TheGreatTwizz
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2011
- Messages
- 107
This journey started months ago when the g/f and I visited her local jeweler so I could see/inspect a ring they had on display that she fell in love with. Then things got serious, and I decided I’d rather do this sooner, rather than later.
Here is the stone: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/cushion-eval-sarin-and-aset-included.167984/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/cushion-eval-sarin-and-aset-included.167984/[/URL]
Decision to purchase came after EXTENSIVE online searching, talking with all the appropriate vendors (special thanks to Mark at ERD for the half hour on the phone knowing I wasn’t in the market for an ACB cushion), and spending a day on Philadelphia’s Jeweler’s Row where I viewed no less than 50 stones under my ASET, and found none that met my criteria.
I decided to save one place, right in the middle of Sansom Street, as my last stop. That happened to be Barsky Diamonds, a staple in the Philadelphia Jewelry business for 104 years. To see three generations of men that have lived and breathed the business in one place is exceptional, and you couldn’t ask for nicer folks.
Things started with me talking to the sales guy (Ron), and he showed me a number of stones. After I passed on them all, while he was putting them away, I struck up conversation with a guy sitting at a desk about cell phones (lost his Droid, bought an iPhone [sucks for him!]). He asked what I was looking at, and I rattled off my spec sheet. He looks at my equipment (ASET, Idealscope, loupe, locking tweezers, light tray), and goes ‘You’re a pricescoper, aren’t you?’. I giggled, said ‘Yea, I learned a lot on there; enough to make me comfortable with spending this kind of cash’. He introduces himself as Nate Barsky, and says ‘I have one more for you to look at’, and goes to the display window at the front of the store. Brings me back a ring with a 2.09 cushion, I loupe it, looks good, and he says ‘Hang on, let me get this out for you’. Then proceeds to take it back to the bench, removes the stone from the setting, and brings it out to me loose. Under the ASET, it was the BEST stone I had seen all day, and figured I have a comfortable backup as I hadn’t yet secured the stone from James Allen yet. We come to terms on that stone should I care to proceed with it, then start talking about settings. I was very set on what the setting should be, and brought him many photos, both with what I want, and with what I don’t want. He gives me a quote I’m quite happy with, and we agree to speak again after I hear about the JA stone.
A couple of weeks later, I’m able to secure the JA stone and have it in my hands. I bring it in, he commends the buy, tells me I have a great stone, and we agree to move forward. Nate had fun with the ASET and even pulled out an ex/ex/ex round to check it out as well.
Did I mention that I was absolutely NUTS about the photos? Must have been a dozen of them. I was quite specific about melee size, type of pave, basket, struts, donut, band, etc.
He tells me that the ring will be ENTIRELY hand forged in his shop, and that he’ll stop along the way to show me the metal as it’s made. You’ll see the photos below where there is no donut, which I wasn’t clear about, and where it is in the finished product. Last minute, after indirectly asking the g/f, I give Nate the OK to do a bezel set. We both wanted to do this from the beginning, but I wasn’t sure how the g/f would feel, so I danced around and got the words ‘invisible’ out of her. She only saw the first four raw metal photos, and has never seen the stone. She also doesn’t know when this is happening.
Please excuse my cell phone photos, as it is all I have. For reference, the ring is a size 5.75, stone measures 8.5mm x 7.5mm with one pointers in the halo and band.
In summation, I cannot say enough nice things about Nate and his team at Barsky Diamonds, both his father and grandfather are at the shop regularly, even though it is Nate’s show, and they are all eager to help without being pushy in the least. While this ring was being made, Nate did two other projects for me (earring posts and another ring for my daughter), all of which were exceptional experiences. When we embarked on this, Nate directly told me that he was doing this to see if he could do it. He freakin’ delivered. I couldn’t be happier, as this was EXACTLY that for which I asked.
The link above has specs for the center stone, the rest of the ring is a total of .63 ct in single cuts (mostly .01, some .005 on the struts and donut). Many at the store went ‘ohhh, I wouldn’t do single cuts’, but Nate happily obliged, even going through two separate parcels of stones to find great matches. I’m happy to report that they match wonderfully, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the decision to go with single cuts. The flashes of fire from them match the center stone perfectly. I think full cuts would have come out a bit mushy in comparison.
Nate has earned a customer for life, not just from his service, but from being an overall good f*ckin dude. I really feel like I’ve made a new friend, and will eagerly recommend Nate Barsky and the team at Barsky Diamonds.
Here is the stone: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/cushion-eval-sarin-and-aset-included.167984/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/cushion-eval-sarin-and-aset-included.167984/[/URL]
Decision to purchase came after EXTENSIVE online searching, talking with all the appropriate vendors (special thanks to Mark at ERD for the half hour on the phone knowing I wasn’t in the market for an ACB cushion), and spending a day on Philadelphia’s Jeweler’s Row where I viewed no less than 50 stones under my ASET, and found none that met my criteria.
