Where to start, Mark and Judy are absolutely awesome! While I never thought I would be a guy who has a family Jeweler, here I am and this is the only place I will go.
I was hesitant at first when shopping for rings in the Newport/CDM area as, although I had been saving, my price range was not what may be typical of the surrounding cities.
I had planned on using the center diamond from a ring my dad had gotten my mom on their 10th anniversary, that ring she wore for the next 25yrs until my parents renewed their vows at their 35th anniversary. In those 25yrs, I had witnessed unwavering love between my parents through happiness and sadness, through prosperity and hardships. To say this ring and gesture meant a lot to me would still be a massive understatement.
True to the feeling my soon-to-be fiancé and I went into two places on my way down PCH, the first jeweler didn't give us the time of day. The second jeweler told me that my parents diamond was "too small and not that good of quality" they also told my fiancé-to-be that her choice of metal (yellow gold) was "out of style" and to "trust us, she wants white gold". We politely said we'd think about it, and walked out.
We then went to Mark Patterson. Seemed boutique and luxurious, I didn't know what to expect. Initially a guy walks up and starts talking to us, I told him what I wanted to do (using a family diamond) and it almost seemed as if it brought him equally as much joy to use it, as it did me. My soon-to-be fiancé told him that she likes yellow gold and asked his thoughts, to which he said "It's timeless. Classic. Most importantly, it's what you want and you'll love it forever". He then spent the next, I don't know how long, endlessly asking every question possible and showing us ring after ring. He even pulled a similar size diamond from the back to show us exactly what mine would look like on each setting.
Half way through I realized, I was rude and never introduced myself or got his name. I said "Oh by the way, my name is Chris" he said "nice to meet you Chris, Mark Patterson". We were speaking to THE guy the whole time!!!
I asked about the diamond out of curiosity, he said "let me clean the ring and check"...mind you the ring had been stored away for who knows how many years. He comes back and says "this diamond is near perfect, come take a look!" Brings me to a microscope and gives me a mini lesson in diamonds and where this one sat on the scale. Quite a difference from the place before.
Here's the funniest thing. When we walked in, my (now) wife knew the rings she wanted...personally it wasn't my choice, but it also wasn't my ring. During all this ring showing and with no coaxing from either Mark or myself, my wife ended up choosing an entirely different set of rings all together. And it was a ring that I absolutely loved and to this day, I still catch her looking at and she'll say "I just love this ring so much. It's everything I wanted my ring to be and I never knew it". The rings truly are classic, timeless and beautiful.
This ring gave me 2 very proud moments. The first when I proposed and and seeing my fiancé just stare and look at the ring for hours with a smile on her face. The second when we showed my parents and watching both of them tear up, to even my dad saying "it looks better there than it did 25yrs ago".
The ring, the experience, the emotions captured were something that even as I write this, kind of balls me up a little. Thank you Mark and everyone. read more