Awesome Testimonial For Our Tiffany Replica Engagement Ring!
Here it is, from our customer in his own words:
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Barry and Judah,
I have attached photos of the ring the day after the proposal. My fiancée ADORES the ring, and couldn't be happier! I am very pleased with the quality of the setting, the stone, and your awesome service. Several times she has been told by friends and family that the ring is one of the most beautiful they have ever seen! We truly couldn't be happier about our engagement or the ring!
We will most certainly be in contact in the future for a wedding band...and I'm sure I will be in touch for anniversaries to come as well!
I have a small request: I was wondering if I could get a detailed appraisal directly from you that better matches what our insurance agent is requesting. In the process of getting the stone insured, we took the diamond to a local jeweler for an appraisal. The total replacement value was $17,785.50 (this included local sales tax)
The problem with the appraisal we have now is the description of the ring. He refused to include any more detail in his description beyond the carat weight, cut, clarity, and dimensions, and that the setting was a platinum, 6 prong solitaire.
In order to ensure that we would be covered for an EXACT replacement in the unfortunate event of loss of theft, my insurance agent would like an appraisal that gives exact detailed descriptions of the stone, proportions, angles, mentions the SuperbCert brand, that it displays a hearts and arrows pattern, specific details (even photos) of the design and your brand of the setting, etc. Otherwise, with the appraisal we have now, the insurance company would just find the least expensive stone and setting they can find that roughly matches the very GENERAL statistics listed in the low detail appraisal.
Is this something that you can assist me with?
Again, thank your for all of your assistance, the awesome ring, and your AMAZING turn time!
In the two years since YouTube hit the airwaves in cyberspace, it has gone from a comical and irrelevant venue for random, offbeat videos, to become a legitimate media source for the latest news and information, often more accurate and insightful than what we get fed by the mass media.
Indeed, You Tube has proven itself to be a formidable and invaluable medium for educating and informing large numbers of people in the most cost effective way.
Finally, it provides a unique way to actually get past the built in formality of engaging readers on the net. Videos provide a unique, informal experience, which in many respects stands head and shoulders above the written word for its appeal and effective means of communication.
I just read an this interesting posting on a jewelry blog, where they point to the fact that police and authorities have recently used the You Tube medium as a platform for appealing to the public to help apprehend suspected jewelry thieves.
At Excel Diamonds we have also launched into the fantastic world of You Tube, with an excellent and growing selection of diamond education videos that we will feature on our website.
These diamond videos and tutorials, are designed to provide the user with a friendly, informal, and unforgettable experience when learning about and browsing loose diamonds and jewelry on our website.
We already have an excellent selection of videos up on the site and look forward to featuring more exciting diamond education videos on a consistent basis.
Feedback thus far has been incredible and we are excited and appreciative for all of the positive support!
About Excel Diamonds
"You don't know how much we know, until you understand how much we care"
My Reservations With The Isee2 Diamonds Technology
Since we are often asked whether we use the Isee2 diamonds technology in tandem with our plethora of scientific info. for our listed diamonds, i'd like to post here with my documented reservations regarding the science behind this machine.
Although the company behind the Isee2 technology is a reputable company manufacturing beautiful ideal cut diamonds, I expressed reservations in that blog on Diamond Vues regarding the ability of the machine itself to be used as an accurate measure of a diamonds brilliancy, given that it was developed for use with this companies own signature diamonds.
I posed some legitimate questions and engaged in a very civil and meaningful discussion with the chief engineer for the Isee2 technology who had much to add and his own perspective to share.
While I am certainly not the final arbiter on the value of a scientific machine, I can only express my own cogent and salient points regarding our position (and that of many others in the industry) and to let the customer reach his/her own conclusion, re: the value of this machines measurement output.
Did you know that at Excel Diamonds, all of our hand made diamond engagement rings are built exactly according to your diamonds specifications and parameters?
There is no "guesstimating" with generic and over sized baskets. Rather, the basket of the engagement ring which holds your center diamond is customized to be an exact fit for your diamond.
In this way, we eliminate the clutter of "too much metal" over the top of your beautiful diamond.
Call us and let us make your dream a reality!
About Excel Diamonds
"You don't know how much we know, until you understand how much we care"
BrillianceScope Machine | Measuring and Evaluating Diamond Beauty
Many consumers are constantly asking us for advice on their prospective diamond purchases.
They list their candidates and provide the diamond's numbers off the Lab reports and in some cases list additonal Cut information derived from
either the Sarin (www.sarin.co) or Megascope (www.ogisystems.com) machine.
For round brilliant diamonds it is easier to advise against purchase
when the numbers clearly indicate an overly shallow or deep stone that will display poor to mediocre light performance.
