About Passion Fire Diamonds
Our Mission
Our mission is to help each of our client's become happily engaged and married. The greatest experience on earth is to find your soul mate. We consider it a privilege to assist in celebrating that moment by designing and making each ring, one at a time.
Our Goals
Providing Quality
We intend to provide only the finest and most perfectly cut diamonds available. Our diamonds are each cut by master craftsman and before setting are each personally inspected by a Master Gemologist Appraiser to ensure our high quality standards are maintained. We intend to provide only the finest quality custom made rings available, one at a time, never mass produced.
Promoting Ethical and Fair Practices
We will only use non-conflict, non-blood sourced diamonds produced in mines which have fair trade practices in place, for the benefit of the local communities where the diamonds are found; our industry calls this "beneficiation" but we call it the golden rule, "doing unto others as we would have them do unto us."
Promoting Stewardship of our Environment
- We will only use metals, and diamonds mined in socially and ecologically responsible practices. We
encourage our clients to provide their own gold or platinum whenever they can for recycling in the
production of their ring. - We use "Green" recycled gold in the production of our rings.
- We donate 5% of our profits to local, national, and global charities which support children's health and
education needs.
Who we are
Passion Fire Diamonds was founded by David Nygaard, out of his passion for perfectly cut diamonds. David Nygaard's career in gemology began years ago as a child when he collected rocks in the Mohave dessert in California. David went on to study business at the College of William and Mary, before returning home to work in his mother's jewelry business, Sandy's Touch of Gold, before opening David Nygaard Fine Jewelers.
David Nygaard, Master Gemologist
David's love for his childhood hobby grew into a brilliant career as a Master Gemologist Appraiser and jeweler. David's love of the industry and gemology is exhibited by his professional achievements which include being the first and only jeweler in the Commonwealth of Virginia to hold both the title of Certified Gemologist Appraiser by the American Gem Society and the title of Master Gemologist Appraiser by the American Society of Appraisers. In his studies he became passionate about perfection in diamond cutting, which maximizes brilliance through ideal proportions, perfect symmetry, and exceptional polish. In 1996, he became aware of the Blood Diamond problems and began issuing "Diamond Genesis reports" on his diamonds to ensure they were sourced properly and ethically.
David has been a contributing editor of Jewelers Circular Keystone Magazine and In Store Magazine, served on the Board of Governors for the Jewelers Education Foundation, and is a frequent jewelry speaker both in and out of the industry. David was named as one of the "Top 40 under 40" community leaders, by Inside Business Magazine, which recognizes both professional achievement and charitable involvement in the Hampton Roads Community. David also serves on the Entrepreneurial Advisory Board for the College of William and Mary Mason School of Business and the Alan Miller Center for Entrepreneurship. David received his BBA from the College of William and Mary and his MBA from Regent University. In 2007, David and his wife formed the David Nygaard Foundation 501C-3 charity to promote children's health and educational needs.
A Hearts on Fire Retailer and Speaker
In 2004, David Nygaard began an association with Hearts on Fire as an authorized retail partner, and became a frequent speaker at their training event, Hearts on Fire University. In his association with Hearts on Fire he saw that the prices limited the premium brand to the wealthy, and he desired to source perfectly cut diamonds in a way to provide affordable access to everyone. In developing Passion Fire cutting standards, David borrowed from Hearts on Fire and then as a Master Gemologist, improved those standards where ever possible. Passion Fire diamonds hold essentially the same cutting standards as Hearts on Fire: AGS ideal cut proportions, perfect Hearts and Arrow patterned symmetry, and exceptional polish at ten times the industry standard, which is personally certified by David himself.
Virginia Business of the Year
In 2006, David was named the Virginia Business of the Year after successfully expanding his business from one to seven stores in just four years. In mid 2008, David was forced to shutter the seven store chain after his bank called his loans. David downsized his business back to a single store where he works directly with customers once again on unique custom designs. All of the rings on our site are products from his imagination and commitment to excellence in design.
This change in career path gave David the opportunity to pursue his dream to launch the nation's first Internet based premium cut diamond brand, Passion Fire Diamonds, as kind of a blend between Blue Nile and Hearts on Fire. David is now the nation's first Matrix Design Certified Master Gemologist Appraiser. His Patented Custom Design Process helps clients design the ring of their dreams with Passion Fire Diamonds. Passion Fire Diamonds is the fulfillment of his dream to make perfectly cut diamonds available to everyone at affordable prices.
Hearts on Fire versus Passion Fire
Unlike Hearts on Fire, Passion Fire does not require an AGS lab report, which in our opinion adds a great deal of expense to the sourcing of these diamonds. Instead, Passion Fire uses technology based gem lab equipment (the same type of equipment used in the major gem labs) to verify both AGS ideal proportions and Hearts and Arrows Symmetry. Hearts on Fire diamonds are available only over .15 carats in size, while Passion Fire diamonds are available down to 1/200ths of a carat!
Blue Nile versus Passion Fire
Unlike Blue Nile, at Passion Fire Diamonds we only sell premium cut diamonds in round and square shapes. We only sell diamonds larger than 3/4 carat in size. Our site quotes diamonds up to 2 carats but we will gladly provide an individual quote for larger diamonds upon request. Unlike the Blue Nile signature cut, Passion Fire diamonds are ideal cut to AGS proportions. The AGS proportions are more narrow than the "ideal" standards used by Blue Nile and this makes our Passion Fire diamonds more rare and more brilliant. Blue Nile does not hold the same strict standards for their signature cut diamonds as Passion Fire holds. Our prices though are comparable to the prices quoted for Blue Nile Signature cut diamonds.
