I have found a ring!
For the past couple of weeks I have been asking questions and studying these forums as I went about my hunt for the perfect engagement ring for my girlfriend. At first I was dealing with an independant jeweler in the diamond district in NY (Steven at SH Zell and Sons) and all in all he was great--honest and friendly and tried hard to get me what I wanted. His prices were competitive but he could not fit what I really wanted into my tight budget although I would certainly reccomed him to anyone who wants to go to a full service booth in the diamond district.
After some great advice from many of you (particularly Mara) I got a PM from baltneu who suggested that I try the Pscope vendors--many of whom I could see in person here in NYC. I took this advice and talked to Mark at Engagement Rings Direct and Martin at USACerted Diamonds.
Mark was very nice and showed me a ring with ideal specs (with a Sarin report at my request) at a great price but for some reason I was not blown away by the ring. I still had an appointment with Martin of USACerted's wholesaler so I held out until I could see the stone.
First off, Martin was amazingly reassuring, calm and straightforward on the phone--his voice exudes honesty. Truly a pleasure to find when Diamond hunting. He told me that I would be impressed with his wholesaler in NYC and sure enough, when I went there, I was. The guy was at the top of the food chain in the diamond district and pulled out a stack of certs to find me exactly what I was looking for. As I sipped my espresso, he found me a stone that was what I was looking for to the last detail. The only problem was that he had it out at one of his vendors and needed to call it in. The price was a bit above what I had intended to pay, but he came down to something I could afford because in his words, "I do this to make people happy." I suspect that is why Martin works with him because they both seem to share that philosophy in life.
As I waited for the stone, Martin followed up and made sure that it would be there in time for me to get it when I wanted it. Martin assured me that there would be no problems and that it would be there. Yesterday I went to see the stone and yes, it was there and it was amazing. Before I went to the office, they emailed me the Sarin numbers which were all ideal (HCA 1.6).
The stone sparkled with light and colors unlike any of the stones I had seen in my weeks of searching. I looked at it under the loupe and I noticed that it looked like it may have H&A. I mentioned this to one of the people I was working with (all of whom were a pleasure to deal with) and he promptly brought over a H&A viewer. Sure enough, Hearts and Arrows on the unbranded stone! To top it off, this SI2 was totally eye clean, without any inclusions under the table--only a bunch of minor ones off of it.
All I needed now was a setting. I was then passed on to the company's jeweler who again was a pleasure to deal with. Since it was late in the day, the dealer he wanted to get my setting from was closed so I came back today. The jeweler went and brought back some settings for me to choose from. I chose a beautiful six prong Tiffany style with a knife edge from Ingwer. He then took me to the workshop where the ring would be set. An hour and a half later, I returned to the wholesaler's office and picked up the beautiful ring. Here are the stats:
I SI2
1.08 Carats
Symmetry: EX
Polish: EX
Diam: 6.615mm
Depth: 4.05mm 61.2%
Crown Angle: 34.5
Pavil Angle: 40.9
Table: 3.78mm 57%
Culet: 0.8%
Girdle: Thin to Medium
If anyone is ever looking for a great price on a high quality ring with great service every step of the way, don't hesitate to consider Martin and USACerted diamonds for your purchase. And no, he is not paying me in any way (aside from getting me a great ring) to say all of this, I am doing it out of sincere gratitude. Pictures to come!
For the past couple of weeks I have been asking questions and studying these forums as I went about my hunt for the perfect engagement ring for my girlfriend. At first I was dealing with an independant jeweler in the diamond district in NY (Steven at SH Zell and Sons) and all in all he was great--honest and friendly and tried hard to get me what I wanted. His prices were competitive but he could not fit what I really wanted into my tight budget although I would certainly reccomed him to anyone who wants to go to a full service booth in the diamond district.
After some great advice from many of you (particularly Mara) I got a PM from baltneu who suggested that I try the Pscope vendors--many of whom I could see in person here in NYC. I took this advice and talked to Mark at Engagement Rings Direct and Martin at USACerted Diamonds.
Mark was very nice and showed me a ring with ideal specs (with a Sarin report at my request) at a great price but for some reason I was not blown away by the ring. I still had an appointment with Martin of USACerted's wholesaler so I held out until I could see the stone.
First off, Martin was amazingly reassuring, calm and straightforward on the phone--his voice exudes honesty. Truly a pleasure to find when Diamond hunting. He told me that I would be impressed with his wholesaler in NYC and sure enough, when I went there, I was. The guy was at the top of the food chain in the diamond district and pulled out a stack of certs to find me exactly what I was looking for. As I sipped my espresso, he found me a stone that was what I was looking for to the last detail. The only problem was that he had it out at one of his vendors and needed to call it in. The price was a bit above what I had intended to pay, but he came down to something I could afford because in his words, "I do this to make people happy." I suspect that is why Martin works with him because they both seem to share that philosophy in life.
As I waited for the stone, Martin followed up and made sure that it would be there in time for me to get it when I wanted it. Martin assured me that there would be no problems and that it would be there. Yesterday I went to see the stone and yes, it was there and it was amazing. Before I went to the office, they emailed me the Sarin numbers which were all ideal (HCA 1.6).
The stone sparkled with light and colors unlike any of the stones I had seen in my weeks of searching. I looked at it under the loupe and I noticed that it looked like it may have H&A. I mentioned this to one of the people I was working with (all of whom were a pleasure to deal with) and he promptly brought over a H&A viewer. Sure enough, Hearts and Arrows on the unbranded stone! To top it off, this SI2 was totally eye clean, without any inclusions under the table--only a bunch of minor ones off of it.
All I needed now was a setting. I was then passed on to the company's jeweler who again was a pleasure to deal with. Since it was late in the day, the dealer he wanted to get my setting from was closed so I came back today. The jeweler went and brought back some settings for me to choose from. I chose a beautiful six prong Tiffany style with a knife edge from Ingwer. He then took me to the workshop where the ring would be set. An hour and a half later, I returned to the wholesaler's office and picked up the beautiful ring. Here are the stats:
I SI2
1.08 Carats
Symmetry: EX
Polish: EX
Diam: 6.615mm
Depth: 4.05mm 61.2%
Crown Angle: 34.5
Pavil Angle: 40.9
Table: 3.78mm 57%
Culet: 0.8%
Girdle: Thin to Medium
If anyone is ever looking for a great price on a high quality ring with great service every step of the way, don't hesitate to consider Martin and USACerted diamonds for your purchase. And no, he is not paying me in any way (aside from getting me a great ring) to say all of this, I am doing it out of sincere gratitude. Pictures to come!
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