SparkSeeker
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2017
- Messages
- 9
I recently had a brilliant, well-rounded experience working with Melissa, Jamie, and Wink from High Performance Diamonds and wanted to share it with the PS community that was so helpful to me too. I found the passion, eye for detail, respect, and professionalism the HPD team has in what they do and how they do it was truly a difference maker and I am very pleased in the final product: a happy finance... oh, and the ring!
As usual, it started with the girl and wanting to give her the perfect engagement ring. We talked about it off and on, but things picked up when she shared her Pinterest board. I had an idea of how much I wanted to spend, but that was about it. I spent many days and nights researching online, trying to educate myself, made copious notes, started a spreadsheet with a couple dozen options, and eventually found my way to PriceScope where someone responded to my first post asking if I considered HPD.
At that point, I had not: BN, JA, BGD, WF, and a couple others were feverishly searched up until then. A half hour later after browsing the HPD website and reading some reviews on PS, I grew an appreciation for Wink and his vast experience in the industry, the superideal Crafted by Infinity brand, and HPD's generous satisfaction/upgrade policies.
A quick search on HPD's website and looking at the always-welcome magnified/IdealScopee/ASET/H&A images narrowed it down to 2, but as HPD recently upgraded their website, there were no videos up. I e-maield them and Melissa responded promptly (15 minutes!) saying that Wink would do a video. Over the course of the next 10 days or so, Melissa and I e-mailed and through her own personal experience (shared in pictures, no less) helped me with the setting and engraving. It was understandably a busy time for the business, so Wink wasn't able to do the video until about 10 days from the inquiry, but totally worth it: he was able to provide the final assurances that the diamond was as "high performing" as I was looking for.
I had a special engraving (a couple images and unique font), which Melissa was able to find someone to do at a reasonable cost.
I had the pleasure to speak with both Wink and Melissa several times over the phone to handle the invoicing and payment: I am a Canadian with Canadian credit cards, so some special considerations had to be made. We shared many laughs and memorable moments as Wink reminisced on his time in the industry; I'll leave them out of this writeup so others could experience them directly with Wink.
After invoicing and payments, Melissa and I chatted about the CAD and final design for the setting. She was very knowledgeable about the process and technicals that provided me the reassurance I was looking for, despite limitations with what Vatche could provide as a "true" CAD of the final design.
Roughly 10 days after the setting design go-ahead, Melissa had a progress update for me. Another 7 days after, she let me know there was a delay in the polishing process, and then another delay for more polishing before it could pass Vatche's quality control. A last minute change in shipping options was needed (to ensure I got the ring in hand in time for the proposal), but Melissa and Jamie were on the spot to make it happen. It was basically 4 weeks from go-ahead to ring in-hand. Unfortunately, the engraving was not possible to do in time (more on that later).
Packaging was secure, included everything they said it would (ring, box, certificate, appraisal, diamond inspection devices, etc.).
It's been a few days since the proposal, here are some anecdotes about the ring from my now finance:
I shared with my fiance my experience with HPD and now we are very strongly considering getting her wedding band from Wink and team.
For perhaps the most monumental decision I make in my life, I know in my mind and heart that HPD was absolutely the right to place my business, and trust. Thanks you Wink, Melissa, and Jamie!
Without further delay, here's the ring! As usual, cell phone cameras don't do it justice; I would not hesitate nor be exaggerating to say it's 5x better in person in the worst lighting, and feels 100x better under optimal lighting when the brilliance and fire just goes scintillatingly crazy.
Centre stone: CBI round brilliant, 0.79 ct, G, VVS2, AGS0 certified
Setting: Vatche Grace (180), customized for round halo, French cut down pave, size 6.5
As usual, it started with the girl and wanting to give her the perfect engagement ring. We talked about it off and on, but things picked up when she shared her Pinterest board. I had an idea of how much I wanted to spend, but that was about it. I spent many days and nights researching online, trying to educate myself, made copious notes, started a spreadsheet with a couple dozen options, and eventually found my way to PriceScope where someone responded to my first post asking if I considered HPD.
