Lab Diamond Check Please! Yadis (Shanghai Haoben) Jewellry

[VJ020]

At long last, after filtering through more than 2-3 dozen lab diamonds from Fiorese, Starsgem, Messi, and Tianyu, and Provence, I have found a lab diamond as close to super ideal specs as possible AND *not over $3500USD.*

The reason for my budget restriction is because this is my first time purchasing from Alibaba and I didn't want to make too big of a risk with a more expensive combo.

Can all of you diamond experts give me your opinion? I am a little bit worried about the 35.2 crown and it is leaning towards a deeper cut territory with its 62% depth, but I don't have much choice. I am hoping the averages of the 40.8PA would work well with MOST facets to minimize light leakage.

Please let me know what you think!!

Date	02/08/2019
Description	Laboratory Grown Diamond
Shape And Cutting Style	Round Brilliant
Carat Weight	1.44 Carat
Color Grade	G
Clarity Grade	VS 1
Cut Grade	Ideal
Polish	Excellent
Symmetry	Excellent
Measurements	7.20 - 7.23 x 4.47 mm
Table	58%
Crown Height - Angle	15% - 35.2°
Pavilion Depth - Angle	43% - 40.8°
Total Depth	62%
Girdle Thickness	Medium To Sl. Thick (Fac.)
Culet	Pointed
Fluorescence	None
Comments	This Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) laboratory
	grown diamond is classified as Type IIa.

 

[VJ020]

 

[monipod]

Whoa? So there are Chinese labs doing stones? It's not that surprising since they manufacture so many other things. Your stone looks lovely but I'm not an MRB expert. My only concern would be quality of cut with stones coming from a relatively new player in the field.

 

[AprilBaby]

It looks like a beauty. Money back if it’s not?

 

[VJ020]

It looks like a beauty. Money back if it’s not?

Not a bad idea at all, but since it's coming from Alibaba/China I'd really hope not to deal with the stress and complication of a refund!

 

[OoohShiny]

Check the Returns policy carefully.

Check the seller carefully.


62% is not 'deep', though.

 

[Pearl19]

Not a bad idea at all, but since it's coming from Alibaba/China I'd really hope not to deal with the stress and complication of a refund!

Good luck getting a refund from a Chinese seller - it's virtually unheard of.

The stone looks gorgeous (but I don't have the expertise others here have).

 

[VJ020]

Check the Returns policy carefully.

Check the seller carefully.


62% is not 'deep', though.

Thank you for the assurance! You are correct, 62% is not deep per se but it fell outside of my criteria of 61-61.8%. As Gary Holloway once said, however, the percentages do not matter as much and that was where I placed my gamble!

Good luck getting a refund from a Chinese seller - it's virtually unheard of.

The stone looks gorgeous (but I don't have the expertise others here have).

Thank you for the feedback! I've researched quite thoroughly into this and I am 90% confident that a refund is possible IF the conditions that the seller and I agreed upon in the contract were not met. That is because for this transaction I am using Alibaba Trade Assurance to complete the order.

The Alibaba Trade Assurance is essentially the same, if not better, than Paypal because if used correctly, you are able to set all the conditions you want and ensure both parties agree to them before submitting your order. After that, Alibaba accepts the money on behalf of the seller as the middleman and if any problems arise, will decide to which side the money will go to.

 

[VJ020]

Here's the CAD if you spot any issues or problems, please let me know! I wanted it to be exactly like the Brilliant Earth Poppy found here:


Brilliant Earth Poppy Setting (CLICK HERE)

 

[OoohShiny]

1.8mm is about as thin as it is safe to go in a band, as I understand it, so you may wish to go wider if you have a job or another role that involves using your hands a lot!

 

[Austina]

I agree with @OoohShiny, 1.8mm is very thin, I would go for 2mm, it’s still thin but will be a bit more durable.

 

[VJ020]

Good call, thank you! I am planning to ask the seller to either bump up to 2mm wide/1.8mm thick or 1.8mm wide/1.8mm thick.

 

[OoohShiny]

You might want to consider a 'comfort fit' inner shape to the ring as well, to take the edges off the inside

 

[molecule]

I believe the measurements that they give on their CADs is prior to polishing and one should expect to lose .2mm due to the polish. I would bump it up to 2.2mm based on that.

 

[strawrose]

Tianyu is respected by the moissy-loving PSers. You actually got a reply about lab diamonds? I emailed them months ago.

