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| HOME : FORUM : COMMUNITY : Testimonials : Excel Diamonds has a customer for life! |
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Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#1 @
01-30-07
, 11:46 AM
Having been ripped off in the past by a Portland, OR-based internet jeweler, I was skeptical about buying a substantial piece of jewelry online again. Let’s face it, wiring thousands of dollars to someone you don’t know for something you haven’t seen in person can be a leap of faith, add the fact that you’ve been burned once before, and it’s even more stressful! I was looking for a shared prong eternity band, wasn’t sure of carat weight, but I wanted something blindingly substantial. I’m wise to the 200% - 300% mark-up scams and hard-sell tactics of bricks and mortar jewelers, so buying locally wasn’t an option. What to do, what to do? I contacted 3 internet-based jewelers about this piece and based on my gut feeling, one stood out from the rest…it was Judah at Excel Diamonds. In my early communication, I mentioned wanting 5 carats, but Judah advised me to go with 4 saying, “the price differential would be significant and the ring would not look better, IMO…I’d love to take your monies on a bigger and more expensive ring, but not at the expense of my integrity and honesty.” Wow! There’s something different for you  I’d initially contacted Barry and Judah in early December and despite being right in the middle of the holiday rush, Judah always responded to my emails within an hour or two. When he hadn’t heard from me in a couple of weeks, he sent an email to find out if I was still shopping for a ring. It was great that he cared enough about my business to follow-up. During those weeks, I was shopping locally to get a feel for carat weight, color and clarity. Similar rings were only available at high-end stores, and the color and clarity was inferior to what Judah was offering for about 1/3 the price of what the local stores were asking, and they wouldn’t even talk “cut” with me saying that it didn’t matter in an eternity band. Really??? I finally placed my order about a month after my first contact with Excel, Judah really earned it! He spent a lot of time with me in the month leading up to my purchase. He never dismissed me as a “browser”. He promptly and patiently answered every question I had (including the stupid ones), even before I’d committed to placing an order. Once ordered, Judah said it would be about 3 weeks before they could deliver the ring. 3 weeks is an eternity when you’re waiting for a 4 carat sparkly, so I followed up with him early in the second week and he told me the wait was still as expected, but 2 days later on my way home from work, I got the call that my ring was ready and would be overnighted! Now, the moment of truth… Judah delivered exactly what he’d promised! A substantial ring, 16 quarter carat stones, white and full of fire, set in a nice heavy platinum setting. It’s even nicer than the two I saw locally for 3 times the price, and people (including me) constantly stare at it! I was having some other pieces repaired by a local high-end jeweler, and the saleswoman wanted to know where I got the ring, and called her coworker over to ogle it. Yes, it’s THAT stunning! Excel diamonds has a customer for life! This is the first that a piece of jewelry has exceeded my expectations, I’m tough to please, but I couldn’t be happier, and I will be back for more! I still need to have my ring appraised, and will post an update (and some hand photos) once that’s in, but my guy is booked for a while and I wanted to get this testimonial up ASAP because the guys at Excel really deserve it! Now, the eye candy…      |
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#2 @
01-31-07
, 11:26 AM
MissS. Thanks so much for this amazing testimonial! I really, really appreciate the effort and would like you to know how much of a pleasure it was to work with you on this ring. You are savvy and knew exactly what you wanted. You were not keen on compromising the cut quality of the diamonds and understood that you could get something better at a great value. Indeed, the pleasure was all mine and we will be here for you at anytime for anything at all. Thank again. Kind Regards, Judah Quote:
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Last edited by JudahSuperbCert : 01-31-07 at 11:27 AM.
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#3 @
01-31-07
, 11:32 AM
Great Testimonial! That is awesome Judah! It's stunning! Can't wait for you to post hand shots!~Ronda |
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#4 @
01-31-07
, 01:55 PM
WOW -- pictures and words tell the story! Beautiful ring, and great testimonial. Congratulations, Titania |
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#5 @
02-01-07
, 02:13 AM
Gosh that is just beautiful!!! It's great to hear these testimonials and I'm so happy that things went smoothly! LOVE your band!!!!!!!! If you get a chance, post hand shots Congrats! And as always, great work Excel!!!
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#6 @
02-01-07
, 02:42 AM
That is stunning...stunning...gre at work excel
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#7 @
02-06-07
, 06:33 PM
Wow, great testimonial!! The ring is just gorgeous. I'm hoping we will be able to see some hand shots soon, please! |
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#8 @
02-06-07
, 08:12 PM
Ohhh....very nice eternity ring there - wowza!! Hand shots are a must!! Well done Excel - so lovely to have such great feedback. |
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The appraisal is in!
