Hello All,
First time posting so be kind. I made a promise that as soon as my girlfriend and I got engaged, I''d share my ring buying experience and proposal so it may possibly help others. This all started about 2 months ago a week before Christmas which was also her birthday. She was in a wedding that same week so things were pretty busy for us. I was planning on getting her an engagement ring but had no clue what i was doing. After a many long nights of research I came across pricescope and was so thrilled, the advice and stories that were shared made me feel like I wasn''t going this alone. I knew she liked cushions and the info I got here really helped a lot in relieving my worries. So back to my story, she''s the kind of person that always figures out what I''m planning and takes the surprise out of things so I knew this wasn''t going to be easy. I planned a trip for us to go to Maui and decided this was where I was going to propose. So the wedding happened to be on her birthday, she was busy all day with wedding stuff and I went out to look at jewelery. I didn''t see her all day until the wedding, I just told her I was in bed all day watching ESPN and gave her a card at the wedding. It was really simple, happy birthday, hey I''m taking you to Hawaii for your birthday and Christmas and valentine''s. Needless to say she wasn''t too happy, by the look on her face I could tell what was running through her mind, this creep didn''t put any thought into my birthday let alone roll so many other days that comes with gifts into this one thing. She was angry, and I thought to myself "perfect".
So my search for the perfect ring began. I looked on-line, at local jewelers but nothing really caught my eye. Then I read that Mark and ERD was the man to go see about cushions. I went on his site, saw his video but was so nervous i thought to myself I could never buy online. I was working with a budget of about $10,000 so it was a big amount for me to spend. To make a long story short, I almost bought a ring at a local jeweler, they were really nice but somehow in that back of my mind it wasn''t the right one. So i continued looking. Weeks after week, i went back and forth about buying online then decided I was running out of time so I needed to commit to something. Our trip was in February so it didn''t leave me too much time. Boy, time flies when you''re stressed out and a deadline is coming up. With a little over 2 1/2 weeks left I finally called ERD. Mark called me back the next day. I told him I had 2 weeks, my budget and what I wanted. He promised he could help and by the deadline. A custom engagement ring in 2 weeks, from CAD to mold to finish product, I was thrilled and nervous and skeptical. But everything was in his hands, I had decided. Mark was the nicest guy to talk to. He knew what he was doing, not pushy and was very attentive. 2 days later I was on 5th Ave going to see Mark. I drove from Boston and saw the stone I knew she would love. One obstacle down, a million more details to go.
My design for the ring is a hybrid of a Harry Winston and Tiffany setting. Actually, Mark helped with the Tiffany setting, he has such a good eye for what would look the best you really gotta trust him. The basket that holds the diamond is fashioned after the HW signature setting which has an H and a W holding the diamond up, in my case Our initials were H and M so we had to find a way to flip the W, then pair it with a setting like the Tiffany Novu. 4 days later I got some CAD drawings. It looked chunky and had a few flaws, I called Mark right away. I was going crazy, only had a week before we left for Hawaii. He reassured me not to worry, it was going to look great and be on time, we made some changes. It was too late for me to go somewhere else, I was set on what I wanted. I said to myself, just trust him! Now I have to just wait, which by far was the hardest part. Day after day, sleepless nights one right after another and 2 days before our trip I got an email "it''s ready and it''s gorgeous, call me." I called and he was going to send it to me and I will receive it next day which is one day before our trip. Which was great, except for the snow storm that crippled the mid-west was just starting to hit us on the east coast. I was beside myself, if I dont get this ring tomorrow, everything falls apart. The ring made it the next day, we flew out the next morning. I even packed T-shirts I bought for us that said "Engaged to Him/Her with arrows pointing to each other". Maui, here we come.
sorry but i wanted to make sure this worked so I''ll post this for now while I try to get some pictures ready, can you guys let me know if i posted this right and if I should go on? It''s a rather long story but I promise good pics and ending if you could bear any more of this. Thanks.
