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Recommend a Local Jeweler

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Garry H (Cut Nut)

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There are unsung hero''s in every city, village and town, who quietly go about their business making and / or selling jewelry. Some are at the bench, others have a good relationship with a number of branded products and can get what you want when you want it.

Some of you shop there becuse the price is right.

Some of you know the lowest price service provider can not ever meet your standards and expectations.

So please give us your rave reviews - name them, give links to websites - really go for it!!!!

(This is not the thread for negative feed back; you may have had a bad experiance at a place someone else liked, but do not piddle on someone else''s bonfire in this thread).
 

MissAva

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Hudson Poole Jewelers in Tuscaloosa Alabama Hudson Poole - friendly polite, no pressure
Cornells Jelwers in Rochester New York Cornell''s Jewelers- lovely store wide variety
Both have knowledgable sales people both are big fans of cut and use the H&A viewers neither gave any pressure
 

pricescope

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Thank you, Pyramid and Matatora, great stuff.

Please keep it comin'', guys!
 

AChiOAlumna

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Liberty Diamonds of Irvine, CA - great customer service, no pressure, master diamond cutter on premises, good selection
 

Joane

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First post! Glad to be here! I know they are considered to be overpriced by some but I was very happy dealing with Birks in Montreal. Mr. Alain Dassaud, very pleasant and easygoing to deal with.
 

Mara

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we used Garrett Jewelers in Aptos but I would only purchase settings or custom items, and not purchase diamonds being the picky person that I am....they did my e-ring and they carry a great setting selection and the owners are great to work with and have the cutest dog!

now locally I use Willow Glen Jewelers since they are up the street from us, but they are called something else now...on Lincoln Ave in San Jose, they are a Consignment house on one side and the other is a jewelry and custom creations store. They carry Eightstars and are super friendly. They clean my rings and tighten prongs at no charge...I would love to buy a small 8* for a pendant at some point in the future from them.

Joe Escobar in Campbell is another good one, they have some nice diamonds that are not too overpriced--you could probaly negotiate with some internet pricing comparisons, can run Sarins and have an amazing collection of settings, tons of famous and popular designers. Service is very good with no pressure, great place to try on settings and see what is out there.
 

LadyluvsLuxury

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Any recommendations in Virginia Beach?
 

mrssalvo

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Barker Diamond Company in Nashville, TN. A great no pressure environment, great prices, tons of settings. They have and use and H & A viewer.

Village Jewelers They have a ton of designer settings incuding Tacori to view in person. They have an on-site benchman.
 

bluedawg

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In Atlanta (located in N Fulton-- Roswell) , Brown & Co. Jewelers. Excellent, excellent inventory and service. They have a very large selection of sterling silver, too. I get a lot of new baby gifts there. Never a problem with engraving, even on tiny objects.

I really wanted to buy a diamond from them, too-- but in the end, went with UnionDiamond.com (which is based in Atlanta, too) because the internet pricing is just so excellent. Brown carries Lazare Kaplan diamonds as qwell as non-branded stones. Lots of designers settings, too.

http://www.brownjewelers.com/
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partgypsy

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Goldworks in Chapel Hill, NC.
Also good word of mouth (friends, sister in law) but on higher price end Jewelsmith in Durham NC.
These are both places that do custom gold and platinum work, do not know if carry other settings, other designer''s work.

Partgypsy
 

partgypsy

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www.goldworks-nc.com

www.jewelsmith.com

Here are the links to the two places I mentioned. I just love everything in the Goldworks store, just yummy stuff! Although it is probably not the cheapest place to get a piece of jewelry, it is also not the most expensive either -I think it is a good value for hand made pieces, and they are very low key (i.e. non-intimidating).
Jewelsmith. I''ve been in only once and never purchased (the pricetags are high), but seeing the jewelry of friends who have purchased there (mostly custom pieces) they are top notch.

Again, these stores are not necessarily about getting the best price, but are about getting a beautiful piece of jewelry you won''t see coming and going, nice service, and a chance to talk to the person who is doing your piece of jewelry.
 

