Russ Hollander Master Goldsmith — Local services in Stamford

Russ does beautiful work and I don't think anyone can deny that. I first met him when my friend met him for an appointment for her engagement ring a few years ago. He was friendly and happy to explain his process. I was impressed with his knowledge and service.

A few years later, I am shopping for my own engagement ring and of course I wanted to meet with Russ after such a positive experience the first time (after all, my friend loves her ring). The difference between the meetings was night and day. We were made to feel as if we were wasting his time and that he would not explain his process or make suggestions unless we committed to purchasing a stone. Note, this was an initial meeting to discuss the possibility of him making our ring. We were made to feel as if he thought we could not afford a ring by him. He mentioned he had projects in the $100,000 range (which, good for him...if our project was not worth his time, then he should have let me know over the phone when we discussed budget before meeting in-person). We mentioned that we were in touch with another jeweler and he said "well it sounds like you already have your jeweler"...which, of course, we did not. If I did, why would I sit in I-95 traffic for an hour to visit his shop? The whole meeting was bizarre. I did not ask Russ to design a ring for me-- but I did expect to discuss ideas and possibilities during the meeting. Perhaps he needs to hire a dedicated salesperson.

I'm disappointed this was my experience as I know Russ creates beautiful pieces. Everyone has bad days and I generally never leave reviews (good or bad), but wow...I hope Russ treats future clients with...

My husband and I worked with Russ on creating my husband's wedding band. We did a lot of research including price shopping on jewelers from Norwalk to Stamford to Greenwich and Russ stood above them all. Then we met him in person and all of our expectations were far surpassed. When Russ began working with us I thought of him as a member of the family, maybe a spunky uncle if you will! It was so easy to work with him. He was open to texting which in my busy life made things a lot easier. Throughout the process, I could call/text him and drop by even if his store wasn't technically open.

Together, Russ, my husband, and myself designed the ring of our dreams. My ring is white gold and rose gold on the inside, so we wanted his ring to mimic that. We brought a few pictures and Russ spec-ed it out while we sat there with him. He took some time to cut the pieces of precious metal and sent us pictures of the fusing process to our cell phone. If that wasn't enough, when it was time to put the contour into the ring, he invited us to come downstairs into his shop and watch/take video/pictures. We felt so much a part of the making of the ring and learned a lot too. From raw metal to a beautiful symbol of our love, we watched the ring take form before our eyes. It was pretty amazing.

When we found Russ I had already had my wedding band and engagement ring - My fiance got both designed by a family jeweler of a friend in long island. I never met that designer, but my husband always said, he wishes he had worked with Russ for my rings as well. We feel so blessed that we found Russ. :) It is one of our favorite memories from planning...

Russ is incredible! I initially swung by his shop to see if I could get a ring resized (which he was able to beautifully) and get my engagement ring cleaned. While I was there, I figured I would inquire about getting some price quotes on wedding bands. My husband and I got a consultation and I compared it to the spreadsheet I had with prices from all the big retailers, such as Blue Nile, James Allen, Jareds, etc, and his were cheaper than most and as competitive as others. It was a no brainer for us to work with Russ, and the process was so much better than scrolling through endless pages online and being unsure of the quality of the jewelry we would purchase. We were able to try on a a variety of bands and figure out exactly what we wanted. Russ worked with us to make sure we had our bands in time for our elopement and offered to clean them and my engagement ring before we left for the big day, which was a huge plus! Also, Julie was also so wonderful. She promptly texted or called me as soon as I had things ready for pick up. The whole experience has been so incredible, and I can't wait to work with him again for some personal collection pieces I...