Adamark Jewelers & Silversmiths, Inc — Local services in Sandy Springs

I’m so frustrated and defeated after the experience my fiancee and I had here. My fiancee bought my engagement ring here and when we took it to get sized, we discussed different options to customize my ring since I had some sentimental diamonds I wanted to build into it. My original ring was a solitaire and I wanted to build a cluster or halo of stones around the center and then place stones in the band. I had 8 diamonds from my grandmother’s previous engagement ring, which weren't enough to build what I had envisioned, so we would have to pay for three additional stones of the same size at about $200 apiece. Mark originally quoted us ~$1800 total for this job.

During our first meeting, I mentioned that I had a 19k white gold ring with 26-27 individual diamonds in it. This ring did not have a center stone any longer, but was appraised at $7,000 by another jeweler without the center stone in it. We decided to return a month later with this ring, since Mark said we could use the material from it to build into my ring at a much lower cost. Using these extra stones would allow me to save my grandmother’s diamonds too. When we returned with the additional material from my additional ring, I thought with the amount of material I’d brought would surely be enough to prevent us from paying a ton of extra money out of pocket. We talked about designing a halo and placing stones in the band of my ring (the same thing we discussed a month prior, though these newer diamonds were smaller, yet higher quality), and the cost was now $2400 somehow.

We then discussed just placing a halo around my center stone, and I was fine with this idea since I knew I could build stones into my wedding band later. This eventually totaled around $900 out of pocket, and that included my trading of the additional 19k ring I’d brought AND a $300 store credit. But by this point in the conversation, I was ready to leave and cry, though the ring we’d agreed on what I was wanted. Nervous and feeling cornered, I said yes.

I don’t understand how the cost of a job that was supposed to be cheaper the second time around managed to go up so much. Mark never seemed willing to offer explanations on the numbers he’d drawn up, aside from the fact that I had “only about $200 worth of gold” when I know at least 7 grams of 19k white gold are worth more than that. Plus, $900 out of pocket (minus the $300 credit and “$200” in gold) does not sound right considering I supplied 27 VS1 diamonds, out of which 8 would not be used. I’m not buying the fact that 8 VS1s were worth $400 when Mark told me I needed to fork out $600 for three stones (that were larger, but of lower quality) a month earlier. He was also so intimidating that I was afraid any questions I might have asked were stupid questions to him, given his over-explanation to me about what a split shank was. He was really only nice when we were either paying or leaving. He tried to buy my grandmother’s diamonds off me more than once as well.

Beyond the job of customizing the ring, the appraisal of the new ring is also an issue. We received the new appraisal for the customized ring—lo and behold, the appraisal is the same as before. How can you add 19 diamonds of higher quality than the center stone and the value of the ring doesn’t go up? I don’t know if the original ring was overvalued or what, but something doesn’t add up here. I'm not even mad about my ring--it's actually perfect, but not for the cost at which it came. I’m fed up with being a victim of not just poor business practice, but a lack of honesty and transparency. My wedding band’s going to another jeweler in the future.

I don’t know what to do now because I truly do love my ring, but this experience was awful, so I’m writing this review with hope that no one else has to deal with this again. Maybe posting this will wash my hands of feeling so angry about the situation, but I’m not dealing with...

I brought in one loose diamond with a small chip in it. It was .89 g in weight after the chip where previously it was .9 g. In carats that is 4.5 but after the chip 4.45. The jeweler without telling me what he's doing picks it up off the black mat (which with something of this value I would think you would need to narrate what you're doing). He walks back and throws it on the scale, throws it on the counter where then he goes back to his tiny drawer setup at his desk pulls out a drawer and grabs a piece of paper for reference. When he comes back i dont see him retrieve the diamond from the counter, but it is already in his hand, but the one he gives me is a diamond that has two chips in it. It weighs .02 less then the rock I came in with initially and the cut is nowhere near as good. It feels warm and even the smooth parts of it look off. I have a 99 percent accurate spatial reasoning; that is to say far above average (verifiable through a sanctioned test administered to me earlier this year); this means that I can see things and tell their dimensions and so forth with almost 100% accuracy. It immediately did not look like mine. He could not explain why it weighed less suddenly. A professional would not remove somebody's personal object from where they've set it without asking, and without any kind of narration as to what is happening. Also with every other piece he did a micro scratch test initially. WHY WOULD HE NOT CONTINUE THE SAME PROCESS OF VERIFICATION AFTER DOING SO FOR 5 PRIOR ITEMS!? Also being in the business for as long as he has been the idea that he would need to look at a piece of paper to verify a measurement standard is laughable. Now if you needed an excuse to go back to the work bench and grab an old junk piece of similar proportions due to cutting standards, that would make more sense. Either way this person was disrespectful and genuinely a curmudgeon. He slowed down at my asking how it got a second chip and he never directly said "no, i did not do that." Which is a good tell for someone lying. A person telling the truth can address things diectly. A person lying will normally answer your questions with questions. He did just that and asked me "what does it matter?". He also refused to look for the chipped off piece of the diamond when i asked how it lost weight. Tgis would mean simply checking his desk where the scale is and his workbench but He seemed apprehensive and would not make eye contact, assert his innocence, nor assist in alleviation of my concerns in any way. Innocent people flip to anger far more easily than someone lying becaise the have the certainty that they are telling the truth. If your jewelery matters to you go somewhere else. He doesnt even have cameras at the location so he could not show me definitively that he hadnt swapped them and it was suggested that my personal postage scale might be off in weight. I weighed the piece he gave me right when i returned home and low and behold it was .02 less in weight than 2hrs before going to his shop. A jeweler should have cameras to protect themselves or others, and a clerk should have manners. My piece should not have ever left my sight with out my approval and i should have gotten it back.

Without proof i cannot have the police handle this. Hopefully though this review saves others from this POS and his s*itty attitide. You've...

NEVER AGAIN. Do yourself a favor and travel a few more miles down the road. My parents and siblings have had pieces repaired and maintenanced here for over 20 yrs. My mother suggested I take my custom built, vintage Art Deco ring here for an approximate price point to sell it. I live in Buckhead and have gotten quotes for a reasonable price over the last few weeks in my neck of the woods but figured I’d give East Cobb a go since I was in the area visiting. The buyer was so rude and his quote was shockingly insulting and way less than what I’ve been quoted over these last few weeks around town. I get how the business works and understand depreciatation but the number he gave me was so disrespectful to a point, I believe, he thought I was completely unaware of the value of my piece. When he asked how much was paid for it, I told him, he scoffed and relplied with a comment that was extremely unprofessional and tacky. Not to mention the way he handled my ring was so cold and careless - tossing it on the scale with his hands on his hips as though he was annoyed to even be there - which isn’t my problem. I’d NEVER leave anything of value in the hands of these people and after my experience and sharing what happened with my family, my parents and siblings will never return. Be very careful here ... get quotes elsewhere if your looking for a fair...