Hi forum!
Yay! She said yes and I''m officially engaged! While the proposal is a story in itself, quickly turning from a simple plan to a intricate event requiring help from co-workers and friends, I wanted to write down for now my awesome experience shopping from Jonathan and GOG. Needless to say, everything I had previously heard was more than true.
I started like many other men, looking through the maul jewelers and occasional other B&M stores, many times with my girlfriend along. About 2 months ago, I got very serious with one store and was days away from purchasing a HoF stone. In one of the smarter decisions I''ve ever made, I decided to turn to the web for a little more research on the true value of HoF stones. While I certainly found my fair share of opinions on that subject, I found much more important general info: this forum and the numerous compliments of Good Old Gold. I was already relieved I hadn''t purchased anything.
After a good 2 hour session of reading through Jonathan''s tutorial top-to-bottom and surveying his inventory, I already felt extremely trusting in his business - this from someone I hadn''t even talked to! For him to lay out every last intricacy of his business and inventory already spoke for itself. After starting email conversation with him on diamonds in my range, the level of service came through as well.
After some back-and-forth thought, I settled on a stone and put down a deposit: a 1.03 I VS1 H&A beauty. However, while under appraisal at D. Atlas, my better judgement on budget as a grad student kicked in and had me reconsider. I was definitely out of my intial budget, and without a job offer yet, thought I had better be careful. Marie at GOG helped change my order to a 0.88 G VS2. I didn''t lose any money with the appraisals other than the extra shippings.
The 0.88 was of course a significant price differnce and I kept on having problems feeling good about anything in-between. It was here that I gained the most respect for Jonathan and GOG: He never ONCE tried to sell me back into the original stone or price range. He was happy to see I was feeling 200% more comfortable with this new diamond and of course could stand behind the quality of his product no matter what the price or size. Marie was great in sorting out how to move the diamonds around and it was off to Vatche for setting.
I told you this was long!!!
I thought everything was done, but wow was I wrong. Exactly one week into production at Vatche, a gift from above literally landed in my lap. I was paid as a Teaching Assistant for the two week break between summer and fall semesters, two weeks pay I NEVER expected. Two weeks pay for time spent relaxing and traveling, but most importantly, pay that brought the original hopeful purchase into budget. I simply couldn''t believe it. I called Marie immediately, and to my surprise she worked out all the dirty details to switch stones again at no cost to me beyond the regular price difference. Simply awesome service.
It wasn''t fun to restart the countdown until I would see the ring but I was on top of the world, being able to really afford the stone I wanted from the start. Marie even came through for me one more time, making sure the ring got here on a certain date so that a proposal opportunity could happen.
All in all, Jonathan and his staff have been a total pleasure to work with and I hope we''ll be able to purchase a wedding band from them as well. Very personable, very trustworthy, and with me in particular, very patient. I also am thrilled to have learned so much about diamonds from the time Jonathan invests in his website and his conversations with customers.
I''m attaching the two pictures Christen took before sending the ring. Again, it''s a 1.03 I VS1 set in the Vatche Royal Crown with channel set sidestones. I haven''t seen my fiance'' since the day the ring arrived (the same day I proposed), so hopefully this weekend I can pry it off and get a couple pictures of my own.
Thanks GOG!
Eric
Yay! She said yes and I''m officially engaged! While the proposal is a story in itself, quickly turning from a simple plan to a intricate event requiring help from co-workers and friends, I wanted to write down for now my awesome experience shopping from Jonathan and GOG. Needless to say, everything I had previously heard was more than true.
I started like many other men, looking through the maul jewelers and occasional other B&M stores, many times with my girlfriend along. About 2 months ago, I got very serious with one store and was days away from purchasing a HoF stone. In one of the smarter decisions I''ve ever made, I decided to turn to the web for a little more research on the true value of HoF stones. While I certainly found my fair share of opinions on that subject, I found much more important general info: this forum and the numerous compliments of Good Old Gold. I was already relieved I hadn''t purchased anything.
After a good 2 hour session of reading through Jonathan''s tutorial top-to-bottom and surveying his inventory, I already felt extremely trusting in his business - this from someone I hadn''t even talked to! For him to lay out every last intricacy of his business and inventory already spoke for itself. After starting email conversation with him on diamonds in my range, the level of service came through as well.
After some back-and-forth thought, I settled on a stone and put down a deposit: a 1.03 I VS1 H&A beauty. However, while under appraisal at D. Atlas, my better judgement on budget as a grad student kicked in and had me reconsider. I was definitely out of my intial budget, and without a job offer yet, thought I had better be careful. Marie at GOG helped change my order to a 0.88 G VS2. I didn''t lose any money with the appraisals other than the extra shippings.
The 0.88 was of course a significant price differnce and I kept on having problems feeling good about anything in-between. It was here that I gained the most respect for Jonathan and GOG: He never ONCE tried to sell me back into the original stone or price range. He was happy to see I was feeling 200% more comfortable with this new diamond and of course could stand behind the quality of his product no matter what the price or size. Marie was great in sorting out how to move the diamonds around and it was off to Vatche for setting.
I told you this was long!!!
I thought everything was done, but wow was I wrong. Exactly one week into production at Vatche, a gift from above literally landed in my lap. I was paid as a Teaching Assistant for the two week break between summer and fall semesters, two weeks pay I NEVER expected. Two weeks pay for time spent relaxing and traveling, but most importantly, pay that brought the original hopeful purchase into budget. I simply couldn''t believe it. I called Marie immediately, and to my surprise she worked out all the dirty details to switch stones again at no cost to me beyond the regular price difference. Simply awesome service.
It wasn''t fun to restart the countdown until I would see the ring but I was on top of the world, being able to really afford the stone I wanted from the start. Marie even came through for me one more time, making sure the ring got here on a certain date so that a proposal opportunity could happen.
All in all, Jonathan and his staff have been a total pleasure to work with and I hope we''ll be able to purchase a wedding band from them as well. Very personable, very trustworthy, and with me in particular, very patient. I also am thrilled to have learned so much about diamonds from the time Jonathan invests in his website and his conversations with customers.
I''m attaching the two pictures Christen took before sending the ring. Again, it''s a 1.03 I VS1 set in the Vatche Royal Crown with channel set sidestones. I haven''t seen my fiance'' since the day the ring arrived (the same day I proposed), so hopefully this weekend I can pry it off and get a couple pictures of my own.
Thanks GOG!
Eric
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