Post#9 @
02-17-07
, 11:12 AM
OK, the appraisal is in and it's not as good as I was hoping. Color came in at G/H, clarity at SI1, and cut "good". According to Excel, I was getting F/VS/Ideal. I was in a quandry as to whether or not to post this follow-up because I had a great experience with Judah, and don't believe that he is dishonest. Do I wish it checked out to Excel's specs? Absolutely! That being said, I know I wasn't buying certified, and the ring was appraised at slightly more than I paid. It's still a gorgous ring at a great price, and I'm still quite smitten with it. I'm out of the country at the moment and plan to get a second opinion once I'm home, but I've used this appraiser in the past and found him to be quite accurate when comparing his appraisals to my GIA certs on other pieces. As promised, here are the hand shots:     |
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Last edited by MissS : 02-17-07 at 11:18 AM. Reason: Edited to fix photo links.
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#10 @
02-25-07
, 05:28 PM
MissS, I'm sorry your new ring did not appraise at what you were told it was. Can we ask about specifics of the appraisal? Was it an independant certified appraiser? Or one who works in a jewelry store? Was it a company like EGL, or was it an individual? Did you get a written appraisal? And what fee did they charge you (if any)? |
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#11 @
02-25-07
, 07:48 PM
Quote:
Thank you, so am I. I've been using the same appraiser for about 7 years. He's a Graduate Gemologist, and a fulltime independent, accredited ASA appraiser not affiliated with a jewelry store (I know better). I paid $125 for a written appraisal (otherwise what's the point?). He's evaluated several GIA certified stones for me over the years and has come in accurately every time without seeing the certificates, so I have no reason to doubt his assessment, but I will get a second opinion to satisfy my own curiousity. |
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Last edited by MissS : 02-25-07 at 07:48 PM.
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Re: The appraisal is in!
Post#12 @
02-25-07
, 07:50 PM
Dear MissS, I'm sorry the appraised specifications weren't what you expected, even though the appraised value was in line with your price. Please remember that when your ring was made, the diamonds weren't set and could be more closely examined. Once they are set, it is much harder to evaluate color or clarity (this is why GIA doesn't grade set diamonds). On a more positive note, your ring is FANTASTIC! Wow! Completely droolworthy! Enjoy it, and wear it in good health! |
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Re: The appraisal is in
Post#13 @
03-01-07
, 01:46 PM
MissS, I respect and appreciate your choice to post a subsequent follow up to your initial and glowing testimonial here. Certainly, I was similarly surprised by your appraisal as I indicated to you several times privately. Based upon your update here on DT, I feel it is important for me to respond and briefly address publicly a bit of our lengthy private correspondence. I'd like to address your appraisal and comments with the following observations: We are an extremely reputable company with thousands of satisfied customers to our credit, including yourself. The fact is, we sold you a fantastic product, which was correctly advertised, at about half the price it would have cost you in a traditional brick and mortar store. We initially discussed (and you mentioned earlier on this thread..) that you purchased a piece of diamond jewelry with many set stones that were not individually and independently certified by a grading lab. These diamonds are simply too small and it is cost prohibitive to purchase a ring (or any jewelry item) with many set diamonds, all of which have been independently graded, since you would have paid a small fortune just for the grading reports before you even started paying for the stones. Additionally, every single diamond would have its own nuanced characteristics and commensurate report and you would have no way of knowing which report corresponded to which diamond... For these reasons, very seldom, if ever, will you find a piece of set diamond jewelry (many small diamonds) with individual grading reports for each stone. Instead, companies will have an in-house graduate gemologist grade each diamond in its LOOSE CONDITION (this is also very important as I will mention in a moment..), for things like size, color, clarity, and quality. This is exactly what we did for your eternity diamond ring. We only use top quality diamonds for our custom jewelry items. Our gemmologist graded these diamonds to the best of his ability and comprehensive knowledge. While something like a diamonds carat weight is an exact science (put the stone on a diamond scale and you get 1 result for carat weight every single time..), color and clarity is NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE. It is in fact, by definition, something which is subjectively graded by each individual gemologist and based upon his credentials, standards, training, eyesight, subjectivity, lighting environment, and a whole slew of other factors, INCLUDING WHETHER OR NOT HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW THE DIAMONDS IN THEIR LOOSE (UNMOUNTED) OR SET STATE. This is so subjective in fact, that many times the very same (competent) GIA grader will receive for re-certification, a diamond HE HIMSELF originally certified with 1 color/clarity grade designation and he will give the same stone a different (new) color/clarity grade. Same guy. Same diamond. Different grade. Having said all of this, here are a few salient points for your (and everyone's) consideration: 1. We firmly stand behind our Gemologists color/clarity/quality assesment of your diamond ring. 2. We recognize (and ask that you do too...) that our gemologist had the luxury and benefit of grading these diamonds loose, which is the most effective way to grade for color/clarity, since the metal of the jewelry piece will always "draw color" into the mounted diamonds. 