5 /5 Ian Chen: Words cannot express my gratitude to Ray and Karem. I was searching for an engagement ring before my trip to Hawaii with my partner, and being the unorganised (optimistic :)) person I am, I left it until just two weeks prior to properly dive into the world of diamond rings — something I knew absolutely nothing about.
I had this misconception that I could just walk into a jewellery store, pick a ring off the shelf, and be done. But I quickly realised how limited the pre-made stock was in Melbourne. Every store I visited focused on designing rings from scratch — choosing the diamond and setting separately — and most required at least a month to complete the craft since their workshops were all overseas.
I was torn. The trip was the perfect opportunity to propose, but there didn’t seem to be enough time for a custom ring. On the other hand, I didn’t want to compromise. After all, this is THE ring that my partner will wear for life so I didn’t want to settle for something off the shelf that just felt okay.
Then came Ray and Karem. What started as a desperate, unbooked visit to their store at 101 Collins St turned into a beautifully crafted, custom-designed engagement ring in just one week. I have to admit I was extremely lucky as this was only possible because D&G & Co. has an in-house workshop and they run a VERY efficient operation. I’m talking about the fact that I walked in the day before the Easter weekend and received the ring a week later. So who knows how many working days they actually had to make it happen.
Ray was incredibly helpful — patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in helping me create the perfect ring. He spent hours chatting with me during my first visit and followed up with back-and-forth correspondence on the design to make sure it was exactly what I wanted. Karem was also always there, being extremely supportive and offering insights and guidance that made the whole after sales (resizing, etc) experience smooth and stress-free.
Once again, my whole-hearted thank you to both of you. I can’t recommend D&G Co enough.