Anthony contacted us in October. He had been shopping at several internet companies and wanted to come in and meet with Brian and look at several Brian Gavin Signature Hearts and Arrows diamonds in the 0.80 – 1.00 carat range. After a couple of visits he selected a beautiful 0.918 H VS2 Brian Gavin Signature H & A. We then started discussing the setting and he wanted to know if we could custom make a diamond wedding set comprising a cathedral style fishtail pave setting with the Truth head and a matching fishtail pave band using our Brian Gavin Signature Melee. He e-mailed us the specs and some inspiration pictures and we set to work to create the CAD. Once he had approved the CAD, we cast the setting in 18K White Gold and set the F/G VS Brian Gavin Signature Melee. We set one "surprise" diamond and one "surprise" sapphire on the inside of the engagement ring shank. A few days after he had received the rings, his fiancee Erika e-mailed us this wonderful testimonial:

Hi Lesley,

This past Saturday on Dec 17th, Anthony asked me what I wanted to do during the day. I noticed that he was looking at his phone for the weather updated and said, "Oh good, it's sunny." I told him I wanted to go to the museum. He was opposed to that. So I thought of another idea-the Houston Zoo, which was one of our most fun dates ever since we've been dating. His reply was, "Actually I was thinking about that too." Sometimes I like to get all made up on the weekends. I curl my hair and/or wear my "weekend" outfits. As I was curling my hair, I heard Anthony shuffling in his study closet and I was a little suspicious that he was messing with the engagement ring. It was a beautiful and fun day at the zoo. I had the best time there. After a while, Anthony asked me what I wanted for dinner. I told him I wanted some hot pot, which would require us to go to Chinatown. He was not up for it. He asked me if I wanted Italian food. I was neutral about it at the time until I was starving a few hours later and didn't care where we were going. While he was driving, I asked him where we were going to eat. He played dumb and said, "I don't know where we are going?" I replied, "TELL ME!" He again said, "I don't know where we are going?" As he turned onto Ella Blvd., I knew right away where we were eating. He was taking me to our first date restaurant called Cavatore. As we walked into the restaurant, he asked the owner if we could sit by the live music. There was a live duet playing that night-a guitarist and singer who were a couple. Since it's around Christmas time, they sung Christmas songs. Throughout our delicious Italian dinner, I noticed that Anthony had his "thinking face" on. I asked him a few times if everything was okay. He just gave me a short, "yeah" reply each time.

After dinner was over, I had to run to the restroom before we left. I came back and Silent Night was being sung live. As I sat down, Anthony looked at me deeply into my eyes and said, "It's a silent night, isn't it?" I looked at him funny and said, "Yeah…sure is…" As he reached out for his glass of water, I then reached out for mine and noticed that the engagement ring was sitting right on top of an ice cube. I was shocked and said, "OH MY GOD!" I looked at him and he got down on his knees and proposed.  He made me cry. It was a very emotional moment. After I said yes to him I had to remind him that he had to put the ring on my finger (it was still in the glass after all this time). The live singer came up to us and told us that nobody has ever proposed while she was singing and congratulated us. Shortly after, the owner of the restaurant came up to us and congratulated us. He surprised us with some champagne on the house. We both told him we didn't think anyone noticed the proposal, but he claimed that everyone in the restaurant did. After dinner, we called it a night and left the restaurant as a newly engaged and very happy couple. =) Erika O.

© 2012, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

VIDEO

A Gallery of Some of Brian Gavin's Jewelry Highlights…

© 2012, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

We met Brian and Lesley in 2009 and they created what can only be described as a “dream pair” of matching engagement and wedding bands – http://bit.ly/ydfDTp . Stephanie is originally from Texas and so when it came time this year to counter-balance those with a little “fun” stone that is the official gemstone of Texas, well, we knew there was only one couple that we could fully entrust with the job. I can only say that Brian and Lesley not only came up with an amazing looking ring but also one that it is also eminently comfortable and wearable on a daily basis just like their original engagement and wedding band duet. The only remaining question is what color gemstone is next? Ian

At the beginning of October Ian contacted us about creating a unique setting for a topaz he was considering purchasing. He had visited John Dyer’s website and was fascinated by the magnificent colored stones he had been cutting. He specifically wanted the topaz to be a deep “windex” blue. The first stone he liked was sold but he managed to secure a magnificent 22.01 carat cushion cut blue topaz.