3. This diamond ring was not advertised as being sold with 22 independently certified diamonds, from a lab like GIA/AGS. It was however graded by a COMPETENT graduate gemologist who graded the stones to the best of his ability. 4. You received an addmittedly GORGEOUS DIAMOND RING at an incredibly low price and value that would shock anybody, which is why I asked that you not disclose it. 5. Even your appraiser who IMO was waaaay to conservative with his assesment of color/clarity/quality/ and yes....even price value....placed a value on your eternity ring AT $300 ABOVE YOUR OWN COST. So do I feel bad for how your appraisal turned out? Of course I do. We'd like nothing more than for you to be as thrilled today as you were on the day you opened your package. Our commitment is for your full satisfaction and indeed, our thousands of testimonials in cyberspace, speak to this fact. If you canvassed 100 appraisers on this ring, you might very well get 100 different answers based upon all of the unique and often subjective variables enumerated above. I only ask that you consider: The fact that you are thrilled with this gorgeous ring. The fact that the diamonds are incredibly white and sparkly by your very own admission. The fact that you got an incredible product and value BY ANYONE'S ESTIMATION. The fact that we are an extremely reputable and HONEST company, with a well earned reputation on the Internet for the quality of our products, our prices, and customer service. Indeed, this is why you chose to do business with us in the first place and your heartfelt testimonial speaks to this fact. Kind Regards, Judah Gutwein www.exceldiamonds.com |
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Last edited by JudahSuperbCert : 03-01-07 at 01:53 PM.
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#14 @
03-01-07
, 04:51 PM
oops, meant to say..  BRAVO to Judah for a very nicely done explanation and comments.
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Re: The appraisal is in
Post#15 @
03-03-07
, 05:55 PM
...and that folks is why I like this site...accountability and earnestness! Well said Judah--all the best! |
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#16 @
03-06-07
, 12:09 PM
I agree with everything Judah has said. I only posted the follow-up because I said I would, and I'm a woman of my word. I also want to make it perfectly clear that I stand by my initial testimonial. I got a fabulous deal on this ring and I'm not one bit disappointed in the ring. It's stunning and attracts compliments wherever I go. For me, jewelry's main purpose is to be beautiful and this ring absolutely fulfills that purpose! |
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Last edited by MissS : 03-06-07 at 12:11 PM.
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#17 @
03-06-07
, 12:16 PM
HooooRah!!! it really is a lovely ring!! Wear it in good health and happiness!! |
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Post#18 @
03-06-07
, 01:25 PM
Sorry to hear that you had a previously unpleasant experience with internet shopping and I'm glad that you found Barry and Judah at Excel. In my experience, appraisers and jewelers alike have tried to burst my bubble of how excited I was to have a quality diamond. I would take your appraisal simply for insurance purposes and have peace of mind that your eyes and heart know that it is a high quality piece. I just LOVE your ring. It looks perfectly made for your finger. Enjoy it and wear it in good health!
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Re: Excel Diamonds has a customer for life!
Quote:
MissS--I understand perfectly how you felt during this whole process--it's not easy to trust someone after being burnt so badly. I was burnt big time with a diamond purchase before this and it took me a long time to trust a jeweler again (18 years). When I finally did jump back into the market--I found myself going down that same road. Luckily, I stumbled onto this site and read a lot of testimonials before asking questions about my purchase. Long story short, Jan (DBOF)--straightened me out--I was able to return my purchase and all ended well. When I got into another diamond, I started questioning Jan a million times. I secretly felt badly afterwards--I was such a skeptic and tried hard to hide it but I realized that I had to give this trust thing one more try. After all, she was always so patient with me. She never felt threatened by my questions and never pushed me into something I wasn't completely comfortable with. The unfortunate part here is that the person who comes afterwards always has to work 110% to regain your trust. Heaven help that person if there is one "thing" that happens to be a bit of a grey area...imagine having to make up for the lost trust thing from the previous jerk. It must be exhausting...kinda like breaking up with someone for cheating--you're always thinking that anyone who comes afterward is also a cheat! Really s**ks to be that person  BTW--that's one great ring you have--not to mention a respected jeweler who won't steer you wrong--now that's priceless!! Wear it in good health MissS. |
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