Richard's Gems & Jewelry — Local services in Miami

Hi there I went to Richards on 6/13/20 with my girlfriend to get a cash value or trade in value on an engagement ring from her previous relationship I’m giving inside information for the reviewers to get an exact idea of the horrible service we received. So when we first got there the guy that attended us Paul and the other guy I don’t remember his name but he knows who he is told us they will help us when they finally did we explained we were there to get a cash value or exchange for the item obviously not expecting a lot cuz we know there’s not much return on used diamonds. We had an engagement ring with the receipt which was a total of $12,200 the appraisal was also included with a value of $18,000 again we know we weren’t getting even close to that and they told us they wouldn’t give us a cash value but they would let us pick something out for the price of the ring when it was bought which was $ 10,995 Perfect. So we started to shop first we asked about a watch a Rolex which Paul pulled out took the price tag off and handed to me. I asked him the price he ignored me and continued to show me the watch. I asked him again the price and he told me he had to ask his boss, I asked him what was the price on the tag and he told me that was the wrong price. I waited for about 5 minutes to get the price of the watch and finally they gave me a price way over what it was worth during the wait the whispered back and for several times making me feel very uncomfortable I asked them about all the secrecy and they apologized so I asked them for the price on a gold chain that they were selling to another guest which he told them $12500 for the chain so he hand me the chain and I ask him for the price again to reassure of the price he tells me that it’s $19,000. If he cuts it to 20 inches it’s $12,500 so I look at him confused and I’m like what games are you playing you told me $12,500 and now your telling me $19,000 for the same chain so I told him how uncomfortable I felt and he got super offended and snatched the chain off my neck I said thank you and walked out. We went to freddys across the hall and the treated us great wow what an experience super nice and upfront not only did we get a $4,500 cash value for her ring but I walked out with a $11,000 Rolex yacht master super happy with my watch and the service at Freddys I’m not one to post negative reviews but my experience at Richards was so bad that I had to write this super long review. In conclusion be very cautious when you go to Richards I can’t even describe how bad the experience was from the beginning we were treated bad we are a Spanish couple who went in there being previous clients with money and they made us feel like peasants . I’m not gonna write a positive review for freddys even tho I should but like I said I’m not a review guy but thank you everyone at freddys it was great doing business with you. Just found out the name of the gentleman that helped us and his name is Fernando. Fernando my friend your the worst person I have ever dealt with in my life if your lookin for shady business Fernando at Richards at the Seybold building in downtown miami is your guy. Thank all of you for reading and hopefully this review will keep you from shopping...

Giving one star because Milly is excellent and provided excellent customer service. Unfortunately, the quality of repairs we had to have completed due to the sub par product that was originally sold to us was out of her control. My fiancé purchased my engagement ring from Richards in November 2021, where it sat in a box until he proposed in January 2022. Shortly after him proposing, my beautiful ring was missing a gallery. When we took it in to Richards in February 2022 the gentleman who assisted us blamed it on me and told me I must have hit it on something for the piece of metal to just fall off. I’d like to point out that at this point the ring was less than two months old and I am a nurse and do not wear my ring half of the week when I’m at work. We are not local to Miami so they had to ship my ring back to us and charged us for shipping. When I received the ring back, the gallery was replaced however only one end of it was attached to the ring, the other was open to the shoulder and snagged on things frequently leaving me with a ring I really couldn’t wear (after paying over $100 for shipping & insurance). Our next visit to Miami was not until July 2022, we were able to meet with Milly who originally sold us the ring. She was apologetic and understood we were not local and had the ring fixed within the weekend so we would not have to have it shipped. The next day we picked up the ring and it was “fixed” it appeared fine to my untrained eye. Now, two months later in September 2022 the baguettes I noticed were lose again. Upon further inspection the gallery is again not attached to the shoulder and susceptible to being snagged on something and coming off completely. When looking closely at the galleries along the sides of the baguettes the metal is very thin, rough and just doesn’t look finished to the quality that we expected from Richards. Since we are not local and this has been a huge inconvenience as well as disappointing because I can’t wear my ring.

Edit: after taking to two reputable local jewelers, both stated the setting originally sold was not appropriate for the stones and that it was very poorly put together. Currently now in the process of having to have my entire ring reset.

Edit: after posting this review the owner reached out to my fiancé and offered to reset the entire ring. The ring looks good now and hopefully will last! Thank you Richards for standing by...

My experience with Richard's Gems & Jewelry was one of the worst I've ever had. An attempted fraud on the eve of the happiest day of my life is the most despicable thing a business owner can do.

I came to order a custom wedding ring. I came with the design of the ring I wanted and after a few days they informed me that they would be happy to do the work. the price quote was a few thousand but they emphasized that since it was handmade, that was the price. I agreed and we moved forward. After a few days they called me to come see the rendering. I arrived at the store and saw a 3D computer model of my ring, they push me to approve so that the designer could start working on the ring. I felt that something was wrong and asked them for 24 hours to think about things. During the 24 hours I contacted other jewelers and asked them about the rendering, all of them- without exception explained to me that it was a cast ring and not a handmade and explained to me that they had deceived me. After 24 hours, I calmed down and preferred to show up in the store and speak with them directly, I ask them why they lied and deceived me? I asked for answers since my order explicitly stated that it was "handmade" and that the inflated price I paid referred to handwork. After I confronted them with the facts, they immediately admitted that it was not handwork and tried to justify it with a variety of ridiculous excuses. Despite everything and due to the time pressure from the upcoming wedding, I asked them to continue working and lower the price so that it would be adjusted to the price of a casting job and not handwork. They firmly refused. I decided to take an iron fist with them and take legal action against them. Even after submitting a "warning letter" asking them to complete the work and reduce "only" a fifth of the price, they refused and we are now going to sue them. As you read, my experience with them is very disturbing and there was a cynical exploitation here to present a false representation and extort money fraudulently. I do not recommend working with them, and if you do choose to do so, I recommend being very careful because if you are not familiar with jewelry, you may be deceived either by the product or the price or both, as I had, and along the way ruin the entire experience of purchasing a wedding ring, an experience that should be...