Drenon Jewelry — Attraction in Independence

I had a couple interactions with Rolex dealers in Greece lately that got me thinking about my visit to Mr. Drenon's jewelry store several years ago. I was early in my watch collecting career and wanted to add my first Rolex to my collection. I contacted Drenon Jewelry to inquire and was told that before I could even be considered for a Rolex, I would have to present myself in person to his store. The nearest Rolex dealer to my home is two hours away, and I'd not had any luck there. Drenon and Tivol in Kansas City were the next closest and I really wanted to purchase a Rolex without having to pay the secondary market premium on one. At the time, I had no idea how Rolex and its sales/distribution model worked. I assumed that if one went to the Rolex dealer he or she could be considered for a Rolex. Mr. Drenon and his establishment represent the worst of Rolex and its sales models.

My wife and I drove the four hours it took to visit Mr. Drenon's store. Upon arrival what did we find? Empty watch cases. That's right, we'd driven four hours to have a face-to-face chit chat over empty cases and no product. This was before Rolex created its bait-and-switch "exhibition only" models that dealers now use to lure prospective clients into the store to chit-chat and then try selling on watches and jewelry they may not want.

Our empty case chit-chat with Mr. Drenon lasted 20-30 minutes. During this time he provided us with an arrogant lecture on how nobody was getting steel sport models from Rolex and then implied that I wanted a steel sport model I'd need to start browsing all the jewelry out on the showroom floor, gesturing to the jewelry cases in the process. When I inquired about a steel Daytona, Mr. Drenon pulled out his phone and began scrolling through what seemed an endless list of prospective clients on "the waitlist." He said, "no chance," on the Daytona. At the end of the arrogant lecture on supply and demand, and the indication that he wasn't going to sell me a Daytona, he led me out the door and requested a positive Google review.

In summary, we drove four hours to discuss supply and demand, how steel professional sport watches were being used as investments, the pay-to-play nature of purchasing a Rolex, and a polite F-you on the watch I wanted to buy. We drove four hours home empty handed.

I have since purchased five Rolex pieces including a Sub-Date, Explorer 2, a Pepsi, Batman, and the Panda Daytona I wanted from Mr. Drenon. The GMTs were purchased secondary market at a premium. The Daytona I purchased overseas. I've spent thousands on watches from other brands including Breitling, Cartier, Omega, JLC, and Zenith. If I want another Rolex, I'll buy secondary market and skip the "exhibition only" pieces, the waitlists, and the games these Rolex dealers have become accustomed to playing.

Bottom line is that if you're looking for a Rolex, skip Mr. Drenon's store. Chances are he won't have what you want, won't be able to order what you want, and if you're lucky, he'll put you on a waitlist that will be indeterminant. You could be waiting for years with no expectation that he...

Drennon Jeweler, you have to stop in!

I was just planning to look, not buy, an engagement ring when I went in. And I'm a military guy, I do all my research before I make a decision. What made me feel comfortable about the 3 hours I spent there that day, was they were very laid back. They let me look at every single ring in the store. Never pressured, never grew impatient, and the biggest thing is that they never asked me what my budget was. A lot of stores will do this to push the customer to the limit on that. I was able to make a clear conscious decision that I was not being pressured in to anything the entire time I was there. For a guy who felt very uncomfortable just thinking about getting a ring, that was a big plus for my experience.

My situation was little unique too. I did this with no input from my girlfriend. She has no idea that I'm even looking at rings. So I had to research and find out as much about rings and diamonds as I could on my own. The little that I had going in was good, but the knowledge the staff (I was mostly being helped by Dara, she was awesome!) and jeweler had, was phenomenal (and didn't make me feel dumb that I didn't know as much, and they weren't pompous that they much more than I did)! Drennon can do 100% custom work. I found the ring and started talking about different things I can do to make it THE ring. (Took the original center diamond out and put one in that was an ideal cut, and a higher grade in color and clarity. Then made the white gold band around the center diamond, in to a rose colored gold band.)

There were some things they recommended I not do to the ring because it would not have made the ring great and they explained why, which was great. The things they do and don't are for a reason. They really want to make your ring the very best and beautiful ring, that you didn't imagine before! They didn't just say, “ok, if that's what you want” and start making my ring.

Lastly, pricing. A deal breaker sometimes. Again, not with Drennon. I had in my head about $10k that I was going to spend. Even with the upgrades and the custom work, I was amazed that my ring was about $3k-$4k LESS than what I had in mind! They let me do a layaway payment option, which helped out a lot!

This is a store who knows how to take your vision and make it in to your ring. If you are going to take a lot of time and really shop around, Drennon is a must stop jewelry store. For guys, I understand the process can be long and frustrating finding the perfect ring, if you,only go to one store, it has to be Drennon. They really...

I'm the kind of person who likes to research the heck out of things before purchasing. I like to be informed and find the best quality for the best price. I was looking at rings online obsessively for months. This CA girl finally found that in the Mid West!

We had a great experience with the nice people at Drenon Jewelry! My fiancé's mom recommended Drenon since she felt like she can trust the staff there. We are from CA visiting family in Independence and stopped by Drenon's for a quick peek on the day before New Year's Eve. That peek turned into a purchase! The diamond was gorgeous, the price was right, we were able to custom design the ring, the service was excellent, and the turn around time was very quick - received ring in mail in a week! Thank you to everyone at Drenon's for your superb service, attention to detail and for giving us such a positive memory. I love the ring!

And if you care for more details, read on: Gunther greeted us warmly and patiently brought rings out for me to try. He brought me outside to look at the ring in natural lighting. When he didn't know something, he found someone who did. Steve, the owner, was personable, passionate and speedy! He called Kelly, the jeweler, who was napping at home and kindly asked him to come in immediately! LOL. Brenda, the designer, suggested that the cushion diamond sit on an axis to make it look bigger and more unique - ingenious! Since I wanted the ring to have a slim profile and for the diamond to sit low, she recommended the shank come up to the prongs on the crown to give the ring more structural support. At one point in the design process, I had Steve, Brenda, Gunther, Kelly and my fiancé all surrounding me and helping me with the ring. I really felt held and heard.

We asked to view the diamond under magnification. Steve explained what we saw and also what the different numbers meant on the GIA certification. For example, inclusions are better in the center of the diamond because that's more stable. Not only did we learn more about diamonds, we learned a bit about the diamond industry as a whole, and learned about the history of this family business.

On 12/31 NYE, we returned to the shop to try on the custom mold casting. Steve worked as if there's no tomorrow and was able to get our custom designed ring to us in CA within a week despite the holiday closure! I would recommend...