Nicrez

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Phil at PhilMar Jewelers

Philmar Jewelers
578 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10036
(Corner of 47th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Jewelers on Fifth Buliding)
or Email us at:
[email protected]
Tel:212-719-1410
http://www.philmarjewelers.com/index.htm

Love Phil. He was great! He sat there and let me look at as many stones as I needed, and finally sold us out Original Radiant. He''s one of the only NYC retailers of Original Radiants, and he''s so helpful and great to deal with! Plus his prices are great, and I have brought friends to him, and will continue to do so...
 

njc

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Ulman's Jewelry
903 Caroline Street
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
540-373-9243
[email protected] (no website)

They are an hour south of Washington, DC and an hour north of Richmond, VA. Same family/same location since 1928. Diamonds, gemstone, designer jewelry, dinnerware, giftware, custom jewelry and repairs - All done on premises.

My family has never used another jeweler and the majority of the jewelry i do own has come from this store. Extremly personal, fantastic service and high quality with reasonable prices. I cant speak on their diamonds because ive never looked closely at them (spec-wise), but I feel they would do their very, very best to bring in what you were looking for if they did not have it there. They are currently having my wedding band custom made using diamonds from my grandmothers e-ring.

Well worth the drive down from D.C., IMHO. Fun and unique pieces!
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Kaleigh

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I love Ron from Optima jewelers in Narberth, PA. He is currently setting an OEC that I found for my SIL that was lost out of her setting. He does amazing work!!
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njdiamondlooker

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I loved Good Old Gold out on the Island. Great people. Really care about their customers and are very patient, understanding and helpful. Plus it doesn''t hurt that they are located next to an outstanding pizza place.
 

icelady

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What a great thread Garry!

My favorite local jeweler is Hogan''s Jewelers in Gaylord, Michigan. The gemologist (a GIA graduate with a ton of experience!) is the one that found my stone and subsequently my recent new setting. She is fabulous as is the store owner, no hard selling at all! There is no need for them to hard sell as their business has a fantastic reputation. They have at least two bench jewelers with a great deal of experience in custom design, and people come from all over the area for repair work to be done.

I don''t think they have a website, but if I find one I will post it!
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strmrdr

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D D Designs
(815) 332-1447
7123 N Cherry Vale Mall Dr
Rockford, IL 61112

He isnt on the net and just does local sales.
He mostly does work for the trade but will do work for consumers.
He will set internet diamonds and gemstones and does awesome work.
It isnt the place to go see diamonds because he doesnt stock them but for awesome settings and workmanship he is the best in the area in my opinion.
 

AndyRosse

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Special Designs of Jewelry
(845) 357-0048
14 Indian Rock
Suffern, NY 10901

Family run business, very helpful, not pushy at all
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. They were the only local store to actually sit down with my fiance and me and tell us all about the 4Cs, especially cut.
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jasper

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I posted a thread about great Seattle Area Jewellers. In that thread,
* I thanked several firms, who helped us either when I was shopping for Marie''s ring, or since we got engaged.
* I explained what we liked about each jeweller.
* I showed how to design a comfortable setting.

1) Nice Ice (Roseburg, Oregon) -- where we got the stone. Great prices and service, plus up-to-date diamond evaluations.
2) J. Lewis Jewellers (Bellevue, Washington) -- designed and made the very comfortable setting. Great service; will be our family jewellers.
3) Tiffany''s (Seattle, Washington)
4) Porter and Jensen Studio (University Village in Seattle, Washington)
5) Fox''s Gem Shop (Seattle, Washington)
6) Olsen & Sons (Factoria Mall in Bellevue, Washington)
7) Willow Glen Diamond Company (San Jose, California) -- This is the same store that Mara mentioned.

-- Jasper
www.folds.net/diamond
 

MissAva

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Roman Jewlers I have only worked with them once, they reset a princess cut stone into a four prong white gold setting. At the time I was 18 and they sat with me and let me try on proably about 75 different semimounts for a solitaire princess cut. I went in again last night just to look and was pleasently surprised about how many options they had in their smaller Brigewater NJ store they have 6 cases full of semi-mounts and can make anything you want in any metal. When I asked about cut I was told they have a Sarin and BrillanceScope on premesis and a variety of other tools that help them determine how strong of a cut a stone is. She also said how cut was vital and too often ignored. I didnt have time to try on very many rings (on the way to a movie) but she said to come back sometime a figure out what I liked try on a ton and then when we went to look for the one he would be able to zero in on the ones that suit me. No pressure is very nice. They have on-site jewlers in both of their stores and you can watch them work through the glass...I did when they reset my princess and it was pretty intreasting to me I had never seen it done before. They are not really a online store they are a small family run bussiness.
 

movie zombie

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http://www.geoffreysdiamonds.com/

geoffrey''s in san carlos, california.

i haven''t bought from them yet but will be. andy is very good with those of us that want color stones.

i''ve talked with diamond buyers who were sporting 2-3 carat pendants and rings who swear by geoffrey''s for personal design and quality stones. place is small but when i was there, it was really busy yet friendly with repeat clients.

and even though i was there to see color stones, i was treated to trying on some stunning diamonds.

i will be spending some $$$ at geoffrey''s!

peace, movie zombie
 

Lord Summerisle

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I''ll come in for the Brits...

