Short Version: WOW! What an incredible buying experience! Good Old Gold is HIGHLY recommended!!!!
Long Version: First, I would like to thank JulieN, Mara and DiamondSeeker2006 for recommending an awesome 1.46ct G SI1 Hearts and Arrows diamond. I thought I saw some nice diamonds in the diamond district in NYC, some B&M's and even Fortunoff (way overpriced), but only the H&A stone I saw was truly worthy of my girlfriend's finger. Jonathan warmly greeted my mother and I as we entered at 5:15PM yesterday and he gave us an incredible diamond 201 lesson for almost an hour and a half. That's right, he volunteered to stay with us well past their normal 6PM closing time. Now, I said "201" lesson, as opposed to a 101 lesson because it was exactly that. Every other place I walked into (and every other website I've visited) gives you a spoonful of the 4 C's - - and that's it. Even the best places I've walked into don't offer you anything more than a 10x loupe to view some stones. I got used to them giving a 10 minute speech on the 4 C's, then they just show a few stones with a laid back "so which do you like?" attitude. Jonathan on the other hand, volunteered to give a MUCH more advanced 201 lesson which mirrored the flood of knowledge on his website. It was extremely comforting to see some diamonds which looked similar to other stones I've seen at other stores then view them side-by-side with true H&A diamonds. The difference is extremely noticeable!
It didn't take me long to realize why most stores don't do what Jonathan does, first, they don't have the same passion for diamonds nor do they have the same quality of stones; so why would they volunteer to offer advanced tools such as the IdealScope, GIA DiamondDock, and Isee2 Technology. [Since we ran out of time, these are the only tools we used.] Those tools would easily show how the inventory in most stores, even diamonds graded as "Ideal" or "Excellent", have flaws they'd prefer not to point out to their customers.
That evening, I told my Dad that the difference experience at Good Old Gold reminded me of shopping for cars at a dealership. As a car enthusiast, it's very easy to pick out the salesmen that are just selling cars for the paycheck. Every once in a while, I meet a salesman that obviously has a passion and a love for cars, and wants to share that passion, enthusiasm and education with everyone. Jonathan truly has a love for helping customers find quality diamonds. I have found that a lot of salespeople offer a lot of vague subjective opinions (e.g., “This diamond seems whiter, you might like this”), whereas Good Old Gold relies on a more scientific objective approach. I’ve always been a technical/mathematical person, so it was refreshing to see the way he works with the same equipment in GIA labs and how he works with the latest cutting edge computer modeling and light analysis equipment. To me, the quality of a diamond is based on mathematics, so they should be analyzed scientifically with the proper tools to make an informed buying decision.
The most interesting thing is, I learned that very high quality Heats & Arrows diamonds, like the ones I was looking (at times) can be LESS EXPENSIVE than standard diamonds found online or in B&M's – I can only assume other stores are adding a hefty markup. As a typical meat & potatoes kinda guy, I NEVER thought I would have so much fun learning and shopping for diamonds! I can’t wait until GoG opens after the holiday weekend for my second trip there, we're going to put the H&A stone I like under magnification and view it on a big widescreen plasma TV screen to inspect!
DISCLAIMER: This post was completely voluntary on my part; I have zero vested interest in GoG, I’m just an extremely satisfied customer!
Long Version: First, I would like to thank JulieN, Mara and DiamondSeeker2006 for recommending an awesome 1.46ct G SI1 Hearts and Arrows diamond. I thought I saw some nice diamonds in the diamond district in NYC, some B&M's and even Fortunoff (way overpriced), but only the H&A stone I saw was truly worthy of my girlfriend's finger. Jonathan warmly greeted my mother and I as we entered at 5:15PM yesterday and he gave us an incredible diamond 201 lesson for almost an hour and a half. That's right, he volunteered to stay with us well past their normal 6PM closing time. Now, I said "201" lesson, as opposed to a 101 lesson because it was exactly that. Every other place I walked into (and every other website I've visited) gives you a spoonful of the 4 C's - - and that's it. Even the best places I've walked into don't offer you anything more than a 10x loupe to view some stones. I got used to them giving a 10 minute speech on the 4 C's, then they just show a few stones with a laid back "so which do you like?" attitude. Jonathan on the other hand, volunteered to give a MUCH more advanced 201 lesson which mirrored the flood of knowledge on his website. It was extremely comforting to see some diamonds which looked similar to other stones I've seen at other stores then view them side-by-side with true H&A diamonds. The difference is extremely noticeable!
It didn't take me long to realize why most stores don't do what Jonathan does, first, they don't have the same passion for diamonds nor do they have the same quality of stones; so why would they volunteer to offer advanced tools such as the IdealScope, GIA DiamondDock, and Isee2 Technology. [Since we ran out of time, these are the only tools we used.] Those tools would easily show how the inventory in most stores, even diamonds graded as "Ideal" or "Excellent", have flaws they'd prefer not to point out to their customers.
That evening, I told my Dad that the difference experience at Good Old Gold reminded me of shopping for cars at a dealership. As a car enthusiast, it's very easy to pick out the salesmen that are just selling cars for the paycheck. Every once in a while, I meet a salesman that obviously has a passion and a love for cars, and wants to share that passion, enthusiasm and education with everyone. Jonathan truly has a love for helping customers find quality diamonds. I have found that a lot of salespeople offer a lot of vague subjective opinions (e.g., “This diamond seems whiter, you might like this”), whereas Good Old Gold relies on a more scientific objective approach. I’ve always been a technical/mathematical person, so it was refreshing to see the way he works with the same equipment in GIA labs and how he works with the latest cutting edge computer modeling and light analysis equipment. To me, the quality of a diamond is based on mathematics, so they should be analyzed scientifically with the proper tools to make an informed buying decision.
The most interesting thing is, I learned that very high quality Heats & Arrows diamonds, like the ones I was looking (at times) can be LESS EXPENSIVE than standard diamonds found online or in B&M's – I can only assume other stores are adding a hefty markup. As a typical meat & potatoes kinda guy, I NEVER thought I would have so much fun learning and shopping for diamonds! I can’t wait until GoG opens after the holiday weekend for my second trip there, we're going to put the H&A stone I like under magnification and view it on a big widescreen plasma TV screen to inspect!
DISCLAIMER: This post was completely voluntary on my part; I have zero vested interest in GoG, I’m just an extremely satisfied customer!
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