devientdrow
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2005
- Messages
- 557
As some of you may have read I am upgrading my ering. I looked and did a lot of research finally settling on Smyth which is a local independent B&M here in maryland. I still had some issues about the cost and size of the stone that we got there so I did some more research and found a stone I liked at www.jamesallen.com and after making contact with them and talking to Josh and Jim, which can I just say they responded politly, warmly and very very quickly, decided to ask if I could check out the stone and they said yes! So here is my expeirience:
I left work early and so did Chris and we headed out to Frederick, which is about a 50 min drive from where I live. Upon actually finding the office we were greeted by Josh with a very warm welcome. I will say this, what Jim did for us is not the norm and I am EXTREMELY grateful for him seeing us. It''s a shame that this guy is an internet dealer and gave us more information, know how and customer care then ANY jewelry store I have visited. Even Smyth. He made Smyth seem like a mall store. Granted he knows more than your average sales clerk but a lot of the stuff he went through with us was very basic and would of been easy for any sales associate to do, especially in a place like Smyth that makes it seem like they have such an intrest in customer education....as in thier little booths with scopes and lets not forget the soda and cookies. So we sat down with Jim and he had the stone we wanted to look at:
.83 carat $2,780 GIA certified
Color: G
Cut: Ideal
Clarity: SI2
Depth: 60.7%
Table: 56%
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Girdle: Very thin to medium
Cutlet:None
Flouresence: None
Then he also brought in a diamond he had just purchase in our price range from his signature collection so we could compare ours to something, this one was:
.81 carat $2,980 AGS certified
Color: H
Clarity: SI1
Depth:61.7%
Table: 55%
Polish:Ideal
Symmetry:Ideal
Girdle:1.5 - 2.3
Cutlet
ointed
Flouresence: None
So he sat down with both certs and went through each part of the certification to make sure we understood what the numbers meant. Then he explained to us how color grade is determined and put both stones in the white paper thing and had us pick which one was the G and which one was the H. It showed us how the color could be seen viewed through the side and against white, but then he put both in a black case and face up they were both so very white I could only tell them apart from the .83 being larger. He had different lighting that we viewed the diamond under and I was sooo impressed by both of them. With my bare eye I could see the slightest difference between the ideal and signature. They signature I could see the ''pattern'' in a little more. The ideal was DEFINATLY ideal however. It sparkled and shone in each facet just as much as the stone at Smyth. Then he pulled out a hearts and arrows viewer and showed me the difference between the two. The .83 had both patterns and the .81 just showed the pattern a little more stronger than the .83. After that I decided I was quite happy with the original stone that I had picked. In the beginning of my search I was looking for a good quality diamond that was cut very well for optimal sparkle, as close to 1 carat as I could get for under 3k. Thats what that stone was for me. I know the symmetry and hearts and arrows pattern was a little better in the .81 as well as the clarity but none of these thing were things you''d notice with the bare eye, size is. He pulled out some loupes and let us view both diamonds. My .83 has two inclusions, one on the side where a prong could be placed and one in the table. The one in the table was smaller and even after locating them with the loup I could not for the life of me find them with my naked eyes. I suppose this stone would be eye clean then. After that I expressed some concern about the girdle and he looked at it and assured me that the part that was ''very thin'' was a VERY small little spot on the girdle and the rest looked fine. He was informative and upfront and I feel so very stupid for not just ordering off the internet now. I will never question the quality of anything at www.jamesallen.com or www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com. He was very thourough and you could tell he really cared about his buisness and saw what he gives people as a reflection of himself personally. To me it seems as if he takes pride in this, not just out to make a quick buck. I recommend him to any of you and trust me I do not think you will be dissapointed. So I got up to let Chris talk with him about mounting the stone and changing the head which was going to be a surprise for me. I discussed with my hubby some options beforehand . Part of me wants to stay with the 6 prong for security....another 4 to show off my new way bigger sparkly. If 4 prong i''d like it to be north, south, east and west and I think split prongs are pretty too. So I had to leave my engagement ring there and my hubby is working with Jim in what kind of new head to put it in and this will be my surprise on christmas morning!!! I can''t wait!!!! I knew when I left Smyth I didn''t have that 100% secure excited feeling and thats why I kept looking. I should of known then that I hadn''t found my diamond yet. I truly feel like we got the best possible diamond for us and many thanks to Jim and Josh at James Allen for all the wonderful help.
