Don’t fool yourself, I’m not going to lie to you. Buying my engagement ring was one of the most dizzying experiences of my life, and it will be for you. It may have also been harder for me because I shopped alone. I decided to surprise my girlfriend-the whole romance thing. Limousine, champagne, dinner reservations, photographs all done without her knowing. (It worked perfectly, by the way) Shopping with your girlfriend makes it easier naturally, but here’s my story. After finding out "through the grapevine" what kind of shape she preferred, etc., I decided to start looking. However, I gave myself a full three months before "the day". Very important. I promised myself "no shotgun sales". I refused to look like an idiot and be taken advantage of, so I took some books out from the library and "educated" myself as best I could. This is supposed to be the "purchase of a lifetime" so it warranted nothing less than all the time I could dedicate to it. I visited a major retailer, a "wholesaler", some other vendors and a "family friend" before I made my final decision with Jonathan. Without going into too many details, the retailer was way over-priced (practically list price). The wholesaler was in New Jersey and the stone was too small for the money. Other vendors tried to make me play "find the inclusions" and would not point anything out on the stones until I noticed them through a loupe, and then he/she would say "oh yeah, I see it, but it’s so small, and that’s normal for this grade", and the "family friend" had only one crummy certified stone. By the way let me comment on certified stones. They will cost you more up front, and I’m not sure it’s worth it. I bought my uncertified stone and had it appraised without the setting. It appraised for a grade higher in all categories. This would have cost me more if it was certified already. This may not be your cup of tea, but I did enough research and looked at many stones to be comfortable enough in my own abilities to know if a stone was in the range that it was graded. The "family friend’s" stone was an IGI certified H color, SI1 clarity. I would not call a stone with a carbon pit and a feather in plain sight through the table SI1. This in my experience is I, and when I saw the "cert", it looked like one of my old term papers from school with all the red marks on the mapping! The moral is that you will pay more for a "cert", but it does not guarantee better value. If I wanted a certificate stone, Jonathan had them or he would obtain one within a day or two. The "family friend" also guaranteed that Jonathan’s diamond was not as "brilliant", not cut as well, as his. I am so tempted to go back and claim my prize, but my stone is prize enough because I picked a winner. Now let me tell you why I chose Jonathan over all the rest, and why you should choose him, hands down. If you do not want to waste your valuable time searching, trust me and go to Jonathan first. It would have been one-stop shopping for me, and I am a stickler. It was obvious to Jonathan from the beginning that I was educated as much as the average consumer could be without going to school, and he actually took the time to expand on that knowledge taking it many steps further. Let me cut to the chase about the things that impressed me and "closed the deal" after no less than five visits to him:

#1 His love for his "art". He loves his job and it shows. He is not a hard sell. He knows that he has quality stuff. However, it’s up to you to realize this and I should have sooner. It would have saved a lot of heartache and time in the end. All my previous experiences left me quite skeptical and uneasy.

#2 He had a large inventory of stones and settings. It’s nice to be shown at least three different stones in your price range. The chances of finding the right one is greater without having to go to many different places.

#3 The way that he dealt with me exclusively each time. There would be times that I would wait a while for him to help me because he was helping someone else. Some other diamond dealers I shopped with would be helping two or three people at a time. This lost many points in my eyes. He would help you with the same vigor regardless if you were browsing or buying. The first time he helped me, he gave me this book he wrote that was like "everything the diamond industry doesn’t want you to know". Sort of an expose on a magician’s secrets.

#4 The microscope, video screen and other equipment. As far as the sale of my particular stone, this is what convinced me to buy from Jonathan. He shows you the stone under high-power magnification, and even points out the imperfections live on the video screen. One word-honest. What you see is what you get. When he points out all the reasons why the stone is graded as such, you know what’s there. Imagine buying a stone from someone, having it appraised and finding out there are things there that you didn’t see with the loupe, or worse, were not pointed out to you. Would you be mad? That would be putting it lightly. No other jeweler (except my appraiser) had this equipment. There are no excuses- it’s all right there in front of you- magnified up to 63x- you see all the stone’s "beautiful imperfections", no surprises. I can’t stress this enough. He even has this apparatus that measures the diamond’s angles-all right in front of you four feet away.

#5 He was patient with me. I am sure in his recent history he hasn’t had such a pain in the @$$ fussy customer. I’d like to think that I’m prudent, but that’s just me. He respected me for all that I learned by myself. He even gave me a "quiz" after I told him that I visited his website and downloaded all his literature on the 4Cs. (Which I highly recommend, because it’s better that DeBeers’) He was impressed that I knew my "acceptable pavilion angles for maximum brilliance on a ‘fancy’ stone". These are the lengths I went to to insure that I was getting the best possible diamond for the money. There were even times that it I knew more than other salespeople in my journeys. Go ahead; ask a salesperson what the pavilion angle is on that stone you were just looking at. If they don’t know, that will not work in your favor, because if the angles are outside the "acceptable limits" for the stone by even something so small as three-quarters of a degree, it may take away up to ten percent of the brilliance as compared to a well-cut stone. SEE?! Beeline for the door! To me it wasn’t good enough if the stone only had the color and clarity ratings. I wanted to know about the pavilion, crown, culet, girdle, table, etc. (If you have no idea what these mean PLEASE download the information available in this website, and don’t be surprised at the amount of paper you’ll need to print, but isn’t that something in your favor?) He knew I was serious enough that if he showed me what I called a "WOW" stone, I would buy it right on the spot. It took all his inventory and he even went "shopping" for me twice. Needless to say, I got my "WOW" stone, with a little bit of "POW" sprinkled in. It is beautiful.

I can’t thank him enough for all the time and effort he dedicated to this slice of my life, but one way I know I can show my appreciation is writing this testimonial. I hope that after reading this you will stop wasting your time with others and go with Jonathan. He is a winner in a business of many losers and cheaters. Don’t get caught with one of them. You may regret it for the rest of your life.