29 replies to this topic

[Adrie V]

My fiance and I were recently shopping for an engagement ring and as luck would have it, I fell in love with the Harry Winston micro pave – cushion cut ring. After talking it over, we decided that for the price HW was offering (and yes, we did negotiate them down 25% off the sticker price), we could be getting a lot better quality of a stone. (Not to discredit the HW diamonds, but the price range given to us didn't compute with the quality color, clarity, cut we could get elsewhere of the same price). So now we knew what setting we wanted and what type of diamond... but where to go?

We had recently moved from Chicago to LA and came across glowing reviews of Mark Broumand on other boards and thought since he was local we'd go and meet with him. He reassured every single concern we had regarding diamond quality (and even found us a diamond with our specs and a GIA cert) and custom made the ring we had dreamed of. (okay, I dreamed of, haha)

I wasn't involved in the negotiation, but my fiance has said multiple times how great Mark was able to work with him and in a pretty quick turn around (long story short, we had a trip planned and Mark was wonderful enough to finish the ring earlier than promised so my Fi could change plans and propose in Rome).

My ring is, simply put- stunning! My father is an avid gemologist who about fell out of his chair when he saw the quality of my stone. I can't say enough glowing reviews about Mark, but if you'd like any more details, feel free to PM me. I'm not a dealer, just a very satisfied customer.

Oh, and here's a video of my ring that he posted that I recently found! (and of course it IS prettier in person!)

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhU0ad1qaM"][/url]

-------------Edit---------------
Side note: I was extremely picky. Mark was even patient enough to help find a diamond with the exact l/w ratio I was looking for. LOL, perhaps I was a little overly certain of what I wanted, but he was great and in the end, I got exactly what I had *hoped* my dream engagement ring would be.

Edited by Adrie V, 23 June 2010 - 10:39 AM.

[MSH]

Matt G., on Monday, May 3 2010, 09:07 PM, said:

I just bought a ring from Mark Broumand in March 2010. It was one of the most satisfying purchases I have ever made. Mark is a real professional and can absolutely be trusted. His coustomer service is unbelievable. We exchanged no less than 20 long emails. I did the transaction through the mail and it went perfect. I had the ring appraised and the appraiser said that I got a good deal. I looked at hundreds maybe even a thousand rings before I bought it and it is hands down the most beautiful ring I found. His hand made craftsmanship is superb. Mark really does seem to be a world class jewelry designer and selling diamonds just goes with that. He is not in this business to move diamonds, but his diamonds are very fairly priced and exactly what he says they are. I got my ring and stone 25% cheaper than anywhere else I found. Bottom line is you can trust him! Ask Mark for my number and you can call me for a reference.

Matt G.

Just to add to this, I also bought from Mark Broumand on-line (after finding him on eBay). He was professional, helpful and for all of my concerns about buying something this expensive on-line (earrings that were in the $20K range), provided value. I had them formally appraised by completely independant GIA trained appraiser, with no knowledge of either what I had paid or the details of EGL certificate, who rated them almost dead on with the certificate ratings. He also said that I had gotten a very nice deal. After a year of researching this purchase, was very pleased and I would be extremely pleased to deal with Mark again.

Mary Susan

[davidelevi]

Mary Susan, I'm very glad that you are happy with your purchase - but two wrongs don't make a right... EGL and the appraiser may both be wrong, both opinions are unfortunately valueless when it comes to trading the diamonds, and incidentally the "almost dead on" between a D-IF and E-VVS1 is worth about 70% of the price of the E-VVS1. I am ready to bet whatever you want that you won't be able to tell them apart once they are set, even with a loupe.

Edited by davidelevi, 23 June 2010 - 11:13 PM.

[denverappraiser]

MSH, on Thursday, Jun 24 2010, 12:45 AM, said:

.... I had them formally appraised by completely independant GIA trained appraiser...

Mary Susan

Hi Mary Susan,

I too am thrilled that it worked out for you but I do want to comment on the above misstatement for the benefit of other readers. GIA doesn’t train appraisers. In fact there isn’t even a single appraisal class offered in their curriculum. What they DO teach is gemology, which is stone identification and grading. No, they are not the same thing. Most jewelry appraisers in the US are GIA graduates and correctly identifying the property is important to appraising but skills at appraising, to the extent that they have them, come from other venues. American Society of Appraisers, International Society of Appraisers, National Association of Jewelry Appraisers and the American Gem Society are some examples of outfits that DO train jewelry appraisers. All offer credentials that can be checked by potential clients. Appraisers can also learn their craft from some non-jewelry trainers like the American Association of Auctioneers and The Appraisal Foundation.

Congratulations again on your purchase.

Neil

Edited by denverappraiser, 24 June 2010 - 02:14 PM.

[secondtimearound]

My fiancee and I found my dream ring on Mark Broumand's website. He was incredibly professional and courteous. Being that the internet is hit or miss on dependability - Mark Broumand made our fears disappear. The ring, the service, and the price were beyond perfect. I could not be happier.

I have since had my ring (re)examined by GIA and the proposed C's were the same as what the reevaluated C's were. No gimmicks here...just a beautiful ring at a beautiful price.

A+ to Mark Broumand and I hope to use you for all my jewelery purchases.

[davidelevi]

The internet is neither "dependable" nor "unreliable" in the meaning that you attribute to it. It is a means to deliver content, and it does that remarkably well and reliably - it was built for reliability in relaying content, in fact. The validity of the content (e.g. advertising for jewellery) is nothing to do with the internet. There's plenty of scammers and bad traders online, and there's plenty of good ones. Same on the streets.

