5 /5 Michael Mertes: Keswick Jewelers
For some reason, I didn’t think to ask for advice from my married friends. I thought I had a handle on this… how hard can it really be to buy an engagement ring? Then you walk into the store and whoa. That’s a lot of options. My now-wife is originally from New Orleans and I wanted to find a ring in which they could engrave a fleur-de-lis. After looking through the glass at dozens of rings, and quickly doubting my ability to make a decision, Caroline suggested that we design a ring together.
“Seriously? On the budget that I just gave you?”
“Absolutely.”
Caroline proceeded to sketch the few ideas that I had, was able to make some tweaks that she suggested (and that I was comfortable with). Minutes later, boom, was my vision for an engagement ring on paper. Caroline and Julia continued to work with me on choosing the metal, finding the right diamond, reviewing a 3D model of the ring, and allowing me to make changes whenever I had second thoughts.
But what mattered most is what SHE thought of the ring, my future partner for life. To my relief and gratitude, it was “perfect” (something that many other people iterated to her upon seeing it for the first time). Leading up to the wedding, Keswick would check for any flaws and even polished it a week before the ceremony. Needless to say, based upon on the experience with the engagement ring, we entrusted them to help us find wedding bands that spoke to us.
In my mind, virtually everything that led up to our wedding day was perfect. And it really started with a stroll into a downtown Arlington Heights jewelry store, pretending that I knew what I was doing, and then gratefully deferring to a professional to work WITH me on something special rather than trying to just sell me on something in one of their display cases. Caroline was a creative, patient, and supportive part of our wedding process. And positive experience like ours is something you just can’t get on the internet.
