I don't frequent this thread but for sharing purposes, i would like leave my review on Jann Paul here.
I made my purchase of Jann Paul’s engagement ring for my gf some time back in April 2015. Back then, I actually went down with a close friend of mine, as he was intending to buy an engagement ring for his fiancee.
The "famous" ION jewellery street
Prior to us going down to JP, we actually went to the “famous” ION jewellery street @ Orchard MRT. Now, I am willing to bet that I am not the only one who thought of this place, when the theme of “engagement ring” comes to our minds. Jewellers like Love & Co, GoldHeart and Lee Hwa were places that we went to but an observation that I had was that these places have profits as the forefront priority in mind. For now, let’s not talk about the “price” first.
Problem #1: Inability of typical jewellers to address customers' needs
The first question they asked were: “What’s the size of the diamond (carat) that you are looking at?” and “What kind of person his fiancee was? (so that they can choose a type of diamond ring for her)”, as the probing questions to a potential customer. My basic expectation from a sales person is to address my needs. If you are able to, I will naturally be more interested to hear you out as there is a common understanding between us already. But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hear these or sense good vibes from our typical jewellers.
These typical jewellers actually gave me an impression that no questions need to be asked. The only question that matters is that if you’re looking for an engagement ring, let them know your budget and the size of the diamond you are looking for. And hola, the deal is done and it’s as simple as that.
Problem #2: Inability to customize and severely marked-up prices
Do you know that the premium range for Lee Hwa Jewellery does not allow us to customize or even “re-size”? It comes as a set. Pro is that you’re able to bring it home on the same day. Cons will be pretty intuitive. So, I wonder how many of the guys out there actually fell prey to this and allow themselves to settle for something with the “ring size” as the priority? It should never be that case. Also, if we bring the aspect of “price” into the picture, unless you have a deep pocket, we can definitely find ourselves getting a better deal from customized jewellers such as JP. The price that Lee Hwa quoted me for my ring below was $16k before discount (after discount $13k~). Although the diamond quality is good, it is still madness, seriously.
How we ended up at JP
Like many customers, at this stage of life, I am puzzled and in fact clueless to going about buying an engagement ring. So somehow, we decided to leave these typical jewellers, feeling that this isn’t right. Then, I recalled about reading about Jann Paul here and thus, we headed down to try our luck.
Experience with JP
The person who served me was Jerome, and he actually presented a very professional front which assured me confidence in making such a huge purchase. Why do I say so? Because he actually asked correct questions. Questions such as “do you know what you’re looking for? If not, will you be interested to go through an informative session with us?” Back then, we don’t see why not and particularly so, if this domain isn’t our forte to begin with, all the more we should be going through it. The main takeaways from this non-obligatory session was that carat is not the only important thing to look out for, there are other C’s such as Cut (most important), colour and clarity. Shall not go into the details (I actually don’t remember already) but I am sure our friends @ JP will be more than enough to share them with you.
And unsurprisingly, my friend actually made his purchase of his engagement ring on the spot and collected it about 2 months later. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting myself to make the purchase on the same day too because I was just accompanying him but hey, the credit card 0% installment scheme as well as JP’s deposit program motivated me. Since prices of diamonds are never coming down, I might as well do something first to hatch the price. So, I actually bought the “stone” first.
Moving Forward
About 1/2 year later, I actually went down with my gf for the same information session but this time, with Casey. Both Jerome and Casey are very professional and even to the extent of explaining the relationship between the ring setting and the diamond, we feel that the things they shared make sense. It don’t come from the perspective of earning money from you. Yes, they will definitely earn profits (which business don’t) but more importantly, customers still need to be able to make an informed decision prior to their purchase. To me, this type of service by JP is consistent and definitely goes a long way and up to today, I had recommended 3 friends to head down to purchase their engagement rings with JP. And so they did, which all of them thanked me for introducing JP to them. I don’t earn commission from them but I feel motivated in doing so. It don’t hurt by sharing good stuffs with your friends. The key is “good”. And JP is indeed good in what they do. Frankly speaking, although I might not be returning anytime soon to purchase another engagement ring (probably a wedding band?), I am definitely sure that I will be recommending JP to the people around me. To share a bit more, here’s some picture of the engagement ring from JP. Cheers!
0.71 carat
Colour F
Clarity VS2
Super Ideal Cut