The difficulty presents when consumers provide "numbers" that look very good and/or ideal. The term "ideal" for the purposes
of this article is used in the context of the Marcel Towlkowsky Ideal-Cut, the "numbers" calculated by Towlkowsky
in the late 1900's to result in a diamond that displays superior light performance.
The Brilliancescope, manufactured by Gemex Systems (www.gemex.com) is an imaging spectrophotometer that measures
how well a diamond refracts and focuses light.
Past all of the numbers, a diamond's beauty is the result of how it returns light to your eye. When a diamond's facets have been cut to the correct size, angle, and aligned correctly, they act as mirrors, refracting light
with great intensity and with an even distribution across
the entire surface of the stone.
This video I just put together briefly explores the history of the princess cut diamond and defines the meaning of an "ideal" princess cut diamond.
We all know by now that the ideal cut round diamonds have become synonymous with finest cut and most brilliant diamonds on the market.
Certainly, this is also true of the AGS (American Gemological Society) graded Ideal cut princess diamonds, which exhibit ideal proportions for polish, symmetry, and light performance.
Watch this video to learn more about the accepted standard for ideal princess cut diamonds today!
Since there are about a million articles in cyberspace on engagement proposal ideas, I thought it would be cool and refreshing if I could put up a post that actually deals with what NOT to do when proposing to your girlfriend....
I absolutely abhor those public proposals where the guy invariably makes an arse of himself and embarrasses the heck out of his gal. Your special moment is supposed to magical, intimate, and unique; something for you to cherish for the rest of your lives. What in the world is magical and unique about proposing in front of 1000 people (who could care less..anyway..) at a local mall?? Classless, tasteless and STUPID.
2. Don't propose on the net
Proposing on the net in front of millions of viewers is IMO, worse than proposing in public! Imagine its got all of the aforementioned problems except you are also doing it naked.. Why? well simply because a. you cannot see or influence the reaction of the viewers..and b. You are leaving your stupidity on the internet where it will remain archived long after you have regretted your childish wisdom...and for your children to see....if you last that long together... (To my friends who proposed on the net...no hard feelings..and of course I don't mean you....o.k.!)
3. Don't propose at a sports event.
50,000 screaming fans. The guy on your left smells like beer or piss? and is screaming about the lack of urinals next to every seat. The gal on your right (your gal) is being given the once over by the guy on her right every 5 seconds and in between his incessant cursing. You can hardly hear yourself think and you're nursing a sick migraine. Your gal, who doesn't know the first thing about sports came along just to be nice...and she is starting to feel nauseous...AND YOU ARE ABOUT TO PROPOSE!!
Sure, you're thinking, this is as good a place as any...she's thinking..this guy is completely clueless.
4. Don't bury the engagement ring in food.
Why in the world do guys think it's cool and appropriate to hide the engagement ring in a creamy dessert?? Are you guys absolutely retarded?? You do want her to burst into tears and scream yes..right? Next, she is supposed to put on the ring and gawk at it right??
WRONG! ...Not when you've tuned this into some kind of ridiculous scavenger hunt, where she's gonna actually scoop the ring out of her chocolate pudding like some kind of clogged poop from a drain...
5. Don't propose after your first date.
You don't visit a gals boudoir after a first date and you don't propose after a first date. I don't need to expound on this now..do I? Proposing too early in a relationship sends the wrong message about you, your intentions, your commitment, and quite frankly your sanity...
They say, timing is everything in life...how true!
6. Don't make it too complicated.
Guys, listen up: there is a difference between creativity and insanity!
If you are trying to figure out whether your horse drawn carriage driven by an extraterrestrial goblin is gonna get you to the port in time for your private rented yacht to catch the right breeze in the middle of the water so that her long hair could fly at the same time you get down on one knee...methinks your setting yourself up for failure!
7. Don't propose in front of her family
Don't do this and proclaim yourself a moron, unless of course, you were really trying to pick up her jealous sister the whole time....
8. Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.
Don't expect her to say yes right away. If you do and she says no, you might misinterpret it as the end of your relationship. It does not have to be. In fact, it could very well be the prelude to a deeper and more meaningful relationship where you learn to understand each others hopes, aspirations and expectations....and yes, she will say yes at a later date (hopefully)...if you play your cards right!
9. Don't be "cheap" but don't break the bank either....
If you have your way, you guys are gonna get married and live a long and happy life together. You have plenty of time to aspire to lavish gifts, nights on the town, and diamond jewelry. If you break the bank for your engagement proposal, you will have nothing to get married with and you have just set a standard and an expectation for the future that you will most certainly not be able to fulfill.
