Frank Darling — Local services in San Francisco

Long review incoming, but I like to have this info, and I'm sure it's not just me.

Tl;dr Amazing and I thoroughly recommend.

Story time: For 11+ years, I've been happily wearing my grandmother's wedding set, which I have always and will always love. But we decided at the time, that at some point way in the future, I'd get my ring. And for our 10th marriage anniversary recently, my husband surprised me with just that. He found Frank Darling and told me to have at it. (He knows my obsessive heart and love for pretty things and that getting to be involved in every single decision and doing a million hours of research would be a gift in and of itself to me. 🩷)

My designer: I worked with Emily Wert in person at the SF store, and she was fantastic. Listened to what I knew I wanted, helped me figure out what I wanted when I wasn't sure, asked questions I didn't know I cared about, noticed things about what I gravitated toward that I didn't. She knew her stuff inside out, worked to make sure I could get what I wanted within our budget without feeling like I was sacrificing (complete suscess, btw). She's incredibly communicative. Plus just a delightful person to be around.

The process: We did an intial consultation where I wasn't sure what I wanted, she sourced multiple center stones for me to view in person plus talk more design, they did a couple mock-up drawings to show me what different proportions would look like (an absolute necessity for me, who has a really hard time visualizing), a CAD, and a 3D resin print that I could wear (another amazing option I didn't even know I wanted, but gave me the confidence to go much more custom than I'd usually feel comfortable with). Plus a loooooot of thoroughly and cheerfully responding to my many, many emails in between.

Timeline: Start to finish was about 8 weeks, which I felt was totally reasonable, given the level of service, customization, the various things I went back and forth on, plus the four holidays with at least one business day each. (Although I can easily imagine it being less depending on the situation.)

Here are some specs (hopefully I'm not the only one who appreciates this):

Ring specs: Center stone: Emerald cut, lab, 2.83 carats, VVS2, I color, 1.44 ratio (9.64 mm x 6.69 mm), IGI certified Side stones: two 5.6 mm x 4 mm (about 0.5 carat each) and two 3.75 mm x 2.75 mm (about 0.2 carat each), all emerald cut and lab Setting: 14k white gold, 2mm band, mount height is about 5.4 mm, bezel set Does not stack flush (I love that they make sure you consider that) Ring size: 5

Cost (before tax): Center stone: $1,365 Setting + side stones: $3,418 Total: $4,783

Could I have gotten something vaguely similar cheaper online somewhere? Yeah, probably. Cheaper with the level of craftsmanship and quality and custom and service and in person and confidence in who I'm working with? Dunno and don't care. I am beyond thrilled with the value + experience + end-result.

Plus it's just so damn pretty. ♥️♥️

My nitpicks (that don't even come close to affecting my rating, but again, I just like to be thorough): The lighting in the showroom doesn't do any of it justice, particularly looking at center stones. (Which is crazy because it was already amazing, but it was remarkable how much more beautiful my stone was in other light.) If you ship the final ring to the store (because FedEx sucks in your area or whatever), you need to schedule a time to pick it up from the store. Not a big deal, makes sense when I think about it, but I was caught off guard and I'd have planned ahead of I'd known (although Emily was, once again, fabulous and got me in sooner than she had to). They aren't quite magic enough to do everything instantaneously. 🤣

So...

My fiancé and I had the best experience working with Frank Darling, and I cannot recommend them highly enough! I had already chosen the Plutch setting on my own, and when we started seriously discussing ring shopping, we decided to ring in the new year by flying out to their San Francisco design center to select the stone. Emmy was so patient, so knowledgeable, and such a joy to work with, and her communication with us throughout the entire process was top notch! She helped us to select the perfect stone from the diamond flight that she had arranged for us, and she went above and beyond to make sure that all of our requests were met. Emmy helped us with minor modifications to the Plutch setting to ensure security of the stone, and she made sure that we checked all of the necessary boxes before the ring went into production. After we selected the stone, I was “removed” from the communication process so that the timing of the proposal and the ring itself would be a surprise!

I did a ton of research on diamonds, metals, engagement ring settings, and pricing for about a year before my fiancé and I visited the Frank Darling studio, and Frank Darling was far and away the best choice for us. They offer an impressive selection of modern settings that are gorgeous and unique, their pricing is beyond reasonable, and they helped to guide us through what could have been a nerve-wracking process with such grace and ease.

My fiancé and I got engaged last Friday, and I can’t stop staring at my beautiful engagement ring! I have already gotten so many compliments on the unique style and the beautiful diamond that we selected together, and Frank Darling took so much care in making sure that we were comfortable and happy throughout the entire process. I am so excited to wear this ring for the rest of my life, and we can’t thank Emmy and the Frank Darling...

I’m giving FD 2 stars because the shopping process was lovely and we love the diamond purchased from them. However, their craftsmanship and quality control is extremely poor. My original engagement ring had to be remade due to a “hole” (I forget the technical term) in the metal. Once remade, they did not match the correct CAD model to my new ring (which doesn’t made sense because I approved a CAD that was identical to the one I approved with my original ring). The re-made ring I was sent featured a halo that was too small for my diamond, and the diamond itself was crooked and floating way above the actual setting. They offered to re-make it AGAIN. At that point I said no, I just wanted to have my engagement ring even if it wasn’t perfect. Fast forward to a little over a week ago when I was shopping for wedding bands and I was told by the jeweler that the halo was indeed too small for my diamond, there were tool marks under the halo, there was porosity in the platinum (small holes) and it appeared that the setting was not cast as one piece (which I was told it should be). This jeweler, along with TWO others advised I have the setting re-made or refunded by the original jeweler (FD). Upon sending it in, I was told the ring was fine and that it was normal wear and tear. Interesting because I’ve only had this ring 5-6 months. Overall, you can find a great diamond at FD but incredibly poor craftsmanship. I’m having to get my diamond re-set and spend thousand more because FD refuses to acknowledge that their setting is poor quality and my stone isn’t safe. Also beware of nothing but 5 star reviews, a quick search on Reddit reveals similar stories to mine....