Tony Teller

Review of Gold & Diamond Source

I ve never taken the time to write a review howeve...

I ve never taken the time to write a review however my experience at G&D truly made such an impression that I feel it warrants it. I consider myself financially wise with my money. I buy nice things however I want the very best deal I can get for my money and I m not afraid to be disciplined until I get exactly what I want. After remarrying and wanting to shower my wife with the best possible diamonds at the best possible price (I consider them investments ;) I spent a lot of time learning about the industry, grading, Cert s, RAP values etc., in learning I typically always buy my diamonds GIA certified and online through major high-volume distributors. I ve spent approx. 50k in the last 18 months for perspective. Fast forward.. I selected an excellent diamond online at what I considered a very fair price. The particular distributor that I was buying from only sells loose and I wanted this diamond mounted as a pendent/necklace so I decided to go by G&D before finalizing. I was a little reluctant at first to go to G&D because I prefer not to deal with retailers and for some reason I had unfairly created this preconceived notion from their commercials as a little hokey (sort of like the Kia commercials from the Huge guy ~sorry just saying~ ;) After reading a few articles online about Julie and her work in the community and their strong sense of family value, I figured that I would check them out to see if I was comfortable with them taking possession of what would be my expensive diamond while they mounted it etc. On 5/30 @10am, I battled the rain and traffic and arrived at G&D. I was immediately put at ease by observing the presence of a very professional uniformed & armed (but friendly) security officer. IMO in this day and age it s relaxing to be able shop knowing that someone else was watching my surroundings for me so that I didn t have to ;) My first impression was wow this store is impressive, I decided to hold my cards close to the chest by telling the greeter that I was looking for a simple mount until I could get a better sense of the caliber of their inventory and prices. The greeter then introduced me to Veronica Marston & Mais Tarrab who I found to be very pleasant and listened to my needs. Veronica impressed me enough that I decided to mention to her that I may be open to purchasing the actual diamond from them if I felt that they could match or exceed the value on the same or better certified GIA diamond. Veronica was appreciative of the opportunity and introduced me to Joe Novarro G&D s Sr. Diamond Consultant. I consider myself a pretty quick read on people and I quickly became of the opinion that Joe is a straight shooter, and one of the most informed diamond consultants that I have ever had the pleasure of working with (and trust me I ve met a lot ;) Joe broke out many beautiful loose diamonds and we quickly narrowed the options down to a select few that would have worked however I wanted more remember I m all about value and the deal.. Veronica listened and went back to the vault, while I waited Hala Tarrab was working with another customer however she continued to make me feel welcomed and engaged, I also quietly listed to Hala interact with her customer (he was clearly very new to jewelry buying and she helped him with 100% integrity where she could have easily taken advantage.. nice sign to see.. enough said). Veronica returned with a diamond that was the one , it exceeded the diamond that I had on hold online. The price that G&D offered me beat what I was about to pay for an inferior diamond. I was happy to say the least ;) I would highly suggest that you walk in and talk to Joe for any of your diamond needs, heck walk in and talk to Joe even if you don t have diamond needs, he s a great guy that is honest and knows more than the average guy forgets when it comes to diamonds, it s people like Joe that once they re gone we reflect and wish we recognized them sooner and took the opportunity to spend a just a little more time learning from them.
Nicely done Weintraub s