Loose Cushion Cut 0.91 Carat D Color SI2 Clarity diamond

July 17, 2006

Originally posted on Diamond talk.com and can be found here: http://www.diamondtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71507

Greetings everyone! The following is my long-overdue testimonial for Excel Diamonds, as well as details of the subsequent proposal. If you want the short version, allow me to recommend Excel Diamonds without hesitation! For the rest of you, enjoy the read.
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Finding a Vendor

I found DiamondTalk back in April when I decided that it was time to propose to my girlfriend of 3 years. As everyone around here knows, the road to enlightenment is a long one - especially when it comes to unraveling the mysteries of the diamond. Knowing this, I sought a place where I could increase my knowledge and become an informed consumer. A single web search led me to DiamondTalk and it's great community. Suffice to say, it quickly took over my web surfing free time.

Up until this time, I had always envisioned my engagement ring shopping to some day consist of me going to a local jeweler and then subsequently getting screwed over by an overly-aggressive salesperson. But being the 25-year-old techie that I am, I was determined not allow this to happen. Enter Excel Diamonds. Through my obsessive readings of the forums, several vendors caught my immediate attention in a very positive way. It was the overall passion and attention to detail that Barry and Judah showed though that practically made me WANT to give them my money.

Working with Excel Diamonds

Taking a deep breath, I preceded to write Excel Diamonds an organized email with questions and a list of things I was considering in an engagement ring and stone. Within moments of sending my email, Barry replied back explaining that he was out of the shop, but his son Judah would be getting back to me later that afternoon. A couple of hours later, I had a detailed response from Judah. And thus begun our 90-email exchange.

This, my friends, is where Excel Diamonds truly sold me. Judah was so responsive and polite through all of my roughly 45 emails of questions and concerns, that I could only sit there and wonder why all shopping couldn't be this easy. He not only helped in deciding a budget, diamond, and ring, but he did it while trying to teach me a thing or two. I'd never had a salesperson telling me why I may or MAY NOT want this or that - it was completely refreshing. Judah also maintained a positive attitude that never became pushy.

In the end, I happily purchased a beautiful 18K white gold X-prong Vatche filigree engagement ring with a .55 carat Superbcert diamond (VVS2, G). I also got the matching wedding band, which will look incredible on my fiance's hand. The prices were more than fair and I feel that I got my money's worth, and then some.

So would I recommend Excel Diamonds? Without a doubt! I think you'll find it to be one of the best shopping experiences on the net, period. I'd also like to say thanks to Barry and Judah. The rings are so beautiful and we both adore them!

If anyone is interested in the actual proposal, feel free to continue reading...

The Proposal

My rings arrived at a UPS holding station about 3.5 weeks after ordering (they had to be made by Vatche). I was extremely excited and nervous during this time. The contradictory emotions were like a constantly churning internal storm for me. It was fun though knowing that hiding in my safe was a piece of the future...and my girlfriend knew nothing about it. It's kind of like having the biggest secret in the world that you are just dying to tell your partner, but can't. How can that be fun? If you've never proposed, just trust me on this one.

For the proposal, I had decided on a romantic picnic at a place called Crystal Lake - a little-known park a few miles south of my town. I have many wonderful childhood memories from when my family would picnic there; so it's a place with a bit of a special meaning for me. The date I chose was June 10th. One of the bad things about being in Nebraska is that the weather here is completely schizo. The forecast can literally be 0% chance of rain for the day in the morning, and then by noon have a 90% chance of storms. From Monday through Saturday (the 10th), I watched in horror and utter fascination as the daily rain prediction bounced around from 20% to 30% to 20% to 45% on Saturday morning. Though a pessimistic person by nature, I tried to stay positive and refused to admit defeat.

I spent the night before and the morning of the 10th preparing the food for the picnic. The menu consisted of pesto sun-dried tomato chicken spread (on pita bread or sun dried tomato wraps), a delicious Italian salad, fruit salad, chips, and beverages. I really wanted food to be a big part of the engagement because that's something both of us enjoy (me cooking, and her eating what I cook).

Saturday morning was a complete blur to me: I had to finish cooking; get everything in order; get cleaned up; and pick up flowers, a state park permit, and desert. All of this by noon and all the while me praying to God to hold back on the rain.

Finally, as we departed for the lake at 11:30 am, the clouds started to break up. Twenty minutes later as we staked out our spot amongst the trees it turned into a beautiful day before my eyes. There were nice puffy clouds, a brilliant blue sky, plenty of sun, no wind, and best of all it was pleasantly cool! The day I had been stressing about turned out to be the most perfect weather I could have hoped for. There was also a peaceful silence that only the birds seemed to fill with their songs. There were maybe 3 other vehicles at the park and the people seemed to be fishing off in the distance.

So I spread out a blanket among the trees and we brought the picnic basket and cooler and proceeded to eat a great (if I do say so myself) lunch! The conversation was lovely and the company even better. Toward the end of the meal, my nerves started to hit me. This was it...

I told her that I needed to get desert from the car. Well I brought back a paper sack that contained desert, flowers, and a letter I had written her. I won't go into too much detail here (pretty personal), but the letter was one written from the future to the girl of today. At one point in the letter I tell her that I was about to ask her something very important. At this point, I got down on my knee and asked her. There were tears of joy and she said "yes".

I couldn't have pictured a more perfect moment in time.
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And there you have it. I am excited for the wedding, which will likely be in February. Hope you enjoyed the read!

Jason

Submitted By Excel Diamonds Excels!! - 07/17/2006

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