 

[Ra2nl]

@molecule Tianyu's CAD measurements are post polishing. My ring end up 0.2mm wider.

 

[molecule]

@molecule Tianyu's CAD measurements are post polishing. My ring end up 0.2mm wider.

Thanks for the correction!

 

[VJ020]

Tianyu is respected by the moissy-loving PSers. You actually got a reply about lab diamonds? I emailed them months ago.

Yes, after much research the best way to communicate with them is via Alibaba chat because your chat history gets saved and the supplier is held accountable if anything deviates from your chat/agreement. You could also use whatsapp for a faster response but it would be considered a "private discussion." Email seems to be the slowest and most likely to be missed by the sellers from my experience!

 

[VJ020]

The ring is finished! Thank you so much for everyone's feedback and expertise. It has really helped me along this journey.

If it is not too much to ask, please take a look at the finished diamond ring and let me know if you spot any issues or problems with the setting, prongs, or diamond before Yadis ships it out to me!

Note: Does your platinum jewelry from China have PT950 engraved on the inside? Mine doesn't seem to have that.

*Remember to click 720P for high definition video in the bottom right corner (gear icon) of the video!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2vdxq2xwd5i8mq/879acf1d4eda5f3b30055f60bce223c7.mp4?dl=0


This is the setting I chose to make:
https://www.brilliantearth.com/Poppy-Diamond-Ring-(1/6-ct.-tw.)-Platinum-BE1D1414-5007378/

 

[monipod]

The ring looks amazing! My only concern using a relatively unknown business in China, based on my observations of what has happened in other industries, is to ensure that your ring is indeed platinum. If they refuse to engrave PT950 or give you some form of certification that they are using 95% platinum, I'd be worried that their alloy mix isn't up to scratch.

Not all jewellers in Australia will note metal purity on the band either, but I can go and complain to them in person if it ever tests less than what I expected. And the law will be in my side. There are many genuine Chinese businesses that want to break into the overseas market so I think you're safe with Yadis but it wouldn't hurt to get full assurance before shipping.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

i can't wait to see in on your hand
it looks a stunner
best wishes with a smooth and 100% trouble free transaction

 

[VJ020]

Good point raised by @monipod! Thank you for the informative feedback. I did not know Australia also does not require the metal type engraving into the ring.

I requested more pictures because the video was too hard to see any flaws. Please help me take a look to see if the setting and melee prongs are ok?

Q1: Is it me or is one of the main diamond prongs not aligned?
Q2: Is the melee prong adjacent to the main diamond not tightened enough?
Q3: Is the diamond centered in the prongs? On the ring?

 

[VJ020]

Q1: Is it me or is one of the main diamond prongs not aligned?





Q2: Is the prong on the left bent further out than the one on the right?




Is the melee prong adjacent to the main diamond not tightened enough?

 

[monipod]

Q1: Is it me or is one of the main diamond prongs not aligned?

Q2: Is the prong on the left bent further out than the one on the right?

Is the melee prong adjacent to the main diamond not tightened enough?

I have to say you're doing a really good job with quality assurance! I wouldn't have noticed! But therein lies the problem: Yadis should have noticed the problems, not you. Yes, I think one of the prongs is not set right and while it's hard to say from photos, you could be right about the other things. I think the diamond is not fully centered on the band. Definitely worth pointing that out to them.

 

[VJ020]

I have to say you're doing a really good job with quality assurance! I wouldn't have noticed! But therein lies the problem: Yadis should have noticed the problems, not you. Yes, I think one of the prongs is not set right and while it's hard to say from photos, you could be right about the other things. I think the diamond is not fully centered on the band. Definitely worth pointing that out to them.

Thank you! Yes I am quite the picky customer indeed.

I think we can look at this from two sides.

To be fair, the sales agent received the ring and identified the prong misalignment just as I had. She apologized for the mistake from the factory and sent it back for adjustment immediately upon my approval. Unlike the rest of the ring which is casted, I anticipated that there may be a slight deviations while setting the (numerous) prongs because it is based on 100% subjective craftsmanship. There are no machines to analyze the finished work and the responsibility belongs to both the owner and seller to ensure that the ring meets satisfaction.

Now, considering the price of the setting being 1/6 of the price quoted by Brian Gavin for the identical custom design, I do expect that I will be need to spend a bit more time to do proper research. Anywhere else, such as Brilliant Earth or James Allen I am also 90% sure they mass produce their setting from China as well.