I decided to save one place, right in the middle of Sansom Street, as my last stop. That happened to be Barsky Diamonds, a staple in the Philadelphia Jewelry business for 104 years. To see three generations of men that have lived and breathed the business in one place is exceptional, and you couldn’t ask for nicer folks.
Things started with me talking to the sales guy (Ron), and he showed me a number of stones. After I passed on them all, while he was putting them away, I struck up conversation with a guy sitting at a desk about cell phones (lost his Droid, bought an iPhone [sucks for him!]). He asked what I was looking at, and I rattled off my spec sheet. He looks at my equipment (ASET, Idealscope, loupe, locking tweezers, light tray), and goes ‘You’re a pricescoper, aren’t you?’. I giggled, said ‘Yea, I learned a lot on there; enough to make me comfortable with spending this kind of cash’. He introduces himself as Nate Barsky, and says ‘I have one more for you to look at’, and goes to the display window at the front of the store. Brings me back a ring with a 2.09 cushion, I loupe it, looks good, and he says ‘Hang on, let me get this out for you’. Then proceeds to take it back to the bench, removes the stone from the setting, and brings it out to me loose. Under the ASET, it was the BEST stone I had seen all day, and figured I have a comfortable backup as I hadn’t yet secured the stone from James Allen yet. We come to terms on that stone should I care to proceed with it, then start talking about settings. I was very set on what the setting should be, and brought him many photos, both with what I want, and with what I don’t want. He gives me a quote I’m quite happy with, and we agree to speak again after I hear about the JA stone.
A couple of weeks later, I’m able to secure the JA stone and have it in my hands. I bring it in, he commends the buy, tells me I have a great stone, and we agree to move forward. Nate had fun with the ASET and even pulled out an ex/ex/ex round to check it out as well.
Did I mention that I was absolutely NUTS about the photos? Must have been a dozen of them. I was quite specific about melee size, type of pave, basket, struts, donut, band, etc.
He tells me that the ring will be ENTIRELY hand forged in his shop, and that he’ll stop along the way to show me the metal as it’s made. You’ll see the photos below where there is no donut, which I wasn’t clear about, and where it is in the finished product. Last minute, after indirectly asking the g/f, I give Nate the OK to do a bezel set. We both wanted to do this from the beginning, but I wasn’t sure how the g/f would feel, so I danced around and got the words ‘invisible’ out of her. She only saw the first four raw metal photos, and has never seen the stone. She also doesn’t know when this is happening.
Please excuse my cell phone photos, as it is all I have. For reference, the ring is a size 5.75, stone measures 8.5mm x 7.5mm with one pointers in the halo and band.
In summation, I cannot say enough nice things about Nate and his team at Barsky Diamonds, both his father and grandfather are at the shop regularly, even though it is Nate’s show, and they are all eager to help without being pushy in the least. While this ring was being made, Nate did two other projects for me (earring posts and another ring for my daughter), all of which were exceptional experiences. When we embarked on this, Nate directly told me that he was doing this to see if he could do it. He freakin’ delivered. I couldn’t be happier, as this was EXACTLY that for which I asked.
The link above has specs for the center stone, the rest of the ring is a total of .63 ct in single cuts (mostly .01, some .005 on the struts and donut). Many at the store went ‘ohhh, I wouldn’t do single cuts’, but Nate happily obliged, even going through two separate parcels of stones to find great matches. I’m happy to report that they match wonderfully, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the decision to go with single cuts. The flashes of fire from them match the center stone perfectly. I think full cuts would have come out a bit mushy in comparison.
Nate has earned a customer for life, not just from his service, but from being an overall good f*ckin dude. I really feel like I’ve made a new friend, and will eagerly recommend Nate Barsky and the team at Barsky Diamonds.
![IMAG0397[1].jpg](https://www.pricescope.com/community/data/attachments/484/484118-2229177ae49dfdfc08bdb029d503d60e.jpg?hash=IikXeuSd_f "IMAG0397[1].jpg")
![IMAG0400[1].jpg](https://www.pricescope.com/community/data/attachments/484/484119-d398f4e72907c4382f468561068eec51.jpg?hash=05j05ykHxD "IMAG0400[1].jpg")
![IMAG0399[1].jpg](https://www.pricescope.com/community/data/attachments/484/484120-3de49bf64ff47550f20162f269e838f8.jpg?hash=PeSb9k_0dV "IMAG0399[1].jpg")
![IMAG0398[1].jpg](https://www.pricescope.com/community/data/attachments/484/484121-fbac1ae4e40883973d34bee8616d9c37.jpg?hash=-6wa5OQIg5 "IMAG0398[1].jpg")
Congratulations!
) My husband just purchased my new 2.6 ct RB diamond (upgrade) from Nathan Barsky two weeks ago (for my birthday) and the experience was amazing. Nathan took such good care of us from beginning to end and we thoroughly enjoyed chatting with both Nathan and his father - what great guys. I am absolutely thrilled with my gorgeous stone and hand made setting, I am so glad they were the last store we stopped at after a long day of diamond shopping on Jeweler's Row. Congrats again - your ring is gorgeous! 
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