My history with Belle Epoque is a long standing romance. I was brought here by a friend when she found out that Earl and I were toying with engagement talk. It was there on Hill Street, where Tina had let us take a few diamonds set in rings outside to see them in the sun, that Earl and I fell in love with the same vintage stone with just 58 facets that we knew we were going to be engaged.
They took that hand cut rock out of it’s unappealing old setting, let me choose a new setting, and in just a few days, it was ready and breathtaking. I didn’t get to see it until he popped the question, but it was worth the wait. It was fresh and it was ancient and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before.
As we speak, they have my sparkly baby back in their hands for a good cleaning and servicing, which is always free. Diamonds are like cars, take care of them and they’ll take care of you. Girls, you know what I mean.
Since then, I’ve been the yenta that dragged a young man here to find his engagement ring. To his great joy he found something wonderful and EXPENSIVE looking that was within his budget. Don’t mind the “price tags”. Ask to see the piece, THEN ask how much it is. Show your genuine interest and the prices drop dramatically. Buy a few things, it drops again. Be a regular and the sky’s the limit.
I’ve also brought in a black pearl that we brought back from our Fiji honeymoon and 3 Aquamarine stones I had brought home from India 9 years prior that needed something done with them. With Tina’s help, I designed pieces on the spot, she helped me choose my details and within a couple of weeks, I had jewelry that I had designed myself! They needed a few tweaks and those were handled as well! How fun is that? I turned the aquamarine into 3 stackable rings with hammered silver bands. ($600 for the set) and I made the pearl into a pendant necklace floating within an silver ring with an audience of tiny diamonds. ($400).
I also found my 40th birthday gift from my hubby here. A wood rose ring with lots of bling a ding ding. And a gift from my mom that she could not deny was gorgeous and she’s a tough cookie.
They are the best jewelers in Los Angeles and Tina is someone that I can trust with my most precious things.
FINDING IT: This can be tricky. I think parking under Pershing Square is the cheapest but be prepared to pay $10-$15 just to park in the area for an hour or more. Belle Epoque is in the giant Jewelry Building at 650 Hill Street. They are on the GROUND FLOOR and look the same as the many stands there. They are inside but near the sidewalk side close to 7th street. It doesn’t look like anything special, but that is just the place to see things and meet Tina and her mom. Jewelry is built and cleaned and serviced across the street.