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- May 3, 2001
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Pyramid|1471745675|4068232 said:The A Cut Above diamonds that Whiteflash hold are all AGS0 certified as being ideal and are rounds.
However, the company which Wink is an agent for was the first to design and cut AGS0 ideal princess cut diamonds. This company is based in Antwerp in Europe and its name is Crafted by Infinity, ask Wink at High Performance Diamonds if they still cut Princess Cut diamonds. Crafted by Infinity are way up there with Whiteflash too. I think they are the most beautiful Princess Cut diamonds I have seen. Paul who is one of the company owners actually did a presentation on webcam to us here many years ago, when Pricescope allowed us that feature, Wink used to do many presentations too, very enjoyable they were, especially seeing his handmade gold rings, I especially like the ones an old man did for him with berries.
http://www.craftedbyinfinity.com
I noticed under their heading Provenance they have a bit written about conflict free too.
Also wanted to add that Paul used to write quite a bit on this forum and I remember he answered many questions I asked. He is a very personable man and he is a master diamond cutter too. I can't see diamonds listed on the site anymore so I think you need to go to an agent like Wink now to buy from them. The company has increased in size I believe so that will be the reason. Wink will know. Their upgrade policy is one of the best if not the best also, ask Wink about it. I have not bought from them but would certainly recommend them amongst others on this forum.
Just catching up on my reading and chanced on this kind post from Pyramid,
Oh good heavens, the nostalgia that you bring forth mentioning my friend and craftsman, Bei Van Tiet. He escaped from Vietnam around 1978 or early 1979 and his sister contacted me through a church who came to ask me if I knew someone who would give him a job as a jeweler. I had just opened my store in mid 1979 and had a bench room for him to use, but hardly any real equipment. His sister took him to San Fransisco and bought him some basic equipment to go with the torch and tanks that I had.
He started out making hand made items with gold that he mixed to 18 kt himself to his own formula. He would then roll it through the mill that he bought until it was the thickness that he wanted and then would cut pieces to be hammered into the shank, and even smaller pieces to be pulled, by hand, through ever smaller holes until he had wire that he used to make ornate vine designs to go on the sides of his gallery work on both rings and pendants. He would usually have some grape bunches on the "vines" as well. One of my early memories was going into the bench room and seeing him breaking his new files in half and making them old and worn like the ones he was used to working with in Vietnam.
We were trying to buy his family out of Vietnam when they escaped on boats. Shortly before reaching Thailand, their boat was boarded by Thai pirates. His daughter was taken, and in spite of our looking for years, never found. After more than a year his remaining family arrived in the United States. Not too long before Bei died I had a nice talk with him and even more than twenty years later when ever he talked about the Thai Pirates it was a with a voice filled with venom and aching with loss.
He went from an employee to being a friend and when I went to the Buddhist ceremony for him his sons stood holding hands with me for a long time afterwords telling me about him and how he loved working with me when he arrived in the States. For many years after he left my employ and opened his own small Vietnamese grocery store complete with a small jewelry bench I would go by and have him make a piece for one of my clients. He would never tell me how much to pay him, only said that I knew what it was worth to me, so I am sure I always paid more than I had to, but I always loved him for his complete trust of me.
Thank you Pyramid, for bringing those memories boiling to the surface to be freshened and treasured once again.
Wink