At that point, I had not: BN, JA, BGD, WF, and a couple others were feverishly searched up until then. A half hour later after browsing the HPD website and reading some reviews on PS, I grew an appreciation for Wink and his vast experience in the industry, the superideal Crafted by Infinity brand, and HPD's generous satisfaction/upgrade policies.
A quick search on HPD's website and looking at the always-welcome magnified/IdealScopee/ASET/H&A images narrowed it down to 2, but as HPD recently upgraded their website, there were no videos up. I e-maield them and Melissa responded promptly (15 minutes!) saying that Wink would do a video. Over the course of the next 10 days or so, Melissa and I e-mailed and through her own personal experience (shared in pictures, no less) helped me with the setting and engraving. It was understandably a busy time for the business, so Wink wasn't able to do the video until about 10 days from the inquiry, but totally worth it: he was able to provide the final assurances that the diamond was as "high performing" as I was looking for.
I had a special engraving (a couple images and unique font), which Melissa was able to find someone to do at a reasonable cost.
I had the pleasure to speak with both Wink and Melissa several times over the phone to handle the invoicing and payment: I am a Canadian with Canadian credit cards, so some special considerations had to be made. We shared many laughs and memorable moments as Wink reminisced on his time in the industry; I'll leave them out of this writeup so others could experience them directly with Wink.
After invoicing and payments, Melissa and I chatted about the CAD and final design for the setting. She was very knowledgeable about the process and technicals that provided me the reassurance I was looking for, despite limitations with what Vatche could provide as a "true" CAD of the final design.
Roughly 10 days after the setting design go-ahead, Melissa had a progress update for me. Another 7 days after, she let me know there was a delay in the polishing process, and then another delay for more polishing before it could pass Vatche's quality control. A last minute change in shipping options was needed (to ensure I got the ring in hand in time for the proposal), but Melissa and Jamie were on the spot to make it happen. It was basically 4 weeks from go-ahead to ring in-hand. Unfortunately, the engraving was not possible to do in time (more on that later).
Packaging was secure, included everything they said it would (ring, box, certificate, appraisal, diamond inspection devices, etc.).
It's been a few days since the proposal, here are some anecdotes about the ring from my now finance:
- "Yes!"
- "I've never seen a ring so sparkly! It's radiant from all angles! The light dances off it."
- "It catches people's eye. I can tell when I'm speaking to people. Their eyes keep glancing at the ring."
- "After looking at my ring, a couple ladies looked at theirs and said 'I want an upgrade!'"
- "Another pointed and said 'You need insurance on that!' Haha!"
- "It's so shiny, it's distracting... in a good way."
- "I got a lot of 'wow!''s and it has to do with the performance of the diamond and design of the ring."
- "I can't help but admire it in all different lights. It's mesmerizing."
- Searching: advanced search options (measurements) and more columns in the results page would be nice, although not as critical as with other vendors given all the diamonds are CBI.
- Videos: I'm sure many potential buyers, especially the saavy ones on PS, would appreciate having them posted without having to contact them.
- Engraving: Obviously I would have liked to have the engraving done in time too, but Melissa was understanding of my concerns of cross-border shipping it back and forth and offered to refund the engraving cost.
I shared with my fiance my experience with HPD and now we are very strongly considering getting her wedding band from Wink and team.
For perhaps the most monumental decision I make in my life, I know in my mind and heart that HPD was absolutely the right to place my business, and trust. Thanks you Wink, Melissa, and Jamie!
Without further delay, here's the ring! As usual, cell phone cameras don't do it justice; I would not hesitate nor be exaggerating to say it's 5x better in person in the worst lighting, and feels 100x better under optimal lighting when the brilliance and fire just goes scintillatingly crazy.
Centre stone: CBI round brilliant, 0.79 ct, G, VVS2, AGS0 certified
Setting: Vatche Grace (180), customized for round halo, French cut down pave, size 6.5
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