I left work early and so did Chris and we headed out to Frederick, which is about a 50 min drive from where I live. Upon actually finding the office we were greeted by Josh with a very warm welcome. I will say this, what Jim did for us is not the norm and I am EXTREMELY grateful for him seeing us. It''s a shame that this guy is an internet dealer and gave us more information, know how and customer care then ANY jewelry store I have visited. Even Smyth. He made Smyth seem like a mall store. Granted he knows more than your average sales clerk but a lot of the stuff he went through with us was very basic and would of been easy for any sales associate to do, especially in a place like Smyth that makes it seem like they have such an intrest in customer education....as in thier little booths with scopes and lets not forget the soda and cookies. So we sat down with Jim and he had the stone we wanted to look at:
.83 carat $2,780 GIA certified
Color: G
Cut: Ideal
Clarity: SI2
Depth: 60.7%
Table: 56%
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Girdle: Very thin to medium
Cutlet:None
Flouresence: None
Then he also brought in a diamond he had just purchase in our price range from his signature collection so we could compare ours to something, this one was:
.81 carat $2,980 AGS certified
Color: H
Clarity: SI1
Depth:61.7%
Table: 55%
Polish:Ideal
Symmetry:Ideal
Girdle:1.5 - 2.3
Cutlet
ointedFlouresence: None
So he sat down with both certs and went through each part of the certification to make sure we understood what the numbers meant. Then he explained to us how color grade is determined and put both stones in the white paper thing and had us pick which one was the G and which one was the H. It showed us how the color could be seen viewed through the side and against white, but then he put both in a black case and face up they were both so very white I could only tell them apart from the .83 being larger. He had different lighting that we viewed the diamond under and I was sooo impressed by both of them. With my bare eye I could see the slightest difference between the ideal and signature. They signature I could see the ''pattern'' in a little more. The ideal was DEFINATLY ideal however. It sparkled and shone in each facet just as much as the stone at Smyth. Then he pulled out a hearts and arrows viewer and showed me the difference between the two. The .83 had both patterns and the .81 just showed the pattern a little more stronger than the .83. After that I decided I was quite happy with the original stone that I had picked. In the beginning of my search I was looking for a good quality diamond that was cut very well for optimal sparkle, as close to 1 carat as I could get for under 3k. Thats what that stone was for me. I know the symmetry and hearts and arrows pattern was a little better in the .81 as well as the clarity but none of these thing were things you''d notice with the bare eye, size is. He pulled out some loupes and let us view both diamonds. My .83 has two inclusions, one on the side where a prong could be placed and one in the table. The one in the table was smaller and even after locating them with the loup I could not for the life of me find them with my naked eyes. I suppose this stone would be eye clean then. After that I expressed some concern about the girdle and he looked at it and assured me that the part that was ''very thin'' was a VERY small little spot on the girdle and the rest looked fine. He was informative and upfront and I feel so very stupid for not just ordering off the internet now. I will never question the quality of anything at www.jamesallen.com or www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com. He was very thourough and you could tell he really cared about his buisness and saw what he gives people as a reflection of himself personally. To me it seems as if he takes pride in this, not just out to make a quick buck. I recommend him to any of you and trust me I do not think you will be dissapointed. So I got up to let Chris talk with him about mounting the stone and changing the head which was going to be a surprise for me. I discussed with my hubby some options beforehand . Part of me wants to stay with the 6 prong for security....another 4 to show off my new way bigger sparkly. If 4 prong i''d like it to be north, south, east and west and I think split prongs are pretty too. So I had to leave my engagement ring there and my hubby is working with Jim in what kind of new head to put it in and this will be my surprise on christmas morning!!! I can''t wait!!!! I knew when I left Smyth I didn''t have that 100% secure excited feeling and thats why I kept looking. I should of known then that I hadn''t found my diamond yet. I truly feel like we got the best possible diamond for us and many thanks to Jim and Josh at James Allen for all the wonderful help.
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