Pretty basic ring design. Could be "no stones" modern and a little clunky to some nice side stones

We got to work on several sketches and e-mailed him out 4 different options (see below in gallery). He selected design #2. We then created the ring on CAD, e-mailed it to him for review and then cast the ring in platinum.  Ian had said that he would need it no later than February 8, but we wanted to make sure he had it in time for New Years Eve. The ring took many hours to clean and prepare for setting and we thankfully managed to ship it out on Friday evening – our last shipment of the year.

She loves the ring, fits perfectly! The pics were spectacular but also showed just how much work goes into these and that they don’t pop out completely done. Nice to get an appreciation for all of the craftsmanship. Happy Holidays! Ian

The process and magnificent Glamor Shots are chronicled below:

© 2012, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

Our customer from Hong Kong, Brian, had purchased his magnificent platinum wedding set in February 2011. He contacted us again in July having purchased a magnificent 5.75 carat (10.3mm) square cushion cut aquamarine from Jeff White and wanted us to create a pendant as a wedding gift for his future wife.

 We are looking for a pendant with a back that allows the chain to slide through, and a front that is free of distractions.

He originally wanted the Barbara pendant with a bezel finish but aquamarine is a soft stone and if we bezeled it there was a 50/50 chance that we would either scratch it or it would break when heat for the bezel process was applied. We explained this to Brian and he wrote back:

We have been browsing through the website to look at more prong settings for ideas and came across the V-Prong Lever Backs<http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5373>. We like how smoothly the prongs and basket fit together. Is it possible to adapt the basket and prong design for our pendant?

After some discussion we decided to create the back basket similar to that of the v prong lever backs and set it with 4 split claw prongs. In addition, Brian wanted her to have the option to wear the pendant both straight and kite set. We explained that the design would not allow for it and so we created it to be kite set with an invisible tube like bail to allow the pendant to move on the chain.

We set about creating the wax model for the pendant, cast it in platinum and then very carefully set the magnificent aquamarine.

Hi Shandel, We picked up the pendant last night and it looks absolutely amazing. Please send our most sincere thanks to Jamie, Lesley, Brian, and everyone else involved in the process. Thanks, Brian

The process and results are in the gallery below.

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

18K Rose Gold Rings and Earrings continue to be very popular here at Brian Gavin Diamonds. The Gallery below features the following 4 products that were shipped in the past few days:

1. Product ID 5437R18 18K Rose Gold Half Bezel Solitaire with a 0.45 ct Brian Gavin Signature Hearts and Arrows diamond
2. Product ID 5409R18 18K Rose Gold Hand Made Bezel Stud Earrings
3. Product ID 5542R18 18K Rose Gold Classic Truth Sleek Micro Pave with 18K White Gold Head and an additional Milgrain Finish set with a 1.35 ct Brian Gavin Quadex (and 6 surprise pink sapphires set inside the shank)
4. Product ID 5540R18 18K Rose Gold Tapered Tiffany Style Half Round with 18K White Gold 6 prong Tiffany basket set with a 0.78 ct Brian Gavin Signature H & A diamond and a surprise garnet set inside the shank

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

In June 2010 Shane contacted us to discuss his upcoming diamond engagement ring purchase. He was planning to propose to his girlfriend of 8 years and wanted to purchase a very high quality center stone and a magnificent setting. He selected the Platinum "Summer" 3 stone open basket setting with a 1.10 ct Brian Gavin Signature Hearts and Arrows diamond.

