Barmakian

[Passionfruit]

I was just wondering if anyone has experienced shopping at barmakian.. if not where do you buy your engagment ring from?




I''m new to this site so sorry If I''m asking on the wrong board
thanks

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome to PS

We have a great site here full of lots of info on how to buy a great diamond/ ring. Cut is the thing we focus on as the cut of a diamond is what makes it beautiful. I would say to start with reading the tutorial http://diamonds.pricescope.com/ to learn about carat, colour, clarity and cut. There are sub topics to the left which you can work through. You can also ask questions and post them if you need more help. To the upper right you will also see a search tool which is very useful.

Favourite vendors are Good Old Gold, Whiteflash, Wink Jones, James Allen, Engagement Rings Direct - under resources at the top right, you will see a vendors list. PS vendors have usually info on cut quality with their in house diamonds which makes choosing easier. Also you can stick to AGS0 and GIA EX which can help you to find a great cut diamond more easily if you are wanting a round shape.

Also I am not familiar with Barkamian, maybe some of the others are.

 

[Regular Guy]

Lorelei''s offered good suggestions...

Date: 6/11/2007 6:46:51 AM
Author: Lorelei

Also I am not familiar with Barkamian, maybe some of the others are.

I googled them, and found, without great surprise, that in like the first 4 threads mentioned, 2 were from Pricescope...which gave some helpful background.

 

[rainydaze]

hello,

my ering and wband were purchased at barmakian, and i have had subsequent experience with them. personally i would not recommend them. every time i have gone back in there, whether it was after i was engaged and wanted them to work on the prongs which were uneven (still are) and odd looking (corner prongs for a princess, they are very poorly done) or gone in with my mom who was looking to upgrade her stone/setting, the response has been off-putting. once they had my then-fiance''s money, they seemed done with us. fixing the prongs was met with clear annoyance. i thought maybe it was me, or a fluke, but a couple of years later my mom had the same experience.

both of us will not go back; i am shopping for a new setting (ugh those prongs! and you can totally see that they took a stock band and dropped the head in, then saudered it with yellow gold or something yellow! there are notches around the basket, it is not a smooth transition.) and a new wband (my sales person really worked hard to convince me i needed a 3mm to ''look married'' when i wanted a thin band - 2mm was a bit too thin, but he never bothered to show me 2.5mm which would have been my perfect band. sadly i allowed myself to be persuaded rather than trusting my own aesthetics). i will definately go elsewhere for these purchases. thanks to pricescope i have been exposed to a myriad of high quality settings with fine polishes, details and workmanship. this is what i wish to pursue. i was forced to go back to barmakians regarding my mom''s stone, and for the heck of it i looked at some settings. i was not impressed.

my mom wanted to upgrade her stone which had been purchased there (it was a gift, she had no choice). she did not want to deal with them again but felt she had to explore that option since she''d get the most toward the upgrade from them. she quickly decided it was not worth it to deal with them, and purchased a new stone and setting from long''s. (joe silva, highly recommend him).

i cannot speak to the diamonds & pricing. my husband surprised me with a proposal; we did not shop together. my princess has a huge table (70%!) and shallow crown (5%!) and only has an EGL. cut was not addressed according to hubby (6 years ago). but fortunately my stone IS beautiful. so either they do stock only nice performers, or we got lucky. (my husband only knew the 4C''s as presented by jewelers and according to him ''all diamonds look the same.'')

i will say this, when you purchase your stone and setting from them, they will do free cleanings and polishings for life. typically it''s done while you wait, 10-15 minutes.

best of luck!

 

[hikerchick]

I didn''t purchase from them but did browse the store while we were shopping. They were mildly rude and off putting. I found their salespeople to be arrogant and not at all customer friendly. They spoke down to me and even though it was clear that I was the one who knew diamonds, they insisted on practically ignoring me and talking to my then boyfriend instead. Once again, after we purchased our diamond online and were hunting for settings, the level of rudeness was ten fold. We left after 10 minutes of being treated as though we were a waste of their time.

I suggest you either explore your online options here (you will get PLENTY of suggestions and help) OR if you wish you shop locally (I am guessing you are either in the Boston area or NH), then the 2 or 3 places I can recommend are Longs Jewelers, Hefez Jewelers (though know your stuff before going in here, they are a little salesy) or my absolute favorite local place is Joseph Gann Jewelers. They were my favorite because they stock really beautiful diamonds. The numbers were not always perfect BUT all the diamonds I saw there I loved. They are patient and not at all pushy. Our next purchase will start with a trip to Gann . . .

Good Luck.

 

[rainydaze]

Date: 6/11/2007 8:43:49 AM
Author: hikerchick
I didn''t purchase from them but did browse the store while we were shopping. They were mildly rude and off putting. I found their salespeople to be arrogant and not at all customer friendly. They spoke down to me and even though it was clear that I was the one who knew diamonds, they insisted on practically ignoring me and talking to my then boyfriend instead. Once again, after we purchased our diamond online and were hunting for settings, the level of rudeness was ten fold. We left after 10 minutes of being treated as though we were a waste of their time.

I suggest you either explore your online options here (you will get PLENTY of suggestions and help) OR if you wish you shop locally (I am guessing you are either in the Boston area or NH), then the 2 or 3 places I can recommend are Longs Jewelers, Hefez Jewelers (though know your stuff before going in here, they are a little salesy) or my absolute favorite local place is Joseph Gann Jewelers. They were my favorite because they stock really beautiful diamonds. The numbers were not always perfect BUT all the diamonds I saw there I loved. They are patient and not at all pushy. Our next purchase will start with a trip to Gann . . .

Good Luck.

YES....EXACTLY!!! this is what i wanted to say, but felt a little chicken to lay it all on the line. arrogance, yes, talking down, yup. ask an intelligent knowledgeable question, and you''ll get quite the look and snippy response. feeling like a waste of their time...... YES, YES, YES. why is that? oh well, on to the next.......

 

[aljdewey]

I live in Northern MA and know several people who've purchased from Barmakians and felt less than satisfied with their experiences.

I wouldn't recommend them, and if a close friend was considering them, I'd very much discourage him from purchasing there.