5/5 stars
Once Upon a Time ...
It was my birthday and we took the day off to visit 3 jewelry stores and to celebrate with a sumptuous meal at Gary Danko. It was a really great day!
I wanted the day to go back to my two favorite jewelry stores and narrow it down to "The One." I had excellent experiences at both Diamonds of Palo Alto and Brilliant Earth.
When I googled "conflict free engagement rings," Brilliant Earth was one of the first results that came up. I really liked their website - their mission, their conscience, and the variety of setting styles. And the reviews on Yelp were great! So I made an appointment and had such a wonderful - all-important - first impression. The second trip was just as good.
When you first walk through the door, you quickly realize that you're not in a regular jewelry store with glass cases and other couples browsing around. You get your very own Brilliant Earth specialist (ours was Danielle, but we also worked with Beth and Ryan) and you're in this nice, bright room with a whole selection of diamonds and settings for you to try on. When I had made the appointment (via email), I had requested to see 3 different styles. Not only did Danielle have the three settings I wanted to try on, she also had 20 similar settings she thought I'd like. That's how I found setting for me: the Heirloom! It had the "antique" look I wanted, but was not an estate piece. At the time, I was also interested in the square halo and the trio. It was soo no-pressure, and Danielle answered all the questions we tossed at her. You get a whole hour all to yourselves - to try and re-try on rings.
What blew me away was that the customizations weren't going to cost the bf an arm and a leg. That's when Danielle was REALLY helpful: coming up with ideas on how I could customize the engagement ring. We left happy campers.
After visiting Diamonds of Palo Alto and then making a quick stop at Dianne's, I had the feeling that even though those two jewelry stores were great, Brilliant Earth really made me happy and had more of what I was looking for. So we went back to look at diamonds. Of course, I couldn't help but try and re-try all the rings I had liked before ;-) and even sampling some new settings. After all that was said and done, the bf and I kept going back to the Heirloom. It was something I could see myself wearing everyday.
So we met with Beth, the gemologist, and she showed us a stunning selection of cushions and radiants. The bf actually picked out the rock - a diamond so frosty and clear, it looked like ice.
Over the next couple of months while we worked on creating my customized ring, Danielle and Beth were the definition of patient. They answered a hundred of my questions, made themselves available, met with us to go over the models (we received a computer-generated model and a wax model), and made sure we were involved during every step of the process.
The ring is hand-made and one-of-a-kind, the diamond is gorgeous and conflict-free, and the engagement was what fairy tales are made of. Our appointment with Danielle was only the beginning of our life together.
Thank you, Brilliant Earth!
Sept 14, 2010
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