If you've ever been to South Beach FL and walked down Ocean Drive, you're probably no stranger to endless restaurants with mouth-watering entrees and signature drinks prominently on display and those hustling hosts trying to lure you in with their specials.

At the surface, NYC's diamond district (47th St. btwn 5th & 6th Aves) is quite similar...Sparkling jewelry under bright LED lights, and sales reps trying to wave you inside for a closer look. Unfortunately, beneath all that street-level retail glitter can be substantial price markups...remember, these guys have NYC rent to pay!

If you made it to Google & Yelp though, you're already doing your research, and I'll tell you right away that Keith Saxe at NYC Wholesale Diamonds should be at the top of your list of jewelers. Shopping for a cushion cut engagement diamond, I provided Keith my budget and my diamond preferences over the phone, and upon my first visit, Keith had four different diamonds for me to examine. He taught me how to "Loupe" (view under 10x magnification) the diamond, and gave me a very thorough run through of the GIA certification process, the diamond market in general, and things to look for when reviewing GIA certificates and comparing stones.

In the interest of full disclosure though, I admittedly visited nine other highly reviewed jewelers, many of which were also "appointment only," with inviting staff and impressive diamonds to show off as well. While each brought on a different approach and personality, at the end of the day, it was easy for me to give Keith my business for his patience, professionalism, and kindness throughout the process. Over the course of three visits with Keith, we honed in to a diamond that was absolutely perfect. I suppose it also didn't hurt that Keith was able to provide me a stunning diamond that had better specs than the other jewelers, at a much lower price! :) I used the savings to splurge on a beautiful custom setting that Keith also provided, set, and polished in advance of the big proposal.

After proposing this past Saturday night (spoiler alert: she said yes!), when the ring didn't fit perfectly, Keith happily adjusted it, adding two ball bearings to the underside/inside for free, and warmly invited us back if we needed anything else.

I recommend Keith Saxe at NYC Wholesale Diamonds without hesitation, and look forward to returning when it's time for those wedding bands!

UPDATE (9/23/22): Keith delivers again! After several years with our beautiful engagement and wedding bands purchased from NYC Wholesale Diamonds, we had a small issue with the wedding band. Keith was extremely courteous and fixed the issue promptly and at no cost. We would have been happy to pay but Keith stands behind everything he sells and we wouldn't' hesitate to recommend NYC Wholesale Diamonds for anyone else looking for top notch products and even better service to boot! Thank you!