I spent several weeks extensively researching stones and settings through this board, other websites, and friends and wanted to post about my experience working with I.D. Jewelry (for the diamond) and Leon Mege (for the setting). I am hoping that this is helpful to the other guys on the board!
My fiancée of five years said yes (after much crying) when I proposed to her with this 2.38 RB, F, VS2, EX/EX/EX/No Fluor ring.
I highly recommend that anyone looking for a stone in New York’s Diamond District or online stop by I.D. Jewelry (http://www.idjewelryonline.com/) and speak with Yekutiel Davidov. The customer service was excellent and the prices are extremely competitive compared to other sellers on 47th street and online. In fact, the way I discovered ID Jewelry was that I was meeting with another broker in the diamond district and fell in love with the above stone. However, he quoted me a price several thousand dollars above where I knew the market comparables were based on my research. After some research, I discovered that the stone was actually part of Yekutiel’s uncle’s inventory and decided to work with ID Jewelry directly, which saved me ~$3,000!
In addition to the price, Yekutiel’s service was outstanding. I had the unusual situation where I did not know my girlfriend’s exact ring size, but that I knew that I wanted to use Leon Mege for the setting. So, I came up with the plan to propose with the diamond set into a temporary setting (based on an educated guess on her ring size) and then after the proposal, to take her to Leon to have it placed into a permanent setting. Yekutiel was understanding and was gracious enough to throw in a temporary 6-prong setting. Other places that I went to such as David S. Diamonds was not willing to do the same. Yekutiel was also helpful in 1) sending one of his guys with me to the appraiser David Wolf to appraise the stone loose; 2) recheck/appraise after the setting; and afterwards 3) taking me personally to FedEx to watch the ring being dropped in so I can rest easy that it never left my sight. Can’t be too careful!
After the proposal my fiancée and I worked with Leon to create our dream setting. We went with a four-prong cathedral –style setting, with the stone set fairly low, and micropave around three-quarters of the 1.8mm band. Our goal was to really showcase the stone so we wanted something elegant that was open from the sides and bottom. While we had a general idea of what we wanted we weren''t 100% clear on all the little details and decisions that had to be made. At first Leon struck us as being very opinionated and direct in what he thought was gaudy/ugly but after a while we sat back and realized that we were probably in good hands and came around to his view. In the end, the ring that he made was outstanding and exactly what we wanted. He was gracious and professional, delivering the ring in the time that he originally promised (~4 weeks) even though he had an out-of-town convention thrown in there and a looming vacation. His attention to detail and finish is incredible. I was assured by David Wolf that there are only a couple of guys in each major diamond market (i.e. NYC, Antwerp, London, etc.) that does work on his level of quality. The prices are also relatively reasonable considering the craftsmanship. We will be back for our wedding bands!
Lastly, I’d like to vouch for David Wolf at Just Appraisers. David is extremely methodical in his appraisal of both the qualities of the stone as well as the replacement value. Other appraisers (including some who are highly recommended on this board) base their appraisals on “retail replacement cost” which often involve adding some ~40% markup to what you paid in the diamond district. David uses comparables from RapNet and Blue Nile in determining the "true" replacement cost, which in the process will save you all a lot on your insurance premiums. As an additional testament to his qualifications, David also did the appraisals for post-9/11 and Katrina for several large banks.
Other jewelers I worked with and can recommend are Engagement Rings Direct and Peter Germano & Sons. David S. Diamonds is really pushing their proprietary Solasfera cut which was >$20K/carat for a ~2 carat stone so that was out of the question for me (however they are stunning stones!). I had a bad experience with Ultimate Jewelry Designs. Also, I can say that ID Jewelry was generally better priced than any other online sites that I had used including Blue Nile, Mondera, and Union Diamond.
My fiancée of five years said yes (after much crying) when I proposed to her with this 2.38 RB, F, VS2, EX/EX/EX/No Fluor ring.
I highly recommend that anyone looking for a stone in New York’s Diamond District or online stop by I.D. Jewelry (http://www.idjewelryonline.com/) and speak with Yekutiel Davidov. The customer service was excellent and the prices are extremely competitive compared to other sellers on 47th street and online. In fact, the way I discovered ID Jewelry was that I was meeting with another broker in the diamond district and fell in love with the above stone. However, he quoted me a price several thousand dollars above where I knew the market comparables were based on my research. After some research, I discovered that the stone was actually part of Yekutiel’s uncle’s inventory and decided to work with ID Jewelry directly, which saved me ~$3,000!
In addition to the price, Yekutiel’s service was outstanding. I had the unusual situation where I did not know my girlfriend’s exact ring size, but that I knew that I wanted to use Leon Mege for the setting. So, I came up with the plan to propose with the diamond set into a temporary setting (based on an educated guess on her ring size) and then after the proposal, to take her to Leon to have it placed into a permanent setting. Yekutiel was understanding and was gracious enough to throw in a temporary 6-prong setting. Other places that I went to such as David S. Diamonds was not willing to do the same. Yekutiel was also helpful in 1) sending one of his guys with me to the appraiser David Wolf to appraise the stone loose; 2) recheck/appraise after the setting; and afterwards 3) taking me personally to FedEx to watch the ring being dropped in so I can rest easy that it never left my sight. Can’t be too careful!
After the proposal my fiancée and I worked with Leon to create our dream setting. We went with a four-prong cathedral –style setting, with the stone set fairly low, and micropave around three-quarters of the 1.8mm band. Our goal was to really showcase the stone so we wanted something elegant that was open from the sides and bottom. While we had a general idea of what we wanted we weren''t 100% clear on all the little details and decisions that had to be made. At first Leon struck us as being very opinionated and direct in what he thought was gaudy/ugly but after a while we sat back and realized that we were probably in good hands and came around to his view. In the end, the ring that he made was outstanding and exactly what we wanted. He was gracious and professional, delivering the ring in the time that he originally promised (~4 weeks) even though he had an out-of-town convention thrown in there and a looming vacation. His attention to detail and finish is incredible. I was assured by David Wolf that there are only a couple of guys in each major diamond market (i.e. NYC, Antwerp, London, etc.) that does work on his level of quality. The prices are also relatively reasonable considering the craftsmanship. We will be back for our wedding bands!
Lastly, I’d like to vouch for David Wolf at Just Appraisers. David is extremely methodical in his appraisal of both the qualities of the stone as well as the replacement value. Other appraisers (including some who are highly recommended on this board) base their appraisals on “retail replacement cost” which often involve adding some ~40% markup to what you paid in the diamond district. David uses comparables from RapNet and Blue Nile in determining the "true" replacement cost, which in the process will save you all a lot on your insurance premiums. As an additional testament to his qualifications, David also did the appraisals for post-9/11 and Katrina for several large banks.
Other jewelers I worked with and can recommend are Engagement Rings Direct and Peter Germano & Sons. David S. Diamonds is really pushing their proprietary Solasfera cut which was >$20K/carat for a ~2 carat stone so that was out of the question for me (however they are stunning stones!). I had a bad experience with Ultimate Jewelry Designs. Also, I can say that ID Jewelry was generally better priced than any other online sites that I had used including Blue Nile, Mondera, and Union Diamond.
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