About a year later he contacted us to get started with the wedding bands. After much discussion he decided to order the Platinum Dream Half Eternity Band and a Palladium 6 mm Men's Three Textured Band. We set a "Surprise" Emerald and Diamond inside both bands and engraved a special note.

About 2 months before the wedding Shane contacted us for the wedding jewelry.  We created a magnificent Custom 18k White Gold Necklace set w/ 0.99 ctw F/G SI Brian Gavin Signature diamond melee for him and he added the 14k White Gold Leverback Huggies to his order.

The wedding was on Saturday, October 15 and we received this e-mail and the beautiful pictures below:

Hi Lesley,

Thanks for making stunning pieces of jewelry for my wife and I.

Your helpful advice helped us choose the perfect combination for our BGD wedding

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

RJ first contacted us back in January via Live Chat with a multitude of questions about our Brian Gavin Signature Hearts and Arrows diamonds and our policies in general. He is in marketing and found our company via a focused Google search. We continued to chat over the next couple of months and finally he decided to move forward with his purchase of a beautiful Brian Gavin Signature Hearts & Arrows diamond. We shipped it out to him for his approval and when he was ready to order the setting, he shipped it back. We created a custom platinum and diamond setting with our famous Truth head and F/G VS Brian Gavin Signature melee. We finished it off with 2 "surprise" blue sapphires set inside the shank and engraving. Needless to say his fiancée, Sarah Frances, was thrilled with her beautiful new ring. We received the following incredible testimonial and beautiful proposal pictures below….Enjoy!!!

Lesley, Brian and Team,

I wanted to thank you again for your help designing my fiancé’s engagement ring. Sarah Frances was so pleased and we are looking forward to a June 2012 wedding.

For the engagement, we flew from our hometown in Indianapolis, IN to New York City. I wanted to do something very special for her and Sarah had always wanted to go to NYC, but had not yet been there. So, I scheduled the trip to NYC and brought a camera tripod. I told her that we were going to capture some nice pics of us in front of the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. During an early morning walk and with a remote in hand, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me while trying my best to also capture some good pictures. I also took some more pictures of the beautiful ring and attached them here for you to see.

When I first started this process I came to Brian Gavin Diamonds (BGD) through an intense Internet search. I may note that so many people come to you for jewelry design and not enough people take advantage of your super ideal diamond selection as well. This is a mistake in my opinion. In fact, my initial intention was to buy the best diamond online and work locally with a designer. I found that the super ideal Hearts & Arrows style diamonds were indeed rare and that Brian Gavin presented a research paper outlining the measurements to judge a super ideal diamond. Many appraisers across the U.S. use these findings to judge super ideal diamonds. I'm glad I selected BGD for the diamond as it truly sparkles beyond any I have seen since. Too many people rush to buy a diamond without enough research. The cut is the key and super ideal diamonds are cut so well that they flash more brilliance and offer more light return causing the diamonds to look larger and more amazing. No diamond seems to measure up to the one I purchased. I also received a much better price than I could find locally or elsewhere on the Internet. Better quality and better price!

As you know, after securing the diamond, I decided it was time to create the custom ring and I found my way back to BGD and the beautiful Truth Head. I have pretty exacting standards that often lead me to be a very particular and perhaps difficult client. The BGD team was patient and creative. You helped me focus my vision for an engagement ring and then bring it to fruition. From the recommendations on what would and wouldn't work structurally to how everything would come together, you really helped me through the journey. As you can see, the completed ring is gorgeous and fiancée and I couldn't be happier!

Thanks for making our day even more special.

Best regards, RJ Moore

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

After having had us create her beautiful Josette custom platinum and diamond setting in the first half of 2009, Deborah contacted us in October 2009 to begin discussions for a setting for her oval shaped 3.21 carat red spinel.  She wanted something very different in two tone yellow gold and platinum, featuring some Brian Gavin Signature diamond melee.  Brian and the team put their heads together and e-mailed off a first rendering, stating that it was just a starting point or that she should feel free to throw it out if it was not to her taste.

