Hi Jonathan / Christen,

I recently proposed to my girlfriend, Sandra of 8 years last night with a spectacular diamond that was purchased at GoodOldGold over the Internet. She loves it! My diamond buying experience can be summed up as follows: As much as the diamond ring is for her... It really is something for both of us to cherish and admire - strange as it may sound.

THE MISSION

(a) Diamond must be "big and sparkly". There is something within people that find sparkly and shiny things mighty appealing. Diamonds are the epitome of this mysterious attraction, and it is the brilliance and fire that makes diamonds most beautiful.

(b) Must impress girlfriend.

(c) Must impress girlfriend's girlfriends.

(d) Must impress girlfriend's girlfriend's boyfriends.

(e) Must fit within budget constraints, while maximizing quality.

Let's face it ladies and gentlemen, when other girls swoon over your woman's ring, the one that YOU gave her, it brings some serious pride in you.

Ok, so the journey begins:

Knowing next to nothing except the 4 C's from a previous purchase at a high-end diamond chain in Canada, I didn't know where to begin. I was educated again and again by sales people about Clarity, Color, and Carat. (Note the missing "C", which I later found to be most important, through Jonathan's site). Being an engineer, I WANTED QUANTIFIABLE results. I wanted to buy the best and brightest diamond I could afford for my girlfriend, BUT HOW COULD I QUANTIFY THE BEAUTY OF A DIAMOND?

I became obsessed. I search and scoured the Internet for answers. I searched high and low, and finally reached a site called GoodOldGold.com. I went through reams and reams of data, that emphasized the most important "C" - Cut. All I can say is, Jonathan OPENED MY EYES, to what characterizes a brilliant diamond (H&A super-ideal cuts, firescope / idealscope analysis, etc). So I found what I was looking for, specifications and a way to quantify brilliance, fire, and scintillation. I could finally browse through the inventory of a bricks and mortar company (GoodOldGold) and get astounding information on each actual diamond. The close ups of the inclusions were the most impressive, and so were his brand new computer models of the diamonds themselves, along with BrillianceScope images.

So from here, I was armed. Being skeptical of buying such a high ticket item over the Internet, I turned to retail stores in Toronto. Boy was I in for a shock. The sales people would typically ask me what I was looking for after they figured out I knew about the 4 C's. When I said "Hearts and Arrows", they looked like a deer in headlights. They had no clue, and kept referring to the cuts they had as "Ideal, Excellent, or Very Good". This was disturbing to me. Why could a retail store not give me information that Jonathan could give me? Another disturbing fact was that I was unable to compare diamonds side-by-side. Jewellers typically bring out one stone at a time. I couldn't compare them all by seeing them next to each other.

After going through about 10 retail stores. I'd had it. I realized I couldn't get (a) information and specifications on the diamonds that I wanted and (b) no one seemed to have or know about hearts and arrows diamonds. A couple of stores could order them in for me to see, but what good is that?? I might as well order over the Internet! Over the Internet, on GoodOldGold.com, I could see everything about the diamonds before ordering, with quantifiable results.

So after two weeks of thorough research, I decided to contact Jonathan. He was very patient with me and, at my request, gave me detailed scans of a particular diamond I was interested in. I placed the order through Christen, who was extremely helpful (and patient, as I was wishy-washy over the setting etc. - she even sent me pictures of the actual diamond in some mounts). Another few days passed, and I realized I was running out of time. I needed the diamond right away, and had Christen send the loose diamond immediately. Sure enough, the package arrived the next day and BY GOLLY THE DIAMOND WAS EVERYTHING I EXPECTED, and I had HIGH expectations. Even in overcast conditions and flourescent office lighting, it sparkled, which I didn't expect. And in the Sun, or under halogen lights. BAMMO! Spectacular.

It was even on a temporary setting in a little white box with a little light that turned on when I opened it (everyone I showed at work was very impressed with this!). Accompanying this, was the original laminated GIA Certificate, and 2 copies of 10 page appraisal with close ups of the diamond and everything. All the specs an engineer would ever need.

I had the diamond mounted in a 6 prong Tiffany-style setting in Toronto. It looked fabulous! Absolutely stunning laser beams jetting out of the diamond from all different directions. I'm to the point where I can recognize Sandra's diamond with my naked eye, because of the rarity of H&A diamonds here, and there IS a visual difference due to the optical symmetry of these gems.

For anyone that is considering buying diamonds, I would highly recommend Jonathan. He is the ONLY diamond vendor that gives every piece of information possible to you about the diamonds he has in his inventory.

Mission Accomplished. Thanks Jon and Christen.

Best regards,