Recommended B&M shops in LA?

[kohl_mascara]

Wow, all those designs are lovely!!! No matter what you choose, your ring will be fantastic! And thank you for sharing. I am still looking at different styles but I know I want a six prong setting, plain band, etc. The details haven't quite been worked out yet, hehe, but I think the setting decision comes easier once a diamond is picked out!

I recommend checking out Oscar's Design Jewelry in downtown LA. The service at Icing on the Ring was also excellent, but the diamond I was interested in was about 1k more than it was at Oscar's.

Thank you! I think I went there last year -British dude right? He was kinda sarcastic/rude but I think that's just how he is (or it might be a British thing because He reminded me of my old boss.) I will give him another shot. I was kinda turned off by him initially because I hate my old boss and he looked and acted like him, haha, but I know he does amazing work!! And it's good to know that their diamond prices are more reasonable. I'll need to do a search of your ring!

No, I think that you could be thinking of LA Diamond Factory (based on Yelp reviews). I think Oscar may actually be Russian... anyway I found him to be very friendly and professional. He is not pushy at all and pretty laid back. I think he showed great integrity... I wanted to save on sales tax and a way to do that was to have him ship the diamond to me in Hawaii (I was stopping there on my way back to Australia). He could have given me the diamond and shipped an empty package (as some unscrupulous jewelers may do), but he didn't, he followed the procedure to the letter. When I went to Eli's, he said that wasn't necessary and that he would just take a copy of my passport (which I believe is incorrect). The first diamond Eli showed me was a 10 year old trade-in. He did not mention this until I picked it up on the GIA Report. I just found him to be a bit dodgy IMO.

I still haven't had my ring made... I only purchased the diamond. I couldn't make up my mind on the setting I wanted. FYI, I did see a custom ring that Oscar did for a customer and the quality was great. I also visited Victor Canera when I was in LA and his work is exquisite. He gave me a quote of $3,950 (Aug 2011) and I recently contacted him in late Nov and his quote jumped up by $400 so he is now sadly out of contention (I also have to factor in shipping and 10% GST in Australia). I think Victor's prices have risen with his popularity! Recent quotes from Leon Mege came in at $3,010 and Steven Kirsch was $3,800, so it made me wonder why Victor's quote was so high? You could also try Maytal Hannah... I believe she can source diamonds for you to look at. I think she has an office in downtown LA. Hope this helps

Oh wow, you are so helpful, thanks! So I have not visited oscar's. I'm excited to visit and see his ering designs and diamonds. Also, thanks for sharing prices about sk, vc and lm. May I ask what kind of design you were considering? They seem a bit pricey. Maybe I will just get a plain setting and if the desire comes, I'll reset it in a vc masterpiece! for now, my fi and I will like to focus on putting in the money to get the best diamond possible and worry about settings later. But, congrats on your diamond! I'm excited to see what kind of setting you decide on!

I'm leaning towards a Tiffany inspired ring on a 2mm shank with shallow u cut diamonds approximately 3/4 the way around.
The ring Leon quoted me on was his "Tulip" style like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIEARvIpoaM
Leon also does this ring without the diamonds on the shank. http://artofplatinum.com/vault/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&category_id=1&product_id=1507&Itemid=1
Victor and Steven quoted me on a Tiffany Novo inspired ring (same shank as described above).
I hope to make a decision on which setting I want by the end of January. I've had my diamond since late August and my boyfriend is pushing for me to make a decision... it's been 13 months since we first went looking at engagement rings together!!!

 

[kohl_mascara]

Hi everyone! I'm new and am also in the Los Angeles area. My boyfriend and I have just started looking for diamonds and rings as well and this thread has been so so helpful in helping us narrower down the choices. We also plan on visiting the diamond district as soon as the holiday is over. I'm so excited!

A quick question - is the HCA calculator essential? Should I also buy an ideal scope? Is one better than the other?

Thanks!

Hi blingityblangityboop! You know, I don't really use the HCA calculator in person, even though I advise it for others. The reason is that I like to do my research far away from other people, so I don't like to show my "nerdiness" per se in front of the vendors, hehehe. Same goes for the idealscope, I never purchased one. However, I would definitely advise you to become familiar with putting in as many stones as possible within the HCA during your pricescope-browsing hours, just to become familiar with what range of values come up with good HCA values. Also, as I wrote before in this thread, if you pre-filter your diamond viewing by only asking for ideal round brilliant cuts (aka GIA Excellent cut grade), you may be able to just choose one with your own eyes. The LA diamond vendors don't seem to carry AGS graded stones, from what limited experience I have, but maybe they do? I dunno....

Make sure to ask to see the diamond in different lighting conditions, like outdoors in natural lighting, etc. Also, make sure the vendor has some type of trade-in or return policy, you never know what could happen! You may love it at the store/booth, but then hate it at home or at your work place, etc. Who knows? *shrugs*

Good luck to you and your bf!

I also noticed la diamond vendors only carry Gia/egl diamonds and no ags too! How interesting. And no worries about thread jacking. We all have similar taste and I wouldn't mind a lively discussion on settings

Bbb - congrats and good luck! Glad this thread was helpful!

 

[dinged]

What do you guys think of this Mark Morrell ring in orange county?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_V_PaoAW68

 

[athenaworth]

I'm using SN Queens to set an aqua for me and I was in awe of their selection http://www.snqueens.com/.. They're downtown in the diamond district though, so the vultures will still get him if he's not careful. But then again so is Single Stone (they're in the same building, but SN Queens is at ground level). I would say their quality is equal to SS but not as expensive.

 

[SDplaya]

Great thread and I thought I'd resurrect things as I'm headed to LA next week to view some stones. My issue are I'm looking for the elusive Asscher stone and I'm lucky to find a vendor who has 1-2 on hand it seems. I've made a few calls to people I met on my virgin visit to the Diamond District and most of them were showing me EGL Israel or EGL at what I thought were great prices but after reading on here, I'm spooked of EGL israel for sure and EGL USA almost as well. I made the mistake of just hitting the prime real estate storefronts and that was my initial mistake.

just got off the phone w/ Oscars and he seems like a cool dude and is looking into some Asschers for me. Has anyone else been looking for an Asscher stone that could rec. another place in the DD of LA?

 

[firsttimebuyergreg]

Hi all - thought I'd bump this thread as couldn't find another one on the topic.

Any updated insight/guidance on B&M Shops in LA? Just spoke with Oscar and going to meet with him soon. Any other recommendations / great experiences in LA / SoCal?

Thanks in advance!

 

[yaboydave]

Also looking for shops. I've been to a few but they were pushing EGL cert diamonds. They dismiss GIA as cutting standards are too lax and say that the EGL "Hearts and Arrows" is the best of the best. But internet searches say otherwise. I'm also not fond of the price quotes. 1.5 ct G VS2 for $15k.

 

[HappyNewLife]

These people made our wedding bands and are super nice to work with. http://www.yelp.com/biz/baroque-jewelry-los-angeles