Had excellent service from a chap in my local town, my folks have visited him for years, excllent repair service, and my the beautiful ring for my other half....

S J Sivvery: Manufacturing, Design & Repairing Jewellers
23a Bolton Street, Bury. Tel: 0161 761 6392

(not on the net as yet)
 

Tony S.

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Bernie Robbins has 5 locations in the Philadelphia metro region. This is considered a high end store that carries some very well known designers of both diamonds, jewelry and watches. What I and others enjoy the most about Bernie Robbins is that having five stores gives them the buying power to offer competitive prices but at the same time they give you a significant amount of personal attention that a one shop local jeweler would offer. Overall, I slightly overpaid based on the pricescope search I performed but considering the quality of stone and the personal attention I received I felt the extra money was well spent.

www.bernierobbins.com

 

justbuyingaring

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Robbins Diamonds in Philly, PA is one of the best on the East Coast! I live in D.C. and have been to countless jewelry stores from Virginia to New York and have also done extensive searches through internet stores, Robbins is where they have the BEST customer service coupled w/ an OUTSTANDING selection of settings and diamonds for a GREAT PRICE! I travelled up to Philly as there customer service and prices were UNBEATABLE! I STRONGLY recommend you talk to Christina Gonzalez, she is your friend when buying a diamond. She is the reason I went to Robbins after finding several internet stores selling diamonds and prices for about the same price, she is very patient, knowledgable, trustworthy, and will find you what you want(even if all you can do is explain it to her w/ out all the diamond expert jargon).

I received the PERFECT diamond ring at a FANTASTIC price! After visiting as many stores as I have over the course of the past couple of months I can tell you that you will not receive any better customer service than what Robbins provides if you like a no pressure, very knowledgable staff w/ an OUTSTANDING selection of settings and diamonds!

I just bought my diamond ring and would highly recommend Robbins to anybody on the East Coast.
 

mamchris

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Gary,
great topic! Can anyone help me, how about NYC jewelers for diamond remounts/settings. I am going on Friday, asside from Leon Mege, any other stores, I know there have to be many were I can find a quality setting - I am looking for a round halo type setting with lots of diamond work- but I am afraid I will get ripped off. I have been looking for a long time, in Philly and Jersey, haven''t hit NYC yet. I have seen Firenze jewelers online, I know at 47th there are many but not enough time to visit them all. Any suggestions would be of much help to me.
 

canuk-gal

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HI:

In my neck of the woods--Calgary, AB:

Brinkhaus--lovely jewellery/watches and people
The Goldsmith''s--excellent benchwork and nice folks
Goldcraft Jewellers--outstanding Master goldsmith (European) and great service
Princess Jewellers--my favorite shop in China town for 24k and other bobbles--just the nicest Mom and daughter team

cheers--Sharon
 

pricescope

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thanks so much, guys.

I put these recommendations into a database along with a few other jewelers who welcome Internet and Pricescope visitors.

A simple search page is here: https://www.pricescope.com/jewelers.aspx

What other search criteria (except city and distance) can be useful? e.g.

loose diamonds
custom design
mountings
designer jewelry

???
 

PhillipSchmidt

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A lot of people ask for hand made jewellery, ie not cast (as opposed to custom made castings which is another thing), perhaps you could add that/those Leonid
Jewellers who will work with diamonds not sourced by them, might be useful too

Edited to add - you might need a country listing too
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Regular Guy

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Just to mention another one I''ve experienced good satisfaction with, and further, that so many of my DC friends have found helpful...Quest Manufacturing Jewelers, in the Vienna Virginia/DC metro area (Dunn Loring, VA proper). Not necessarily your usual kind of place, but uniquely equipped to do custom work...either from scratch, or even to modify an existing piece (in my case), and very afford-ably.
 

pricescope

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Platinumsmith, good suggestions, thanks.

Re country: it is yet a beta version but I will keep it in mind :)
 
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