My experience with Safiya was fantastic, and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for fantastic quality alexandrites and an unprecedented level of service. If you are looking for something different and far more unique than your ordinary gem, look no further - adventure awaits.
I am so happy with them, I felt inclined to elaborate at length (Pull up a chair...). My story begins 6 months ago when I proposed to my then girlfriend without a ring (she said yes! - and was happy to help me find a ring). My traditional parents insisted that I buy a standard 1 carat diamond ring from Costco. The thing was sparkly and beautiful, but I couldn't bear to make such a trite, boring, and low-effort choice over one of the largest cash purchases of my life - it absolutely would not represent the feeling of my love for her. I soon learned that diamonds are actually far from rare, as there are literally millions of people with an excellent-quality 1 carat diamond! My SO's (millennial) friends had rubies and sapphires, and since they loved them, I was able to convince her to go for something non-traditional. I'd always grown up hearing about alexandrites as being one of the rarest gems in existence, and my SO and I were intrigued. We ordered a high quality synthetic one and she loved its stunning color-changing properties. I myself can only describe the gem as alien, exotic, and breath-taking - it definitely belongs nowhere on this planet, and nowhere in this time - there is no gem more beautiful and unique, and nothing more perfect to represent the scarcity and uniqueness of our love. They are extremely rare and expensive, but we fell so hard in love with the idea that we decided it would certainly be our gem of choice.
Cue a trip to Los Angeles, as the real gem is so rare, it only exists in large cities (any standard jeweler in our area had not even heard of it). After 3 highly (Yelp) rated reputable dealers, we were extremely disappointed at the selection in general - nothing even close to our synthetic gem. All the stores had cheap, poor-quality, muddy color-changing alexandrites. Our final store was Safiya Alexandrites. Our hopes weren't high - until Niel (our jewelry assistant) pulled out cases of the craziest, most dramatic, biggest (some over 3 ct) alexandrites we had ever seen! They were literally better than our synthetic one, which is supposed to be perfect! We were floored, and I honestly thought they might be synthetic until I saw their GIA certificates. We were particularly in love with a gorgeous 0.87ct oval that had a stunning color change - but my SO had an exact setting in mind and wanted to go custom. Niel and staff were very polite and there was no pressure, so after sleeping on it and comparing our options to Multicolour.com, we chose Safiya for its cost, quality, and level of personalized service.
My SO decided on a setting style, and we e-mailed Niel back and forth to avoid having to take more days off of work to make the (for us) long and traffic-ridden trek to L.A.. Unfortunately, e-mailing an exact ring design is hard and I miscommunicated exactly what we wanted, meaning the first CAD design had a weird look. Niel was extremely patient and worked through every detail to perfection, insisting that my typo was his fault - but it was definitely my fault, and I thought this showed great character on his part. At one point, he literally offered to meet us halfway on his weekend to show us the finished wax mold, which was very accommodating. Niel completely earned our trust, and we always felt that our ring's perfection was his top priority. I'm summarizing, as this step took many weeks and many interactions, but Niel and Safiya showed the highest level of professionalism we have encountered so far in the gem business, even amongst traditional jewelers. I can truly say that Niel's positive and comfortable attitude is as rare and awesome as the gems he works with - maybe that's why he is so good at it!
My SO was beaming with excitement when she got the final product, and she wears it every day, always looking at its colors in different lighting. Just like my love for her, no matter what light she is in, she is always beautiful and precious to me. The ring is truly a dream and our most treasured possession, and this is coming from a guy that previously did not understand the point of jewelry. We are both closer together than ever after embarking on this journey, and it truly was only made possible by Safiya and Niel's fastidious devotion to making the best ring we could have imagined - he even gave it a fitting name, "The Twist of Faith" - I'm glad we put our faith in Safiya, and despite twists and turns, everything was perfect. We are so happy we went with them, and now that we are in love with alexandrites, we are comforted to know we have found our go-to jeweler. Thanks again, and I look forward to doing business with you many times! read more