i.e., A local favorite, or Im a single woman in my forties very down to earth and spending money on myself is something I very seldom do. I had been a customer of "another" area jewlery store for over 20 years - Due to a terrible chain of events with my ring - I decided to see what Vanhornes could do for me - And BOY OH BOY AM I EVER GLAD I DID !!! Earlier this year I had taken a very sentimental diamond band ring and seperate stone into their establishment to have the stone placed onto/inside the center of the diamond band ring. (both the stone and the ring were extremely sentimental to me and my goal was to keep the ring as it was but yet adding this stone to it) This is when my nightmare started I had been in and out of that store over ten times for numerous issues - each time my ring was getting worse and worse with each attempt to have them "FIX" what they had done the time before. I was sick - the beautiful ring I brought into their store was now a mess - dents, waves, gouges,nicks pits and finally a broken stone - I had sold every peice of jewelry ever owned to originally pay to have this stone placed on this ring and I had nothing more to give - because all of the damage (cover ups) that was done by their jewler I asked if they would take responibilty for this damage and redo my ring - start all over - they said no - that I should of never expected perfection since I had asked to have the ring changed and finally, they would be more then happy to place a new stone in my ring at no charge BUT I would have to buy a stone first - and that would not be cheap - This is when I went into Vanhornes - I was depleated - emotional and angry - I placed my once beautiful ring on the counter - I was first greeted by Bill and I explained my story -he waited patiently as explained what had been done to the ring - I showed pictures of what it once looked like before all of this happened - Bill let me vent and cry as I explained my 8 month ordeal. He called Kevin out to the counter who looked the ring over and together they explained what my options would be and then i asked them about doing what I had never ever imagined I would do - Have them melt my ring down and start all over - customizing a brand new ring / minus a center stone. Bill and Kevin never blinked an eye -they jumped right on the new idea They communicated with me thru phone and email - they bent over backwards throwing themselves into the possibilities of creating a brand new one of a kind ring for me - These two guys worked with me for over an hour we found a style I loved then Bill would take my ideas and create a ring - a few days went by and Bill sent me a computerized image of what he created and my ring was starting to take form - after my approval he went on to create the wax mold (a wax replica of what my ring would like like) which was a fantastic feature to be able to physically try on a mold of the ring BEFORE they actually begin. Then Dec 22 I got the call that my ring was ready !!! Bill and Kevin were both together as they opened up the box to show me my ring - I INSTANTLY CRIED (this time HAPPY TEARS) as I saw what they had done - the ring is BEAUTIFUL and EXACTLY LIKE I WANTED IT - Together these two guys put all they had into creating a ring that I will cherish for the rest of my life - Vanhornes is SIMPLY THE BEST - HANDS DOWN -highly recommended because