This is one of the biggest mistakes I have seen in my experience as a diamond jeweler and manufacturer.
Customers go crazy with the engagement proposal, buying all kinds of jewelry, rings, necklaces, etc. in addition to a MAJOR diamond engagement ring.
Then she's like wow!!! this guy's got game!!....
Now you've just created a standard that is gonna have you working 5 different jobs..just to maintain..
If she is everything you have always wanted...and if he is everything you have always wanted, you will both understand that love need not be professed from the get go through lavish gifts and crazy amounts of jewelry...
Get your beautiful diamond engagement ring and aspire to big things down the road!!
10. Don't let this Cupid have anything to do with your match, proposal, or marriage!
Selling diamonds and jewelry on the internet as I do, I sometimes forget how important an effective jewelry advertisement is for companies selling diamonds in cyberspace.
It's not just the traditional jewelry stores that need to think about a good jewelry ad for the magazines.
Indeed, our company also does some periodic monthly print media advertising of our signature diamonds and jewelry in some of the popular bridal magazines.
We also create periodic graphics for the internet, to capture a certain season, or to promote a certain product.
Here are a few examples below:
Some of our best "ads" are actual photos of a thrilled customer wearing one of our custom rings, like the SuperbCert Tiffany Solitaire engagement ring replica above.
Let's face it; an effective advertisement is one that is both captivating and memorable, while sending a clear message about the companies products/services.
Here are a few really memorable and effective ads I found on the net!
Barry tagged me asking which magazines I read off line.
Well, ......I read many.
However, there are some that I really read and there are some that I just skim, looking for specific ads., blurbs, articles, and content.
For the purpose of this entry, I won't distinguish which magazines I peruse and which ones I really read and just give you a list of the industry magazines that come across my desk.
I'm also not gonna share with you the family subscriptions/publications we read at home, as it is not relevant to my business life ;-)
Here is the list:
JCK (Jeweler circular keystone) Magazine
In Store trade magazine
Rappaport Diamond Trade magazine.
Modern Jeweler Magazine
Elegant Bride
Modern Bride
Hr Watches
Robb Report
AD
IW Watches
Newsweek
US News
Europastar watch mag.
Fortune
Fortune small business
IDEX
....I'll just paste up a collage...so you can see for yourself!!
Barry's recent question regarding the industry magazines I read, as well as my response, got me thinking about my approach to business and pleasure...
Typically, I do not mix the two.
Although I consider my business of selling fine diamonds and jewelry on the internet, quite a pleasure, in that I derive joy from the happiness of my customers, it is nevertheless still a business.
Pleasure to me, is spending quality time with my family and the overall pursuit of my singular and familial goals, objectives, and aspirations. Making an honest living is simply a "means to and end", or a way of achieving these goals.
It is for this reason, that I try really hard not to take my work home with me at the end of a work day.
We work extremely hard at our family owned (and operated) diamond and jewelry company.
It is not unusual and quite typical for us to put in 11 hour work days, not including internet communication and correspondence at night which my Dad (View image) has been known to answer at all hours of the night.
For this reason, I have tried to make a boundary between my work life and personal life.
For example; I try not to bring home any industry magazines to read at home. We have family subscriptions at home and that is what we read.
Now here is the kicker...many of you who know me and my work ethic will be surprised to hear that I do not own a computer in my house (currently).
Yup! You got that right!
I do not have a computer at home...cuz' if I did, I would be on the Internet all evening from home answering the boat load of e-mails we get to Excel Diamonds, processing orders that came in during the day and BLOGGING!
Therefore, when I leave the office....I leave the office.
No virtual working from home (for the moment.....not sure how long it's gonna last..but we have already surprised ourselves..!).
As an aside, we do not have a television, cable, DVD, or Nintendo..etc. in our home.
No, we are not backwards people living in the stone age...simply a family that wishes to keep the ills, perversions, and every conceivable cancer within our society and culture from permeating our home.
Our Unique Engagement Ring With Photos To Salivate Over!
Here is a photo collage of one of our most beautiful solitaire engagement rings!
This is a completely custom, hand made piece of exceptional quality and craftsmanship! The ring is done up in pure platinum (heavyweight) and is sure to be an awesome complement to the beauty of your diamond!
We all know how effective the DeBeers marketing campaign has been to create an aura of magic around a loose diamond and specifically a diamond engagement ring as a symbol of love and commitment.
Indeed, the sentence "A Diamond Is Forever". has inspired millions of people worldwide to give their loved one a diamond engagement ring as a token of their love.
However, what if a diamond isn't forever?
