DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
akaMrsT
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DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
I am so sick of looking at diamonds. Never thought I'd say that. I went to Tri County over the weekend since I still do not have a stone I like. FI and I have looked since early August!!!! We have been to Tiffanys, Michael C Fina, tons of places on 47th and even dealt with private jewelers.
The jeweler we were using and who had a deposit became a jerk!!! He was so nice in the beginning - came to the house and my office with stones. He put no pressure on us to buy at all in the beginning.
I told him I did not want to be involved in the process any longer after I picked a few stones I liked. He started phone stalking FI who had already told him that he had to get his money from a CD from HSBC before he would have the rest of the cash. FI had to go to Queens (where he lived at the time) to close that account so it took a few days for him to make it out there before the branch closed. Plus, we were looking at halls on weekends.
I know FI and the jeweler were in constant contact and learned via FI that the jeweler got married at Swan Club about 20 years ago when it was 1 wedding at a time. FI told him that we had been looking at halls and told him the ones FI liked and did not like.
So, FI had to go to PA about 2 weeks ago in the boonies to help out a friend who had a flood in his house. Some dam near DE overflowed. The place is in the middle of nowhere although this man works in my office in NYC. So FI gets no phone signal out there which I had known since he first went out there months ago. Anyway, the jeweler could not reach FI so he called me. I was annoyed that he called me since I did not want to be involved in this process anymore -- but I was even more so annoyed to know that my ring had not yet been made. I thought maybe FI got it by then so any bit of surprise was RUINED by the jeweler telling me FI had not gotten back to him that day.
I told him that FI was in the boonies and not avoiding his call since he seemed to think so. He had the deposit in cash so we should have been the ones phone stalking him.
The last straw was when he asked 'are you guys still getting engaged?' I was livid!!!! Just because he could not reach FI for an hour!!! He also said 'I have the stone' and that 'I'm losing money on it' which is totaly bull since he would not be in this business to lose money. Not to mention, he knows we are looking at halls too so why ask that question? I guess he figured I'd put pressure on FI??
I told FI I did not want to use the guy anymore and I did not care that I liked those stones he was showing us. He has a very nice ideal round VS2 G too which I REALLY wanted.
I went by Tri County this weekend to look at stones alone and found out that our jeweler was overcharging us by over $3K!!!! I spoke to Fran at Gold Heart about the stones.
And that is for the same thing!!! I even had a pic of the setting (no sidestones). I'm am so glad I asked brides on this site about Tri County!!!!
We will likely not buy from there but I'm glad to know that the pricing is way better. FI is going by Superbcert this week (maybe today). They have a website www.superbcert.com. He also went to look yesterday with a male friend who was a jeweler on 47th in a prior life.
They went to 47th street and the guys there tried to talk FI out of an ideal cut round stone which is my only real criteria other than VS2!?!? His friend said they are trying to unload the junk diamonds and that they have gimmicks such as putting blue marker at the bottom of a set diamond to make it look like a F/G when it's really an I/J!?!?
There is so much research involved in this process. I can't see how men do it all alone!!!!
Does anyone have a Superbcert stone? If so, how do you like it? I like Hearts on Fire but they are super expensive - like 40% mark up. I also have considered Eight Star diamonds but have not found any locations in NYC to look at them.
Anyone have an Eight Star stone?
LadyPrincess
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Re: DIAMONDS - gimmicks, Superbcert, Eight Star & Hearts on Fire stones?
As always - you know yr stuff
Yes there is a better way to buy, May I suggest you contact my jeweler Sun Jewlery in CA - yes, CA
google for details & site
Ask for Abit - You wont be dissapointed No BS - just quality stones at GREAT prices
JMO LP
akaMrsT
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
LOL LOL Yeah, I did a ton of research. I almost bought an ideal scope this weekend and I run all stones through the Holloway Cut Advisor site. LOL LOL
I need to become a jeweler after all of this.
Thanks for the referral. I will give FI the info.
JZNCK
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
I don't know if you have them in NY but we deal with Bailey Banks and Biddle and we love them, their jewelry is amazing.. Check them out..
Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Try Gennaro's in Bellmore. The know there stuff. We just reset my e ring there- they set the stone in front of you, and they do not let it leave your side when they are doing this. They even show it to you on a monitor so it can be mapped etc. The diamond setter is there on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It can get busy, but it is very well worth the wait. I hope this helps. Good luck .