First time posting so be kind. I made a promise that as soon as my girlfriend and I got engaged, I''d share my ring buying experience and proposal so it may possibly help others. This all started about 2 months ago a week before Christmas which was also her birthday. She was in a wedding that same week so things were pretty busy for us. I was planning on getting her an engagement ring but had no clue what i was doing. After a many long nights of research I came across pricescope and was so thrilled, the advice and stories that were shared made me feel like I wasn''t going this alone. I knew she liked cushions and the info I got here really helped a lot in relieving my worries. So back to my story, she''s the kind of person that always figures out what I''m planning and takes the surprise out of things so I knew this wasn''t going to be easy. I planned a trip for us to go to Maui and decided this was where I was going to propose. So the wedding happened to be on her birthday, she was busy all day with wedding stuff and I went out to look at jewelery. I didn''t see her all day until the wedding, I just told her I was in bed all day watching ESPN and gave her a card at the wedding. It was really simple, happy birthday, hey I''m taking you to Hawaii for your birthday and Christmas and valentine''s. Needless to say she wasn''t too happy, by the look on her face I could tell what was running through her mind, this creep didn''t put any thought into my birthday let alone roll so many other days that comes with gifts into this one thing. She was angry, and I thought to myself "perfect".
So my search for the perfect ring began. I looked on-line, at local jewelers but nothing really caught my eye. Then I read that Mark and ERD was the man to go see about cushions. I went on his site, saw his video but was so nervous i thought to myself I could never buy online. I was working with a budget of about $10,000 so it was a big amount for me to spend. To make a long story short, I almost bought a ring at a local jeweler, they were really nice but somehow in that back of my mind it wasn''t the right one. So i continued looking. Weeks after week, i went back and forth about buying online then decided I was running out of time so I needed to commit to something. Our trip was in February so it didn''t leave me too much time. Boy, time flies when you''re stressed out and a deadline is coming up. With a little over 2 1/2 weeks left I finally called ERD. Mark called me back the next day. I told him I had 2 weeks, my budget and what I wanted. He promised he could help and by the deadline. A custom engagement ring in 2 weeks, from CAD to mold to finish product, I was thrilled and nervous and skeptical. But everything was in his hands, I had decided. Mark was the nicest guy to talk to. He knew what he was doing, not pushy and was very attentive. 2 days later I was on 5th Ave going to see Mark. I drove from Boston and saw the stone I knew she would love. One obstacle down, a million more details to go.
My design for the ring is a hybrid of a Harry Winston and Tiffany setting. Actually, Mark helped with the Tiffany setting, he has such a good eye for what would look the best you really gotta trust him. The basket that holds the diamond is fashioned after the HW signature setting which has an H and a W holding the diamond up, in my case Our initials were H and M so we had to find a way to flip the W, then pair it with a setting like the Tiffany Novu. 4 days later I got some CAD drawings. It looked chunky and had a few flaws, I called Mark right away. I was going crazy, only had a week before we left for Hawaii. He reassured me not to worry, it was going to look great and be on time, we made some changes. It was too late for me to go somewhere else, I was set on what I wanted. I said to myself, just trust him! Now I have to just wait, which by far was the hardest part. Day after day, sleepless nights one right after another and 2 days before our trip I got an email "it''s ready and it''s gorgeous, call me." I called and he was going to send it to me and I will receive it next day which is one day before our trip. Which was great, except for the snow storm that crippled the mid-west was just starting to hit us on the east coast. I was beside myself, if I dont get this ring tomorrow, everything falls apart. The ring made it the next day, we flew out the next morning. I even packed T-shirts I bought for us that said "Engaged to Him/Her with arrows pointing to each other". Maui, here we come.
sorry but i wanted to make sure this worked so I''ll post this for now while I try to get some pictures ready, can you guys let me know if i posted this right and if I should go on? It''s a rather long story but I promise good pics and ending if you could bear any more of this. Thanks.