- Joined
- Jun 23, 2005
- Messages
- 17,760
Time to let the cat out of the bag to my PS friends! I traded my stone for a Whiteflash ACA stone!!! I am so excited!
The thing that I thought I would never do began to take shape last March when I realized that WF offered to take some trades on AGS0 stones. For those of us who started our diamond journeys long before the internet and super ideal cut stones, this was never a possibility unless you wanted to start over from scratch. I am a one ring to rule them all gal so buying another stone in addition to the one I had was never in the cards for me. I have told countless others here how fortunate they are to have the advantage of the internet, internet pricing and the ability to have a superior cut stone right off the bat.
As the wheels started to turn, I entertained many possibilities. Thought about going larger and going back to a solitaire. I looked at many, many stones and rejected them for all of my personal reasons - inclusions that might seem possible to see, colors that were lower than what I had, crown/pavilion angles that I didn't prefer - you name it. This truly went on for months and months - another possibility, another rejection. Another decision to not move on this opportunity. I must say at this point that Becca was as kind, patient and understanding as any human could have been. Can't say enough good things about this lady!
By now I had talked myself out of doing anything but still I looked. I had decided that I truly didn't want a larger stone. Every trade before had been to something larger as my husband thought you needed something visual to feel like you had gotten your money's worth so to speak. I had also come to the conclusion that for as many beautiful solitaires as there were, they just weren't for me any longer. I could never seem to make peace with the way they looked on my finger and maybe because I had a three stone ring for so long I just didn't want to give up the coverage or try to make it up with one large stone. Still, I decided one day to try to pursue this and by the next had decided that I was crazy to even consider it. And on it went.
Until, one day before bed, I decided to take a quick peek to see if there was anything new. And there it was!! A 2.195 G, VS1 stone that checked every box for me. Now I still didn't know at this point if my stone was eligible for trade or even if it was something that WF was interested in. I spent a restless night, talked to my husband about it who encouraged me to check it out, and called the next day. It was agreed that I would send them my ring for them to do an initial evaluation. I gave that diamond a smooch, put it in the Fed Ex box and decided that what would be would be. I had a very nice, eye clean stone that I would not be sorry to keep. However, the prospect of having an ACA was almost like a dream come true. My husband and I had been out shopping and not one but two cashiers complimented my ring - how sparkly it was and what a good job he had done. Was I crazy to trade this thing in? However, I knew I had long ago drank the PS Koolaid (ha!) and the chance to own a super ideal, H&A cut stone was so tantalizing!
Long story short, Becca called back with a preliminary price range for my stone but they would need to unmount it for a final offer. She sent pictures of the two stones and I was delighted to see that my stone was all that I thought it was - pretty arrows, defined but not perfect hearts, well cut. However, there were differences in the stones that I could immediately see that were important enough to me to spur me on to work out a deal. An ACA was coming my way!!!
The stone is now to be set in my three stone setting - the new being 2.195 and the old being 2.22 - perfect!! The money is wired, the work is being done and I am waiting to hear about a shipping date. If you're still hanging in here with me at this point, thanks for listening. It was a long, hard decision and a longer wait to find that very special stone. I can't wait to see it and will certainly be back with lots of pictures!!
For now, I give you the glamour shot of her that I have and the specs:
G color
VS1 clarity
56.1 table
61.3 depth
34.5 crown
40.8 pavilion
I can only hope I am as pleased with this stone as I am with the specs on paper - I could not have asked for anything better!
Many, many thanks to Becca and Vera and I'm sure to unknown and unnamed persons at WF that helped to make this all possible. They are always friendly, always willing to help and never pushy or dismissive. A true class act company!
The thing that I thought I would never do began to take shape last March when I realized that WF offered to take some trades on AGS0 stones. For those of us who started our diamond journeys long before the internet and super ideal cut stones, this was never a possibility unless you wanted to start over from scratch. I am a one ring to rule them all gal so buying another stone in addition to the one I had was never in the cards for me. I have told countless others here how fortunate they are to have the advantage of the internet, internet pricing and the ability to have a superior cut stone right off the bat.
As the wheels started to turn, I entertained many possibilities. Thought about going larger and going back to a solitaire. I looked at many, many stones and rejected them for all of my personal reasons - inclusions that might seem possible to see, colors that were lower than what I had, crown/pavilion angles that I didn't prefer - you name it. This truly went on for months and months - another possibility, another rejection. Another decision to not move on this opportunity. I must say at this point that Becca was as kind, patient and understanding as any human could have been. Can't say enough good things about this lady!
By now I had talked myself out of doing anything but still I looked. I had decided that I truly didn't want a larger stone. Every trade before had been to something larger as my husband thought you needed something visual to feel like you had gotten your money's worth so to speak. I had also come to the conclusion that for as many beautiful solitaires as there were, they just weren't for me any longer. I could never seem to make peace with the way they looked on my finger and maybe because I had a three stone ring for so long I just didn't want to give up the coverage or try to make it up with one large stone. Still, I decided one day to try to pursue this and by the next had decided that I was crazy to even consider it. And on it went.
Until, one day before bed, I decided to take a quick peek to see if there was anything new. And there it was!! A 2.195 G, VS1 stone that checked every box for me. Now I still didn't know at this point if my stone was eligible for trade or even if it was something that WF was interested in. I spent a restless night, talked to my husband about it who encouraged me to check it out, and called the next day. It was agreed that I would send them my ring for them to do an initial evaluation. I gave that diamond a smooch, put it in the Fed Ex box and decided that what would be would be. I had a very nice, eye clean stone that I would not be sorry to keep. However, the prospect of having an ACA was almost like a dream come true. My husband and I had been out shopping and not one but two cashiers complimented my ring - how sparkly it was and what a good job he had done. Was I crazy to trade this thing in? However, I knew I had long ago drank the PS Koolaid (ha!) and the chance to own a super ideal, H&A cut stone was so tantalizing!
Long story short, Becca called back with a preliminary price range for my stone but they would need to unmount it for a final offer. She sent pictures of the two stones and I was delighted to see that my stone was all that I thought it was - pretty arrows, defined but not perfect hearts, well cut. However, there were differences in the stones that I could immediately see that were important enough to me to spur me on to work out a deal. An ACA was coming my way!!!
The stone is now to be set in my three stone setting - the new being 2.195 and the old being 2.22 - perfect!! The money is wired, the work is being done and I am waiting to hear about a shipping date. If you're still hanging in here with me at this point, thanks for listening. It was a long, hard decision and a longer wait to find that very special stone. I can't wait to see it and will certainly be back with lots of pictures!!
For now, I give you the glamour shot of her that I have and the specs:
G color
VS1 clarity
56.1 table
61.3 depth
34.5 crown
40.8 pavilion
I can only hope I am as pleased with this stone as I am with the specs on paper - I could not have asked for anything better!
Many, many thanks to Becca and Vera and I'm sure to unknown and unnamed persons at WF that helped to make this all possible. They are always friendly, always willing to help and never pushy or dismissive. A true class act company!
It's a gorgeous stone and I know you will be completely thrilled!
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