Cottage Jewelry — Local services in Evanston Township

In 2007 I purchased a five stone diamond engagement ring from this jeweler. This five stone ring was allegedly from the 1920s. Allegedly all five stones, according to him, totaled at 1 carat. I purchased the ring for roughly 1.5K. Unfortunately the engagement came to an end. I held onto the ring for some time. And in July of 2015 I went to sell the ring back.

My first impression of the owner (Ira Rose) was a complete lack of professional social skills; his smug condescending attitude was only rivaled by what I can only hope at best to be incompetence or at worst shady business practice. Besides insulting a product he sold, apparently he forgot he sold it, he assessed the five diamonds at a total of less than 1 carat (he told me it was roughly .8 carats). When I informed him I was told it was at least 1 carat he assured me I was wrong. While staring down his nose at me, he smugly asked where I purchased the ring from (still while insulting its quality). I am not sure what humored me more, the pause and look he gave when I told him he sold it or the fact he began to back pedal. He asked if the item had been part of an estate sale. No it had not; he had on display for some time before I purchased it, in fact. It was in fact he who recommended this ring. He told me he could not sell it for any more than 1K and wouldn't purchase it for more than a few hundred. (However, he at this time was not interested).

Regarding his (hopefully) incompetence, I had the ring appraised. The five stones totaled over 1 Carat (1.13 actually). The market value is 1.1K, while the retail value was appraised at 3.1K. However after reading other reviews I think this may just be his usual shady practice.

His smugness might be well founded if he actually could appraise his own products correctly. I will gladly make a profit...

UPDATE: After leaving a critical customer service review, Cottage Jewelry's owner Ira personally reached out to me via phone call and addressed my concerns, demonstrating a remarkable and unexpected level of accountability. Despite the initial service lapse, his proactive and considerate response not only resolved the issue but fully restored my confidence in his business. The repair was excellent, and Ira's commitment to customer satisfaction earns my wholehearted recommendation.

(original review) I don't think I've ever felt so unwelcome and uncomfortable in a store in a long time. I walked in at 4:54 pm (they close at 5, but I was just picking up a repair) and saw an employee escorting two people out. She looked at me and said, "We're closed!" When I glanced at my watch and replied, "I believe you close at 5, right?" she responded with, "Well, what do you want?"

I told her I was there to pick up a repair, and she begrudgingly opened the door to let me in. Only one associate through this experience, a short blonde with glasses, smiled at me. I was then handed over to an elderly associate who reluctantly processed my pickup. Behind me, two more customers entered, and the same associate who had let me in exclaimed, "Ugh, they're all coming in now."

The elderly associate brought out my repair, and while I was signing the pickup receipt, she stared at me with a level of suspicion that it made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. She fumbled with the register, then handed me my receipt and walked me to the door, sneaking side-eye glances the entire way.

In the end, a deal’s a deal, so I paid for my repair, but I honestly wish I had spent that $75 and the week it took to repair a lobster clasp...

Well, I got past a phone call inquiry to having my ring appraised for a whooping 3 seconds before being turned out on my rear for inquiring at least information about the speculated Diamond(s), in my old Engagement ring, are less than one full carat.

They were guessed in that time as .8 at most. “then I should break it up?” That was the straw that broke the desk guys back. Let me point that there is a difference between Business shrewd and Just plain Rude!

This is a shout out to the power who choose to immediately stop helping if I wasn't worth their sales time. I was very clear I wasn't selling the ring yet from the beginning. I implored 2nd time, after the 1st suddenly harsh tone of rejection bellowing from the back of my unworthiness. I implored the 2nd time to please tell me what was it that had been occupying my hand for a few decades. I was briefly told the bare basic-little regarding my ring information, by the front sales woman. I was hoping she’d write it done…um, don’t even ask. She, I think tried to be customer service friendly despite the guy in back… The gentleman at the desk in back was clearly in charge. He got to just yells to the non client up front his bitterness. After my second plea of more information, the guy chose to yell his last feelings on the subject with, “I am not interested and we are DONE here!”

…The guy at the desk made this Whole Experience really awful….

I apologized to the lady upfront as I put my ring back in the same case presented to me decades ago.

I thanked her for her time and left.

Wow, I regret inquiring here...