Xelindrya
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Posted by JZNCK
I don't know if you have them in NY but we deal with Bailey Banks and Biddle and we love them, their jewelry is amazing.. Check them out..
They’ve been great to us. Well specifically Ron (The manager at Roosevelt Field) AND he just got engaged himself! Actually he got engaged last couple of weeks and they got married this past weekend!!!
Such a sweetie!
Joan there is nice as well and Lydia actually helped Jim build my e-ring.
Corduroy94
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
I used Judah & Barry from Superb Cert but I didn't get my center stone from them. I had them reset an heirloom stone. They did a great job & I used their stones for the channel setting around my band. They matched everything up perfectly & really went above & beyond for us. I could go on & on so FM if you have any questions!
Here's a pic of mine but I have an oval center stone.
Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
I have a Hearts on Fire engagement ring ...I also have a HOF wedding band. I can't help with NY jewelers since my husband both both rings here in Saint Louis. But I think Christian Bernard sells HOF. I love my rings. The cut really is amazing
dawnie
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
www.goodoldgold.com They are in Massapequa. You can look at their stones on the website. I have heard great things about them.
buckles
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
I had looked at SuperbCert but they didn't have the stone/price I wanted at that time. I used Mark from EngagementRingsDirect.com and he was amazing. He used to work for GIA and really was such a sweet caring guy. He gave us the best price overall from what I have found. He even accompanied me to the appraiser (independant appraiser) who went gaga over what a great stone he/we picked out. Definatly worth a check but Barry is supposed to be top notch. He was just about 2K more than Mark. Some really helpful tools that I found out there in my search was: Goodoldgold.com-diamond tutorial pricescope.com-forum idealscope.com-my trusty $20 tool that got me through some seriously bad diamonds. Good luck!
wc0143
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Posted by Xelindrya
Posted by JZNCK
I don't know if you have them in NY but we deal with Bailey Banks and Biddle and we love them, their jewelry is amazing.. Check them out..
They’ve been great to us. Well specifically Ron (The manager at Roosevelt Field) AND he just got engaged himself! Actually he got engaged last couple of weeks and they got married this past weekend!!!
Such a sweetie!
Joan there is nice as well and Lydia actually helped Jim build my e-ring.
My JB Star wedding band that we got from BB&B (roosevelt Field) was appraised for HALF of what we paid for it ... I would not recommend.
buckles
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Also one other thing that helped me during the search was I put together a spread sheet with certain categories that were important to me and it helped immensly. By the end of one day we had looked at a total of about 30 stones in 6 hours straight, but the ones I really liked made it onto the sheet. They all sort of blurr together by the end that you can't remember which one you liked for what reasons. My categories were Vender, Carat, Color, Clarity, Look (ex H&A), Light Return, Fire, Scintillation, Spread, Dimentions, HCA, Table, Depth, Crown, Pavillion, Girdle, Polish/Symmetry, Prices, and certainly customer service. I got crazy trying to learn as much as I could so that I could get exactly what I wanted for a great price! My FI wanted to kill me by the end of it as you could imagine!
Blu-ize
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Have you tried Fortunoff? They have the most amazing collections..
SeptemberBride03
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
I used a jeweler my family has been using for over 20 years. We have the GIA cert and had it appraised so I know exactly what I have. I looked at Tiffanys and, Bailey, Banks and Biddle, and Fortunoff with my husband about 6 months before we got engaged so he would know the styles I liked. All three of those stores charged about 3 times what mine was appraised for (and we paid less than the appraisal value since it was through someone we've used forever and he gave us some money off). My husband also got me a bigger diamond that I ever though he would and when I was at those other stores we were looking at smaller ones of the same quality that I have and it was still three times what mine (same quality and bigger) was appraised for! I wouldn't go with any of those 'big' stores - they have so much overhead they mark it up ALOT!
akaMrsT
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Posted by buckles
I had looked at SuperbCert but they didn't have the stone/price I wanted at that time. I used Mark from EngagementRingsDirect.com and he was amazing. He used to work for GIA and really was such a sweet caring guy. He gave us the best price overall from what I have found. He even accompanied me to the appraiser (independant appraiser) who went gaga over what a great stone he/we picked out. Definatly worth a check but Barry is supposed to be top notch. He was just about 2K more than Mark. Some really helpful tools that I found out there in my search was: Goodoldgold.com-diamond tutorial pricescope.com-forum idealscope.com-my trusty $20 tool that got me through some seriously bad diamonds. Good luck!
