Leon Zoland & Son

To any guy shopping for an engagement ring-

If you’re like me you’ve made the rounds to your local jewelry stores, hit the places in the malls, and perhaps even looked around on-line. And the more you shop, the more confused and overwhelmed you become. You’re asking yourself, "Cut? Clarity? Color? Carat? Certification? What do I really need?"

I live in SC, but was visiting New York City for a weekend. I decided to make my way to the diamond district. I stopped at dozens of places, the majority of which were exactly how you would picture it, sketchy salesman speaking broken English trying to lure you into their jam packed store front. Upon entering you’re often distracted by an attractive women who will model different rings for you and tell you how she only wishes someone would buy something so beautiful for her. Then you all but have to walk out the door to get the "final final" best deal, which they’ll claim is "only for you."

Then I came across Zoland's. Here I met with Rob Zoland who, for the first time, made this purchasing process enjoyable. He asked me the right questions to understand what I was looking for, had the stones in his store for me to see, and took all the time I wanted to ensure I was comfortable with the purchase. He explained what aspects of the stone were important and which were not as crucial. And when he gave a price, the first price was the final price. There’s no haggling, or "special deals only for you."

I purchased the diamond from Rob that day and then worked with Rob’s designer to create a custom setting. I highly recommend going with a custom setting, as it will be the only ring of its kind in the world.

Rob’s designer created a wax model by hand, to capture exactly what I was looking for. Best part was, living in SC, we did this all over the phone and email. A few weeks later, the setting was complete, the stone was set, and I flew to New York to pick up the ring.

Guys, take my advice: stay away from the mall stores, the prices are outrageous, and the quality is sub par. And often times they don’t have a variety of stones in stock to choose from. The online stores are great sources for information, and cheaper than the brick-and-mortar stores.

However, the beauty of a diamond is very much in the beholder. Diamond grading and appearance is very, very subjective. The different certifications (GIA, AGS, etc) try to minimize the subjectivity, but there’s still nothing like viewing and holding the diamond in person.

While the on-line stores prices are less than the brick-and-mortar mall stores, they are still not as low as the wholesale stores in the diamond district. And when you get to the diamond district, walk straight past the guys in the street with the funny hats trying to lure you into their store. Head to Zoland’s, ask for Rob, and enjoy the diamond shopping experience.

You’ll get more for your money and have the peace of mind of knowing that Zoland’s has been around for 80 years. I live a plane ride away from NY, and it was still worth the trip with the amount of money I saved. I’ll be using that savings to pay for a kick-ass honeymoon. Oh, and my fiancé absolutely loves the ring!! I’ll be visiting Zoland’s again soon to shop for our wedding bands.

Dan (Greenville, SC)