Apart from that, I'd be really interested to know how GIA has "reexamined your ring"... since they don't offer a grading service for stones set into jewellery pieces, and therefore would not "confirm" anything other than the stone is a diamond and that it is colourless, yellow, brown or whatever other basic colour, transparent, translucid or opaque(possibly) - all things that are not a grade. Care to post a photo of your "GIA examination" papers?

Incidentally, EGL does offer a set stone grading service, but even they have to resort to split grades such as "G-H colour" and "VS2-SI1 clarity" because of the uncertainties deriving from examining a stone when set. Given the issues with knowing what EGL means when they grade an unset stone, I'd say it's generally rather useless.

This type of spamming/shilling only makes the store look bad, guys...

Edited by davidelevi, 03 January 2011 - 08:27 AM.

[LaurieH]

Yeah, given the way that all these are worded, it seems like it's been the handful of folks who have said "i'm happy. i'll write a review for you. tell me what to say" or just having folks he knows write them. Esp since most of these folks have not come back to continue participation in this thread and/or share pics of their items (except for the one, but that was from the company's youtube, so that I take with a grain of salt as well.

My ultimate thing with this company is that they keep extolling the virtues of EGL to the exclusion of any acknowledgement that there are any issues with EGL, refusing to fully recognize the high(est) credibility of GIA, and that they also lumped in some other labs IGI and HCS(?), the second of which I have never heard, as all equally credible. It's just not the case. I'm sure your stuff is lovely, and I'm sure you have plenty of happy customers, or you wouldn't still be in business, but you can clearly offer lower prices by offering EGL stones and touting them as just as good as GIA. If they are, then get them GIA certed, too, so your customers know what they are honestly getting for their money. It's a tiny PITA and a little more $ out of pocket, but it'll make you easier to shop online.

Just sayin.

[MarkBroumand]

LaurieH, on 03 January 2011 - 09:36 AM, said:

Yeah, given the way that all these are worded, it seems like it's been the handful of folks who have said "i'm happy. i'll write a review for you. tell me what to say" or just having folks he knows write them. Esp since most of these folks have not come back to continue participation in this thread and/or share pics of their items (except for the one, but that was from the company's youtube, so that I take with a grain of salt as well.

My ultimate thing with this company is that they keep extolling the virtues of EGL to the exclusion of any acknowledgement that there are any issues with EGL, refusing to fully recognize the high(est) credibility of GIA, and that they also lumped in some other labs IGI and HCS(?), the second of which I have never heard, as all equally credible. It's just not the case. I'm sure your stuff is lovely, and I'm sure you have plenty of happy customers, or you wouldn't still be in business, but you can clearly offer lower prices by offering EGL stones and touting them as just as good as GIA. If they are, then get them GIA certed, too, so your customers know what they are honestly getting for their money. It's a tiny PITA and a little more $ out of pocket, but it'll make you easier to shop online.

Just sayin.

Hi Laurie,

Believe me when I say I did not ask any of my clients to write a post about me. My family has been in the business for over 30 years and I have been doing business online now for many years. I have over 1700 clients on eBay alone that have left me positive reviews. I have a great deal of testimonials on my site as well with pictures from clients expressing their happiness. I'm not trying to pat myself on the shoulder here, even though I feel I should once in a while All I'm saying is that not all people/companies/vendors are equal or do business in the same way and you shouldn't disparage a company so easily.

One of the main differences between me and a lot of companies out there is that I personally select, examine, and pay for each and every diamond I put into my inventory. I do not work off of or list diamonds from wholesalers databases or inventory lists like 95% of the online vendors out there. Most of those companies never see the diamond they are selling until it is bought and paid for and they need to ship it out. Each diamond advertised on my site is in stock and was hand selected by me for its overall beauty and quality. I personally will not invest my very own hard earned money in a diamond that is graded at a G that looks like a J. Nor do I expect any one of my clients to do so. I'm not in it just to make a profit. I actually enjoy what I do and I take great pride in it. I want my clients to be 100% satisfied and that is why I always offer a 100% money back guarantee as well - No questions asked!

Given GIA has the strictest standards in the market, companies like EGL, IGI, AGS and HRD (you typed HCS - not sure who that is or where you got it from..) are all great companies and are amongst the largest in the world along with GIA. I sell plenty of GIA Certified Diamonds and I also carry and sell plenty of EGL Certified Diamonds. Every diamond has its own beauty and its own characteristics. That is why I have original pictures and videos of each piece I sell online. I do not use stock photos like a lot of the dealers out there. I hold myself to higher standards as should many of the other vendors online. Unfortunately that is not the case. What can you do... Not everyone has character but character counts! Each client that has purchased from me has spoken to me and/or my team directly to go over any fears or concerns and to make an educated decision. With a purchase as important as an engagement ring we implore all clients to ask and do as much research as possible to make an informed decision. Of course, we are always here to help answer any questions and I personally am involved in every aspect of my business to make sure everything is done to the highest standards. Life is short - lets do it right

Mark Broumand

[nollmarsia]

Hi,

I’m new to this forum. I just recently bought a cushion cut engagement ring from Mark Broumand. I was I bit nervous dealing with an online seller. Especially when this amount of money is involved.

Mark was very patient and helpful through the process. The ring arrived and it was amazing and exactly everything he claimed it to be. I would highly recommend dealing with Mark. Keep up the good work and the beautiful pieces.

CN

[davidelevi]

Congratulations! Would you mind posting a photo (or more than one!)? We love seeing other people's jewellery!