In my opinion it is a good choice to make if you can afford the time because ultimately I became more educated and feel a greater pride in owning the final product. Along the journey I also got to know all of you fine folks on PriceScope!

 

[AprilBaby]

I’m curious since we will never meet or know each other if you would disclose the price of the diamond from Yadis as compared to US prices?

 

[VJ020]

Yes I plan to disclose the price and my tabulated (and numerical) experiences with multiple sales agents/companies overseas so people on here can judge who to talk to and which company to choose from if they decide to go that route. As the ring is still being worked on right now and it hasn't been shipped to me to conduct two seperate independent evaluations to conclude the entire purchasing experience, I will save that information for later to remain as unbiased as possible for the time being!


This is what I have posted on reddit so far:


I tabulated my encounters with suppliers on Alibaba and I will provide the numbers to back up my research findings later, but just briefly from my shopping research/experience after numerous months of research and discussions with multiple sales agents: TY/Yadis carries the largest (and the same) stock of CVD super ideal cut diamonds with over 60 lab diamonds available at any time. Many of these were ideal cuts (Id/Ex/Ex) so I would imagine there are even more stock if you were less picky. Customer service varies depending on which sales agent you speak with and also their patience with me - as I was being slightly more picky than the average customer. The same diamond will vary in price across different agents but surprisingly the setting price varies too, by a large amount from $300-400 all the way to $1000 by one popular sales agent on here with the name beginning with "S". Amongst these sales agent, I have identified a few that tends to provide images, ASET scope, H&A scope of other diamonds to satisfy your photo/video request for YOUR diamond, which is a bit misleading and deceitful, but to a certain extent understandable given time commitment and the money you're paying!

Provence was very professional as well in terms of customer service although slower than TY/Yadis, but the selection was slightly less and a large majority were HPHT diamonds (neither one is better than the other from my research, but in general CVD tends to yield larger carat diamonds at a lower cost and less time - with the inherent characteristics of either type that is widely discussed online). Setting price was nearly identical with Yadis/Tianyu.

Messi, Fiorese, and Starsgem, in contrast, had very little stock to choose from. Amongst these 3, Messi provided excellent customer service but had limited stock of ideal cuts. Tianyu said Fiorese works right next to them, but Fiorese was not able to provide any selection of ideal cut diamonds for the size and the three week period that I gave him. Starsgem showed me 8 lab diamonds but only one of these was ideal cut. Starsgem setting price quote was higher than Yadis, Tianyu, and Provence. It is also rumored here on reddit that Starsgem tends to yield settings with less weight and thinner dimensions than CAD. Both Fiorese and SG seem to prefer selling Ex or VG graded diamonds, ignoring my request for ideal cut diamonds. Interestingly, however, the lower quality diamond prices from Starsgem was almost the same if not more than the other two competitors before considering the setting costs for EX or VG diamonds.

***Please note, this is just one independent research conducted between July -October 2020 and your findings may vary based on the diamond or setting you want. In this case, I requested for super ideal cut diamonds with the proportions I wanted, and nothing less.

 

[VJ020]

I’m curious since we will never meet or know each other if you would disclose the price of the diamond from Yadis as compared to US prices?

To give you an idea, combined diamond & setting prices from Alibaba sellers are about 50-60% less than Brilliant Earth or James Allen for an equivalently IGI graded diamond and the same setting. Of course there are risks and inconvenience that you may encounter purchasing on Alibaba, especially if you are not careful with developing the proforma invoice agreement. On the other hand, JA and BE may offer more convenience if everything goes smoothly. That is because online reviews of both BE or JA isn't 100% perfect and it is evident on BBB and online that both companies tend to remove or bury negative feedbacks to boost their rating scores. I have read quite a lot of unpleasant experiences from both of these companies.

 

[AprilBaby]

I used rare caret 12Fifteen and got a 2.10, I, ideal, Vs1 with setting for $4100. How does that compare? The diamond alone was $3600.

 

[monipod]

Thank you! Yes I am quite the picky customer indeed....

In my opinion it is a good choice to make if you can afford the time because ultimately I became more educated and feel a greater pride in owning the final product. Along the journey I also got to know all of you fine folks on PriceScope!

I think if you're savvy enough you can get a very good deal out of China or India but a good majority of people aren't able to put the time and effort into it, in which case they are best suited to dealing with a local jeweller.