmanship is excellent and it will sparkle like crazy. I''m not so sure about wearing platinum next to white gold. It may cause dings and such to the platinum. Others can add to this, but I would stay with platinum, myself.

Yes, I have read on here it''s not recommended to "mix" the two metals.