Barry really seems to know his stuff - which I like. One jeweler tried to convince us that a GIA 60/60 was ideal!?!?!
The best stone we saw so far was a 2.14 D VS2 ideal but it had a strong blue flourescence which I do not like. Some people like 'blue white' but I do not want my stone to look blue. It did not look oily at all like some stond with strong blue flourescence.
Barry at Superbcert got back to me right away which I liked. His brother also called me this morning and is trying to set up an appointment so FI and I can look at his stones.
I think I will go ahead and buy an ideal-scope. I will check with Mark too. Thanks for the referral.
FI is very suspicious of jewelers since he had a stone stolen from his ex's engagement ring. About 5 years ago when FI was in his prior relationship, he went to have her ring cleaned (same guy who cleaned it once before) and the guy took the stone!!! Fi said he picked up the ring and knew immediatley that it was thewrong stone - very cloudy and he said it was not even the same shape!!! He snapped in front of all the customers and said he'd be back in 30 minutes to get the correct stone and if it was not there he told the guy he would kill him. The jeweler threatened to call the police and FI said go ahead.
In 29 minutes he said he came back and the stone was replaced. FI said he later saw that same jeweler on one of those Shame on You Reports about jewelers stealing stones.
akaMrsT
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Posted by SeptemberBride03
I used a jeweler my family has been using for over 20 years. We have the GIA cert and had it appraised so I know exactly what I have. I looked at Tiffanys and, Bailey, Banks and Biddle, and Fortunoff with my husband about 6 months before we got engaged so he would know the styles I liked. All three of those stores charged about 3 times what mine was appraised for (and we paid less than the appraisal value since it was through someone we've used forever and he gave us some money off). My husband also got me a bigger diamond that I ever though he would and when I was at those other stores we were looking at smaller ones of the same quality that I have and it was still three times what mine (same quality and bigger) was appraised for! I wouldn't go with any of those 'big' stores - they have so much overhead they mark it up ALOT!
6 months! I hope it does not take 6 months to find a stone we like. We are totally not buying at the big stores. We just went to look at stone and settings. Michael C Fina wanted like $9K for a setting I like that I can have copied for like $3K.
SeptemberBride03
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
It didn't take 6 months. My husband didn't want me to know exactly when we were getting engaged so he always said he'd take me to look so he had an idea of what I liked beforehand. He said it would be a long time before it actually happened so I wasn't expecting it. We looked, I gave him general ideas of what I liked and he did the rest and proposed 6 months later.
akaMrsT
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Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Posted by wc0143
Posted by Xelindrya
Posted by JZNCK
I don't know if you have them in NY but we deal with Bailey Banks and Biddle and we love them, their jewelry is amazing.. Check them out..
They’ve been great to us. Well specifically Ron (The manager at Roosevelt Field) AND he just got engaged himself! Actually he got engaged last couple of weeks and they got married this past weekend!!!
Such a sweetie!
Joan there is nice as well and Lydia actually helped Jim build my e-ring.
My JB Star wedding band that we got from BB&B (roosevelt Field) was appraised for HALF of what we paid for it ... I would not recommend.
HALF!!! ugh!!! That is not a good sign. I am not buying from them. Aren't they a Zales company?
akaMrsT
Posted:
Member since
Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Posted by JZNCK
I don't know if you have them in NY but we deal with Bailey Banks and Biddle and we love them, their jewelry is amazing.. Check them out..
Re: DIAMONDS - my vent about our jeweler and gimmicks (also does anyone have a Superbcert, Eight Star or Hearts on Fire stone?)
Posted by SeptemberBride03
It didn't take 6 months. My husband didn't want me to know exactly when we were getting engaged so he always said he'd take me to look so he had an idea of what I liked beforehand. He said it would be a long time before it actually happened so I wasn't expecting it. We looked, I gave him general ideas of what I liked and he did the rest and proposed 6 months later.
FI and I have looked separately and together. The funny thing is he and I love the same setting. I showed him a pic of what I like and he said he had looked at the same setting that day and loved it. LOL LOL Vatche royal crown.