I mean, what if you get engaged to the girl/guy of your dreams and it turns out that your union doesn't last? G-d knows this happens all of the time.
A funny spoof on the Debeers "a diamond is forever" marketing campaign.
In these instances, what happens to the engagement ring?
A friend of mine called me this morning with an interesting business idea called "Leasing Diamonds".
His idea was not very different from the concept of leasing a car, just with diamonds.
He proposed that our company offer a leasing program for loose diamonds where a customer would actually be able to lease a diamond for a pre-determined period of time, without having to actually buy the diamond outright.
Although, he mentioned many variables, the long and short of it was that we would benefit from being able to retain ownership of the diamond at the end of the lease, after which we could certainly re-evaluate the diamond and possibly re-cut and re-certify the diamond before placing it up for sale.
The customer would benefit, since they would not have to buy the diamond outright and would actually pay very low monthly premiums for the diamond in their possession. In this way, if, heaven forbid, their marriage went belly-up, they would not get stuck with an expensive diamond they could not possibly use again (for any number of reasons...including bad luck..).
My initial reaction was that this is a cool and novel concept. However, upon further contemplation I decided it was a bad idea; simply too convoluted.
For starters, there are already several options for consumers in place by different diamond and jewelry websites and companies that would protect a customer from "getting stuck" with a diamond, or from having to pay for it entirely up-front.
Some companies offer a "buy-back" policy on diamonds as well as a "financing option" that makes much more sense than a "leasing option".
There are also a number of other factors which I won't get into, that prevent this concept from being anything more than a "cool idea".
Kudos to my friend though for the thought!
Leasing a loose diamond is certainly a very cool and novel idea!
Awesome Testimonial For Our Tiffany Engagement Rings!
Here it is...in the customers own words...received today with an actual photograph!!
Testimonial:
When I began looking for a 6 prong Tiffany Setting engagement ring but not wanting to pay the ridiculous Tiffany price I could not find a true replica of the ring. Every local jeweler I visited showed me their “replica” but it was never even close to the quality and beauty of the Tiffany ring. Thankfully, I found Excel Diamonds online. Their website and pictures gave me complete confidence that they actually understood what a true Tiffany engagement ring looks like. I narrowed my search down to 6 diamonds from the excel website. Barry, the owner, immediately called me and said he would have the diamonds in his office the next day for him to examine. After he reviewed the diamonds he said he could only recommend one of the six for purchase. This personal examination would never have happened at other online diamond stores. He immediately sent me the Certification Report, 10x photos and brilliance scope photo for me to see for myself. He was right, it was gorgeous and the price was unbelievable compared to other diamonds I’ve seen. I found Excel Diamonds very late and my proposal was already planned for the next week. Barry was gracious enough to put his full effort into getting me this ring built and overnighted at my proposal destination in Colorado. The ring arrived earlier than expected and it was more beautiful than I imagined. My fiancé was speechless at the beauty and everyone who sees it says it’s the most beautiful ring they have ever seen. It really is that gorgeous. The professionalism, service, quality and price at Excel Diamonds exceeded all my expectations. Thank you Barry!
Bling My Thing is a German company that lets you deck your stuff in crystal, Swarovski crystal to be exact!
Last year, this company based in Berlin blinged out over 10,000 cell phones.!
Check out the custom dashboard they made for a Cadillac XLR with 20,000 Swarovski crystals.
Bling My Thing is exploding with popularity no small thanks to Hollywood bigwigs like Paris Hilton, Bruce Willis and Pink who haved 'iced out' their cell phones.
The bottom line is that anything and everything can be "blinged out"; including cell phones, PDA's, sneakers, cigars, pens, baby bottles, false teeth (you read right..;-), IPOD's, logos, money clips, eyeglasses etc.
For the right price, they can even bling out your gal!
At Excel Diamonds, we are always looking to push the envelope and provide our customers with the most comprehensive selection of photos and scientific data on the diamonds or engagement rings they are contemplating.
Now you can add live You Tube videos to the package!
Our company firmly believes in the constant evolution of the diamond marketplace.
Consumers like yourselves, are becoming more and more savvy and are demanding all the data available for a loose diamond or diamond engagement ring.
No longer can we sell diamonds by saying "this is the best thing since sliced bread" without providing any substance to back up the rhetoric.
Consumers are saying PROVE IT!
Using the interactive medium of streaming and live video, is yet an additional and powerful way for us to showcase the beauty of our loose diamonds and jewelry products!
We are very excited about this!
In the coming days and weeks, we will be uploading videos (hopefully) to most, if not all of our product pages.
This will be in addition to the growing number of diamond video tutorials we have been placing up on our website.
Here are two sample videos of our engagement rings for you to view.
