Rings True Jeweler — Local services in Carrboro

I'm a researcher by trade, so I researched intensely for threeish months before choosing a lab grown diamond from a soulless online corporation. The search included reading peer-reviewed studies, corresponding with overseas diamond manufacturers, visiting numerous jewelers, and generally being the most well-informed diamond consumer possible. At the end of it, I patted myself on the back thinking I'd landed the best value for the exacting attributes that I wanted, and with a GIA-certificate to prove it. My partner was proud of me.

Then, on a casual walk through Carrboro, while we were low-key looking for jewelers to set the stone, we rolled into Rings True. Roxane squeezed us in despite the fact that we had no appointment. Karl told us with supreme confidence that he could beat the price of my LGD. I raised an eyebrow, but since we were interested in his custom settings (he's got an amazing resume, having made designs for Tiffany, Van Cleef and Arpels etc) we said, "Ok, go ahead and try." To our surprise and delight, he managed it!. He also managed to choose one that was HPHT and untreated, whereas the one I'd picked online was CVD and post-growth-treated, which I had not been super happy about despite conflicting opinions on whether/how post-growth-treatment affects appearance. So we returned our other diamond and purchased his. His had a GIA certificate, but being the exacting consumer that I am, I even had an appraiser check it out independently. It matched up perfectly.

Due to time constraints, we decided to postpone the custom process and temporarily go with a standard setting (from another soulless online corporation), but having had a couple of chats with Karl about custom, I have no doubt that he does excellent work in that area as well. I will come back and update this review to gush about his custom work if we go that route.

But my biggest recommendation for Rings True is this: if you want a lab-grown diamond (and you should, since they don't involve destroying the planet!) then, from someone who did a TONNNN of LGD research, comparisons, this is the...

Karl and Zach are incredible at what they do. I consider myself lucky that I knew Karl prior to this engagement to create a highly important work of art for my fiancée and for our family to enjoy for generations. She had an old ring from her grandmother that she wanted her own ring to be modeled after, and I completely trusted Karl to come up with something she would love based on her ideas. A small part of me was worried, but when I saw the finished product I was absolutely speechless. This ring they created it was like the one my fiancée wanted it to look like, but if you can imagine you're a nerdy video gamer (like me) and that ring is a level 1 ring. Karl and Zach created the level 100 LEGENDARY version of that ring. My fiancée couldn't see the ring until the big question day of course, but she was in the car and I had trouble pulling my eyes off this ring because of how stunning it was. I truly could not believe how intensely beautiful it was and how perfectly they had taken the concept of the ring we provided as a model of the design and turned it into an original work of art. You can see the comparison between the two rings in the images I provided.

If you need someone you can TRUST and know without a single doubt that you will be provided the absolute best and nothing but, then Rings True is the place you need to bring your business. The entire experience was AAA+ I cannot recommend this Jeweler more and these words I have attempted to use to describe how great this place is are an insult to the true value....of Rings True.

Thank you...

I've had many pieces created and some repaired here, most done adequately. I'm giving three stars because they are a custom jewelry business and I ran into difficulties with jewelry jobs that appeared new to them. In both cases, I was left feeling that they were annoyed that I asked that the pieces be made useable and in both cases, I had to seek repairs on the pieces elsewhere. The simplest example was a job resetting stones into a new set of screw-back stud earrings. When I attempted to use the earrings, I couldn't screw the backs on. I brought them back and Karl worked on them, then insisted they were fine. They weren't. The threads on the posts had to be recut, they had been cross-threaded. I don't think he knew how to fix them. The second example was a custom set of ear wires for dangling stones. They looked perfect, but when I tried to use them, they were so stiff, the wires scored my earlobe talking them on and off. I brought them back twice and Zack worked on them, but I had the same problem. I brought them back a third time, Zack picked them up, looked at them, grunted, put them down and walked away. I brought them to another jeweler and they fixed them for me by changing the arc of the wire. I suggest that if you have something made, stick to a procedure or product they are very familiar with. In those cases, you...