I'm in New York on vacation and we did a pick up and drop off with Alb today. What a very nice man he is. We chatted and laughed about a variety of things, and his buddy "the gem expert to end all gem experts" popped in and visited, too.

We got to see rubies as big as quarters and 2.5 carat brownish yellow diamond that was pretty rough cut and that he said is one of the rarest and for sure the oldest one he's ever seen himself.

He wouldn't let me take his picture because he thought he didn't look good enough - ha. He promised that when we come back on Thursday to pick up some repairs we dropped off today, he will dress nicely and be all ready for a paparazzi style photo shoot.

And yes, to answer everyone's burning question, he's cute.

did you get one of those rubies for a souvenir?

Alb is very cute and sweet, glad you got to meet him!

Hahahahaha. I love how we all need pictures of our jewelry people, LOL.

Hmmm now we'll have to see how he stacks up next to Rhino from GOG I think he is cute. ~Red

I'm back home and sorting through photos from my trip. Here are some pics for fun.

First, this is the collection that The Friend and I dropped off and picked up at Amcor. This is 5.5 carats of Moissy deliciousness all on one finger. Yay for glamour shots.

Left to right is:
1) My untreated Moissanite that needed tweaking.
2) My Amora Moissanite that I had Amcor put a new crown on because my old one was crap.
3) MissCassie's OEC Amora Moissanite that Amcor had just finished setting in a Poppyseed setting
4) The Friend's Amora Moissanite ring that Amcor made last winter and she finally had sized.

The next three photos happened when Alb pulled out a box full of ziplocks bags filled with small gemstones. He said casually, "These are just leftovers that have accumulated over the years." Like it's no big deal to have pounds of gemstones sitting around. Well, yeah, it's not a big deal to him. But to us it was fascinating, so we played.

And now… I promised Alb that I would let him see the photo I took of him before posting it for all of you, and today he gave me approval to go ahead.

You know how it is when you know absolutely nothing about a person except snippets of his work and reputation, and you form an image in your mind of what they must be like? And then you get your mind blown when you meet them? Yeah, it was like that.

I had formed an Alberto Bermeo in my mind who was a fatherly figure in his 50s or 60s and who embodied traditional old world Italy. Well…… he's a dude in his 20s who uses hair product and hails from Ecuador. HAHAHA!

It's rare to meet someone as kind as Alb. And he's a riot, too. Both times The Friend and I stopped in, we stayed for an hour and laughed and hooted so loudly that I'm pretty sure we irritated the neighbors. The topper is that he's cute, but it's probably inappropriate and kind of creepy to say that now that I realize I'm old enough to be his mother.

Hahahah Hadley!!
He's adorable!!!!

And I find it hilarious he had to see the picture first!!

Love the ring pictures and LOVE the gems!!!!

Hooray! I've been waiting for an update on this thread! I LOVE the picture, and you're right, that is totally NOT what I expected Alb to look like!

And I love the glamour shot of all our rings on your hand, fantastic! Oh, to play with all those rubies, sapphires and emeralds.... *sighs dreamily*

As someone who isn't old enough to be his mother, I have to say he's pretty darn cute too!

Thanks for posting pictures, Hadley. Alb is so cute! And he seems like such a nice guy for sure.. that's hilarious that he wanted to approve his picture first.. I do the same thing! LOL.

Glad you had a great time! The moissanite looks wonderful.. and omg you have beautiful hands! I have hand envy! Also, what color nail polish is that? It's wonderful!

UG, Bethany. My hands were nasty from several days of city grime, walking 14 hours a day in major heat, and total neglect. But for you ladies, I'll post my dry cuticles and puffy knuckles.

The polish is Essie's Merino Cool. It looks brown in this photo's incandescent lighting, but it's actually a dark cement gray with lilac purple undertones. It's really chameleon like depending on the lighting.