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with purchase of a loose diamond from our inventory.
We pay cash for gold and platinum - scrap, old rings. You can trust us.
Tue-Sat. 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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I've TOTALLY forgot to write a review for this amazing jewelry store. I searched high and low for a certain Omega watch as a gift for my boyfriend. Randomly the site I came across was for Zwillinger and after checking the address, I realized I worked a few blocks from there. (saving $$$ on shipping - score) After going into the old-school Phelan Building and heading up to the 8th floor, I entered Zwillingers double-security gate and felt like I had gone back 40 or 50 years.
For some reason the jewelery store/office space is reminiscent of "Mad Men" times and the service was equally as impressive. Everyone who helped me was amazing and so friendly. They never pressured me and were super patient. Eventually I found the perfect watch and got the best deal I could have gotten.
!!!yay for old school indie jewelry stores!!!
When you first enter the building and head to the 8th floor, you feel like you may be heading to a dentist office, but then you enter through the security gate entrance and are welcomed by friendly rep.
Bradie helped me pick out a wedding band for my wedding and she was unbelievably helpful and a pleasure to work with throughout the whole process. She was courteous, patient, informative, and made me feel comfortable asking the 'dumb' questions because this was my first time buying a ring for myself and I really had no idea.
She followed up with me promptly on pricing and availability. And when it turned out that the ring I wanted wouldn't make it across the Atlantic in time for my wedding, she allowed me to borrow a placeholder ring to be used during my wedding ceremony. She even brushed on a satin finish for me while I waited.
Not only do I think this place is a steal for the quality of jewelry compared to most other options you have around union square, it is one of the most comfortable jewelry store I've been into, no pushy salespeople, just honest answers and fun conversations.
They have both men's and women's jewelry. They had the largest selection of Men's Wedding Band's that I came across in San Francisco (after browsing through a dozen other stores).
I came here with my man looking for a ring that I saw online. Though they didn't have it on display, the sales associate Suki took down all the information and brought in the ring from the designer (Varna) a few days later. She called me in to let me know and put no pressure on us to buy anything. I appreciated her professional opinion and helping me pick a ring that would match my engagement ring. In the end, we ended up picking another ring (Christian Baeur) and were given the option to put a hold deposit on it, as well as doing a layaway plan. This place isn't as big as chain jewelers, but the service is friendly and the prices are fair.
I bought my "rock" from Zwillinger's oh about four years ago. Great service, great prices. There are some things that the internet can't do, and buying a diamond is one of them. (buying a car is probably the other) It's so much fun shopping for something as unique as your future wife's diamond. The folks there take you through it step by step and you never feel like you are rushed to buy. They also have a ton of cool jewelry for him if you are into that.
What an amazing store! And the customer service is outstanding! Extemely friendly, professional, and helpful!
My rock came from this hidden lil' place. They have a small shop with simple, modest inventory. No razzmatazz or fancy light and mirrors here. Just jewelry.
My hubby bought the loose stone here for my ring. He chose Zwillinger only after he had exhausted all of the fancy schmancy designer jewelry stores. None of them would let him pick out a setting separate from the stone, and they were quite snobby about it. It was all or nothing.
However, the nice folks at Zwillinger gave him the opportunity to peruse their collection of diamonds, and helped educate him on the finer points of engagement ring shopping. They eventually found him a sweet lil' rock, nearly perfect.
When he took it to Shreve and Co to get it set in a platinum setting, the man at the counter took one look at the diamond and said it was the nicest he's seen in that size...ever!
I went back that following month to get hubby's ring. They remembered my name...so cool!
Zwillinger is the first place I recommend when anyone is looking for quality, reasonably priced fine jewelry. They're a hidden gem! (pun intended)
You simply don't feel like you get ripped off here. Buying jewelery can be such a harrowing experience. A lot of nodding and mumbling until you find something in your price range and style... The folks here listen to you and bing a lot to choose from and don;t lay down the pressure.
I like this place quite a bit.
Oh yeah, my dad bought my mom's engagement ring here more then 30 years ago: it's been top notch forever.
After searching endlessly on BlueNile and ExcelDiamonds for my fiancee's engagement ring, I finally arrived at a ring style called Royal Empress by Vatche. However, I wasn't convinced entirely that this ring was the right choice until I saw it in person. Zwillinger worked with Vatche to have the ring delivered express so that I could see it in their store and compare it to other ring styles they had in the stock, which is a LOT. All the sales people were very friendly, extremely helpful, and, most importantly, not pushy.
I highly recommend them!
Here are some pics of the actual ring that I had made:
http://www.pricescope....
After about 3 years of nonchalant searching, and constantly being turned off by other jewelers, Suki at Zwillinger's got me to pull the trigger within 3 days. I originally set foot in the small shop with a friend of mine, who was looking for wedding bands. My girlfriend came with us as the "girl opinion." The wedding band prices were totally cheaper than Tiffany's for the same thing, and the attention was undivided. After about 5 minutes of looking around my buddy bought his rings. It was literally easier than buying shoes. No pressure, no stuffy security guards casing me out despite arriving on a bicycle (it's my commuter!), no special projector lights looming above. Just a store that looks like an office, glass cases packed with different settings and rings (& other types of jewelry). It's on the 8th floor of a high-rise office building. Strange place for a jewelry shop, but you'll get over it soon enough.