“I love it! I was totally stunned when I opened the CADS since it was such a different concept than what I was thinking but it's the perfect design for “Big Red”. The only catch is that I don't want it made until late winter/early spring.”

We saved the CADs and waited to hear from Deborah, all the while keeping “Big Red” safely locked up.

Almost a year passed and Deborah e-mailed in that she would be ready for us to create the ring in the spring of 2011. At the end of May she gave us the green light and we finalized the details.

“I like the two tone equally as well as all gold so I want Brian to make the final decision and it'll be a surprise for me — I'll be ecstatically happy either way.”  We decided to make it two tone to enhance the dramatic effect of the design.

Deborah was coming in to town and arranged to meet with Brian to pick up her ring. She was absolutely thrilled. When she returned to her computer she e-mailed in the following:

Lesley, I believe I was rather quiet about the ring when I picked it up because then, as now, I find there are no words adequate enough to describe it. Perfection, work of art, feast for the eyes…neither individually nor together is quite enough. The ring is above and beyond my expectations for a setting to showcase the center stone. The design is exquisite; its execution is sublime, and the quality is superb. I am thrilled that I had the chance to work with you and Brian again. It just blows my mind when I talk to Brian about a project and say “Well I sorta kinda want something like…but not really like that…oh, just put your creative genius to work and magic happens.Brian makes magic happen.” Please send my regards and thanks to the rest of the crew. Deborah

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

Benjamin found out about us from reading consumer feedback posts on Pricescope. He started off inquiring about the setting only and then decided to go ahead and purchase the diamond from us too. He bought our very popular Platinum Classic Tiffany Style Knife Edge solitaire and a beautiful 0.90 ct round ideal cut diamond and asked us to set a pink sapphire under the culet of the diamond in the shank. We received the following wonderful e-mail and pictures from his fiancée, Cassady, who is a professional photographer – her website is www.CassadyKPhotography.com

Jamie, I just wanted to say thank for the beautiful ring my fiance, Ben, purchased from you! I was a little hesitant when I heard he had purchased it online, but the ring is absolutely perfect and Ben said that Brian Gavin Diamonds was very easy to work with online. You were able to help Ben find exactly what I wanted! I thought I would share our story and some pictures of the beautiful ring!

I live in Pittsburgh and Ben lives near New York City so we have a long distance relationship and only see each other once a month. Ben came in to Pittsburgh June 10th to visit for my sister's graduation party and while we have been talking about getting engaged for a while I didn't think he would do it the same weekend as my sister's party. Ben had suggested we meet in Pittsburgh on Friday night and ride an incline up to Mt. Washington, an outlook over Pittsburgh, to take pictures because I had him recently purchase a camera for me (I'm a photographer in Pittsburgh) and he was bringing it to me. We were supposed to get dinner before Mt. Washington, but we both got stuck in traffic so we decided to go up the incline first because I couldn't wait to use my camera. When we got up to Mt. Washington Ben let me take all of the pictures I wanted and then got down on one knee and proposed! I of course said yes and when Ben asked if I wanted to put the ring on I was like umm of course! The ring is absolutely beautiful and exactly what I wanted. I love the pink Sapphire you put in the band right behind the diamond for Ben. I love the color pink and it just personalizes the ring even more! Thank you so much, your rings are absolutely beautiful and I have had so many compliments on my ring! Thank you, Cassady

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

A former customer called us a little over 3 weeks before her mother’s birthday to find out if we were able to create a diamond pendant setting for the 30 carat emerald cut aquamarine her father, Richard, had purchased. We knew it was going to be a tight squeeze, but Brian was excited about working on such a different and creative project. The setting was created in 18K White Gold with a diamond bail using approximately 1.80 ctw F/G VS Brian Gavin Signature melee and marquise diamonds.

Lesley, please pass my thanks along to your entire team. It is a beautiful piece and I am certain that my wife will love it. I look forward to working with you again. Richard

The intricate process is illustrated in the pictures and video below….

© 2011, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.