Gregg asked me to leave a review on City Search & Yelp, so here it goes. July '10, using City Search, I found Gregg and brought to him my original wedding set; platinum, excellent 1.06 ct center round stone with numerous diamond baguettes. I wanted to do an even exchange for a new right hand ring since I was going through a divorce. While I waited for Gregg to make a new ring, he removed my center stone and sold it within 2 days.
After 12 weeks and a litany of excuses including trying to deal with his ""guy in NYC"", health concerns, family problems, holidays, etc Gregg finally delivered a ""custom"" chunkier, white gold ring with a far inferior, darker, smaller center stone surrounded by a ton of side stones.. Nothing like what I wanted and he still hasn't delivered any sort of appraisal, which I believe he's holding hostage.
Feeling completely uneasy and dissatisfied, I took Gregg's ring to several jewelers in the Chicago area who have analyzed his stone and told me that it doesn't even qualify as a cushion cut because the size is too small. A couple jewelers then showed me the setting he used from a catalog. They said if this was supposed to be an even trade, that Gregg Helfer really made out and totally scammed me. All of the jewelers knew Gregg, none of them were surprised. So, buyer beware. My perfectly excellent diamond is on someone else's hand and I'm left with a ring that I detest and an impending lawsuit.
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