Sitting down with my girlfriend, Suki didn't give me pressure and shoot me glances like all the other jewelers did. She talked to my girlfriend and found out exactly what kind of style she liked and made suggestions. She told us about options, like different settings, stones, etc. My girlfriend found a few rings that she absolutely loved (micropave' settings with a big stone in the middle surrounded by a halo --- gasp!). Suki got my number and said we'd talk prices later. I came back 2 days later after talking on the phone.
After dealing with Suki, my budget increased by 2-fold - but I don't feel swindled. She educated me thoroughly on not only the cut, but the ideality of the cut, symmetry, color, polish, etc. She spent so much time with me, I felt guilty. The one-on-one attention made me feel comfortable and she helped steer me in the right direction at all times - basically telling me at what point the GIA ratings became indistinguishable to the human eye, and helping me see (for the first time ever!!!) inclusions in stones and the difference of different depths. What looked like 3 identical diamonds to me in the beginning looked like 3 totally different stones in the end. She really took the time to educate me. And by educating me, I made the decision myself which stone to buy, and which things (clarity, cut) I valued over others (color). And making your own decision with all the information at hand makes it very comfortable!
I just enjoyed everything about the experience. I never thought I would be writing this as buying jewelry is like pulling teeth to me. I can buy a car in 20 minutes, but I've never seen the value in shiny little things. Suki and Zwillingers changed that by educating me and empowering me. They just felt really honest and accomodating. Highly recommended.
My girlfriend --- I guess my fiancee now (wow that feels weird to write) --- loves her ring.
Mission accomplished.
Edit 10/21: We went back for the final fitting & prong reinforcement for the ring and were very happy. My lady's friends seem to all love the ring. A few have stated that they are going to start looking for upgrades to their original engagement solitaires. I feel sorry for their husbands (suckers!) but I'm happy to get back at them. Wham, kidney shot, boys!
Edit 11/25: The GIA certification came in the mail. And I think the ring is super pimp... because now when we go into jewelry stores they're on me like flies on poo. Before, the only person paying me any attention was the security guard.
I shopped all over for my then fiance's setting, a platinum Vatche X-prong. I went to multple jewellers in the Gift Center, online, everywhere. When I went in to Zwillinger's, not only did I find the best price (if I recall, they were roughly $200 less then everyone else), I got wonderful service as well. They're NEVER crowded, and someone is always there to help the minute you walk in.
I even came back with my fiance to pick out both our wedding bands, and again, got the best service. No one was pushy, or trying to rush us.
If you're looking for something and want great service and price, then come here.
Suki at Zwillinger was awesome. I recently bought an engagement ring for my girlfriend and was thrilled to find Zwillinger; their prices are far less than most of the other places I'd checked out, and Suki was helpful, friendly, and responsive. In fact, all the folks I worked with there were great. No pressure, no attitude. I'll absolutely keep going back to them in the future.
I found a beautiful, perfectly cut, engagement ring here and have no regrets. The staff is very nice and friendly, and a pleasure to work with.
Yeah, this place is AWESOME. We didn't have an appointment, just showed ourselves up to the 8th floor and they buzzed us right in. They were totally nice about letting us try everything, and because they will order it for you (takes 3-4 weeks), they can't pressure you into buying it because they don't have it right there - not that they would anyway. The shop is deceptively small - they have a pretty big selection, and unlike other jewelry stores, I actually liked most of their things. They called the next day with the exact price quotes on our wedding bands and also offered to let us buy the stock rings for cheaper - all without any sense of urgency, just letting us know our options. I wish we had bought my engagement ring here.
The people are just so nice. Everything seems totally above-board and honest (not that I'd know if it weren't). I'll definitely recommend them to everyone I know. It's the old-time small-town family store you always wish SF had.
It appears that Zwillinger did not want this review to be public as it "somehow" got deleted. So here it is again. Please Read.
I'm going to get right to the point: DON'T GO TO ZWILLINGER. This place is the worst jewelry store I've ever been to. It's unfortunate, too, because it's in a cool old building on Market St. and at first I thought I'd found a "hidden gem." But don't be fooled like I was. Unless you are spending several thousand dollars, in my opinion they don't really care about you or your needs. I felt like I was treated without respect, and their staff is quite pushy. Even worse, I'm almost certain they accidentally swapped my diamond. That's right, I took a diamond in to be set in an antique setting, and when I got it back another jeweler pointed out that it wasn't set safely during an appraisal. They said the diamond was set at an angle, and it would eventually come out. So when I brought it back to Zwillinger (and they would not admit that their work was imperfect), and they popped it out of the setting, I asked to verify that it was my diamond at this point (should have done that earlier, but it also shouldn't really matter), and it WASN'T MY DIAMOND. The inscription wasn't there, and the measurements were slightly off. At this point I took my diamond and setting and went to a different store to finish the job, but I know my diamond is out there somewhere, and I'll NEVER go back to this establishment. The store showed absolutely no interest in remedying the situation after we told them our stone had been swapped and it was only after posting this negative review on Yelp that they even contacted us. Of course, instead of trying to figure out what went wrong with their service or even apologizing, the owner merely ranted and raved about their reputation. Do yourself and favor and STAY AWAY. There is no need for snooty, careless types in the business. Not only do they do shoddy work, but they're riding on a reputation built years ago and honestly don't care about quality service that will continue that reputation.
Neighborhood: Union Square
Category: Jewelry
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: Jewelry
Neighborhood: Union Square
Category: Jewelry
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: Jewelry
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
Category: Jewelry
