The Diamond Shopper

I bought my fiancés engagement ring from The Diamond Shopper — Aaron Kelman last July, just wanted to share the experience for others. When I started shopping for engagement rings I did the usual brick and mortar experience: Peoples, Tiffany’s, Birks and some local options in Calgary: Troy Shoppe Jeweler, Alberta Diamond Exchange and Calgary Jewelry. Overall my store experiences were mediocre at best. I will say the Heart’s On Fire rings I saw are extremely nice and no doubt ideally cut, but as is with Tiffany and Birks you’re paying for a branded name — drink the Kool-​aid if you want, for some people Brand is important — I get it.
So after failing miserably in the stores I turned to online, here I found tons of options, including the usual suspects well known to deliver good products: Blue Nile, James Allen, WhiteFlash, Good Old Gold, Brian Gavin, Brilliant Earth, Crafted By Infinity and more. With exception of Brilliant Earth it’s pretty easy to find Quality and Service from any of these sites, price varies as Ideally Cut diamonds do carry a premium but you will get what you pay for. One big factor as well was exchange rate, working with American companies you’re looking typically look at quite the premium with current rates and margins — just not an ideal time to buying diamonds in USD unfortunately.
So with all these good online options you may be wondering why I chose to go with The Diamond Shopper, exchange rate did play a small part but the real reason was because I was looking for an ideally cut Canadian Sourced Diamond. If you’ve tried finding one like I have, you’d know this is no easy task. The reason I wanted a Canadian Diamond was this was preferable for my girlfriend for sentimentality and identification reasons. From all the options I had available only 3 had a good selection of Canadian Diamonds — The Diamond Buyer beat them all on price point and service.
After much thought I chose the GIA XXX 1.07 H VS2 from the 5 he listed w/​CanadaMark Card to verify traceability. To bring the diamond in I put down a refundable 10% deposit, basically if I didn’t like the diamond he’d refund the deposit and I would have to pay to ship it back ~$ 30. Better policy than one of Calgary’s local retailers which was pay 100% upfront and if you don’t like it — too bad. Upon bringing it in Aaron would do a full analysis (in the form of a video) including ASET, IDEAL, H&A, Ray Trace, Color Comparison, Clarity and Fire & Scintillation rotational views. If these weren’t to my standards I would be refunded. Luckily they were definitely to my standards and I kept the Diamond. My search is over!
For the setting I went with The Diamond Shopper as well. I wanted a French Pave setting similar to «Enrichment» by HOF without the ridiculous price tag. Despite going the custom route it was significantly cheaper than other options to even get the setting in Platinum and w/​H&A Mêlée Diamonds! I told Aaron what I wanted and gave him example pictures to aide in design, he provided me with a Computer-​aided Design to approve and had the wax mold made. This checked out and the ring was cast and the diamonds set, he even threw in an extra mêlée diamond w/​the mail package, JUST IN CASE! After the ring was set he prepared another video for me to see the finished product for my review. It was perfect.
For the setting I went with The Diamond Shopper as well. I wanted a French Pave setting similar to «Enrichment» by HOF without the ridiculous price tag. Despite going the custom route it was significantly cheaper than other options to even get the setting in Platinum and w/​H&A Mêlée Diamonds! I told Aaron what I wanted and gave him example pictures to aide in design, he provided me with a Computer-​aided Design to approve and had the wax mold made. This checked out and the ring was cast and the diamonds set, he even threw in an extra mêlée diamond w/​the mail package, JUST IN CASE! After the ring was set he prepared another video for me to see the finished product for my review. It was perfect.
Aaron was extremely helpful through the whole process, even when I was just someone asking questions with limited intention to buy. As an expert he has a wealth of knowledge and is honest at all times. He is not a pushy sales person and genuinely cares about delivering what you ask for. Aaron was always quick with replies and very flexible in working through e-​mail. I was updated throughout the whole process, quotes were always reasonable and accurate. Timeframes were quick all things considered, especially with a custom setting. The package delivered was very professional, next day air mail insured w/​tracking number. GIA Certificate, Appraisal, CanadaMark Card and a nice ring box. The Ring itself was exactly what I asked for, spot on and couldn’t be better. I finished within budget and very happy customer with no buyer’s remorse! I would definitely recommend Aaron Kelman — The Diamond Shopper.