ABOUT REAL STONE
For those looking for an advocate throughout the process of creating a piece, Real Stone Company specializes in curating entirely unique diamond and gemstone selections, and crafting handmade pieces executed to the highest standard here in Los Angeles.
Real Stone Company gives our clients the information they need to make informed gemological and design decisions. Our core ideology ensures transparent and direct guidance during every step of the process - from the first phone call to the signed appraisal.
With a background in both the fast paced world of direct vendor contacts, and a profound appreciation for sophistication and seamless execution, Real Stone Company delivers the most exceptional product with optimal value proposition.
ABOUT REAL STONE CO.
For those looking for an advocate throughout the process of creating a piece, Real Stone Company specializes in curating entirely unique diamond and gemstone selections, and crafting handmade pieces executed to the highest standard here in Los Angeles.
Real Stone Company gives our clients the information they need to make informed gemological and design decisions. Our core ideology ensures transparent and direct guidance during every step of the process - from the first phone call to the signed appraisal.
With a background in both the fast paced world of direct vendor contacts, and a profound appreciation for sophistication and seamless execution, Real Stone Company delivers the most exceptional product with optimal value proposition.
PHILOSOPHICAL INSPIRATION |
A DIAMOND’S JOURNEY
The Diamond Producer’s Association
KIRSTEN ZIEN
FOUNDER & CEO
Jewelry was somewhat peripheral in my childhood. I grew up with stories of safes piled chock full of diamond shipments to my Great Uncle’s store, while curiously pouring through the overflowing jewelry box of my Grandmother. Guessing each center stone, hearing exotic stories about her travels, and admiring the Amethyst and Emerald souvenirs she had brought back with her. In short, my interest in jewelry was like that of a fairy tale – lovely to ponder, but somewhat removed from my own reality.
Then came my engagement. The internet was a disconcerting scramble of information – cut guides that droned on about pavilion and crown angles being optimized to the zillionth degree, sickly sweet slogans, photoshopped photographs that featured what looked like computer renderings. Retail stores weren’t much better – sales tactics that left me feeling like a cornered animal, transparency was utterly lacking, and I was put off by promises that seemed too good to be true (looking back, they most definitely were). To this day, I remain shocked by what some stores sell under the guise of acceptable stones.
It could be argued that one of my greatest flaws and gifts is my extremely stubborn and somewhat fixated personality. I needed to understand how almost every happy couple at some point in their lives made this purchase, but so few had felt informed throughout the process. And thus, like a woman possessed, I marched off to a prominent private jeweler in Downtown Los Angeles, and began an apprenticeship (much to the shock of those who had known me for my work in the entertainment business for the past seventeen years).
A GIA degree later, a full time position working directly with hundreds of clients, (sourcing diamonds, colored stones, and designing rings) armed with a book full of cutters, vendors, and a craftsman I would trust with my life (and any 10 carat diamond) I had finally gotten to the heart of what I had been looking for. An experience that was involved yet painless – expert sourcing of diamonds with excellent value proposition, designs that featured timeless elegance but utilized the reliability modern techniques, and a professional relationship that didn’t feel like that of an enemy, but rather, an advocate. I worked extremely hard to become the jeweler I wished my husband and I had while we had been looking for an engagement ring those years ago.
KIRSTEN ZIEN
Jewelry was somewhat peripheral in my childhood. I grew up with stories of safes piled chock full of diamond shipments to my Great Uncle’s store, while curiously pouring through the overflowing jewelry box of my Grandmother. Guessing each center stone, hearing exotic stories about her travels, and admiring the Amethyst and Emerald souvenirs she had brought back with her. In short, my interest in jewelry was like that of a fairy tale – lovely to ponder, but somewhat removed from my own reality.
Then came my engagement. The internet was a disconcerting scramble of information – cut guides that droned on about pavilion and crown angles being optimized to the zillionth degree, sickly sweet slogans, photoshopped photographs that featured what looked like computer renderings. Retail stores weren’t much better – sales tactics that left me feeling like a cornered animal, transparency was utterly lacking, and I was put off by promises that seemed too good to be true (looking back, they most definitely were). To this day, I remain shocked by what some stores sell under the guise of acceptable stones.
It could be argued that one of my greatest flaws and gifts is my extremely stubborn and somewhat fixated personality. I needed to understand how almost every happy couple at some point in their lives made this purchase, but so few had felt informed throughout the process. And thus, like a woman possessed, I marched off to a prominent private jeweler in Downtown Los Angeles, and began an apprenticeship (much to the shock of those who had known me for my work in the entertainment business for the past seventeen years).
A GIA degree later, a full time position working directly with hundreds of clients, (sourcing diamonds, colored stones, and designing rings) armed with a book full of cutters, vendors, and a craftsman I would trust with my life (and any 10 carat diamond) I had finally gotten to the heart of what I had been looking for. An experience that was involved yet painless – expert sourcing of diamonds with excellent value proposition, designs that featured timeless elegance but utilized the reliability modern techniques, and a professional relationship that didn’t feel like that of an enemy, but rather, an advocate. I worked extremely hard to become the jeweler I wished my husband and I had while we had been looking for an engagement ring those years ago.