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My experience buying from High Performance Diamonds

daneelolivaw

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
5
This is my first post here and it's pretty exciting to see all the passion and energy on the topic! I thought I'd share my awesome experience buying a a loose Crafted by Infinity diamond from Wink Jones at High Performance Diamonds.

My fiance is very opinionated on the style of her setting so we looked at several rings and settings at local jewelry stores where we live. That gave me a decent idea of the design that she wanted, although I still planned to buy a loose diamond so that she could go into precise details with the craftsman on the final setting design. However, given that we had spent so much time looking at rings together, I was struggling to think how I could surprise her (I had proposed with a placeholder ring). She left the budget constraints to me, and we both agreed that the high end super ideal cut hearts and arrows stones from the likes of CBI and Brian Gavin were out of reach for my budget. Additionally, I had a James Allen diamond from an earlier time in my life that I could trade in for 100% of its value if I bought another JA stone that was 2x or greater in value, so I just assumed I would go with another James Allen stone.

I worked with Vincent Chan from Prosumer diamonds to look for James Allen True Hearts stones and we found a couple of really good ones with near perfect optical symmetry, almost (but not quite) perfect crown and pavilion angles, etc. As a point of comparison, we also found a CBI/HPD stone and a Brian Gavin stone that were priced similarly to the James Allen stones. This was a surprise to me, as I had assumed that CBI would be out of reach. However, there was still the issue of the trade-in. With 100% of the value of the old diamond applied towards the new one, it still felt like JA would be a better value. However, I decided to give Wink Jones a call just to see if there was any way to reduce the difference in price via a trade-in.

The first time I spoke to Wink, I was immediately struck by why folks purchasing diamonds from him speak so highly of him. Wink is one of the kindest, warmest people I had ever spoken to. It was clear right away that he *loves* this field and is obsessed with the quality and craftsmanship of his products. He did not apply any pressure whatsoever, and said I can email him the GIA report for the old stone and he would get back to me within 24 hours on a trade-in estimate. The next day I got the trade-in estimate, and while it was obviously not 100% of the original value, it did make a significant dent in the delta between James Allen and HPD. I now had to decide whether the extra amount for the CBI/HPD rock was worth it. Very tough decision! A few things tipped me over to CBI/HPD. First, as I mentioned Wink has a zero pressure approach. He offered to send the stone over to me so I could check it out in person, and return it if I didn't like it, without any down payment necessary. He also put a hold on the stone for a few days so that I could take my time in making a decision. The lifetime upgrade policy and 80% buyback policy for HPD were big factors in tipping me over to HPD as well (I definitely would not be able to afford another 2x upgrade with James Allen if I wanted to upgrade it in the future!). Lastly, I figured that since my fiance would keep this diamond for life, I wanted to buy the very best, very finest stone I could afford.

I pulled the trigger on the stone and we both loved it after seeing it in person. My fiance was always struck by how Cartier, Harry Winston, and Tiffany rings exhibited more brilliance, fire, and sparkle than rings we saw in local jeweler shops. When we saw the CBI diamond, we were amazed at how its light performance was just as good, if not better than the Harry Winston rings we had seen. And this was comparing the CBI diamond in our home lighting versus Harry Winston in jewelry store lighting!

I then decided that we should also get the setting made by Wink's craftsman, esp since the pave diamonds would also be H&A stones. My fiance wanted to check out the work in person before making a decision on the setting, so we thought about flying out to Boise to see a sample piece in person. When we mentioned this to Wink, he said he would just send us a sample piece via Fedex that we could inspect, saving us time and money from flying out to Boise. We loved the sample piece as well, and decided to go for it.

We just sent the diamond back to have it mounted in the setting and can't wait to get the completed ring back! Working with Wink, Melissa, and Jamie has been a pleasure. We will probably buy more diamond jewelry in the future and I will not hesitate to work with Wink again.
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,024
Yup, I'm not surprised to hear this high praise! Wink and his team are the best! And CONGRATS!!!! I love my CBI, and think their service just can't be beat!

Also, WE NEED PICS!!!!!!
 

chanieish

Rough_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 1, 2018
Messages
82
Congratulations! Wink makes it so easy (maybe too easy, goodbye $$$) to get your perfect ring.

You will be amazed by the ring! The craftsmanship at HPD rivals the best! The metal is so well polished that it truly gleams!! Even the insides of the setting are polished!! Nice work on the CBI pave too! Get ready for fireworks!

Care to share the specs or some pics of the stone? :)
 

daneelolivaw

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
5
Whoops, sorry I forgot to write the specs on the stone! It's a 2.1 H VS1. Unfortunately we didn't take pics before sending it back to HPD for the setting, but will post a complete piece picture in a few weeks when we get it back.
 

lizz1234

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Messages
59
Whoops, sorry I forgot to write the specs on the stone! It's a 2.1 H VS1. Unfortunately we didn't take pics before sending it back to HPD for the setting, but will post a complete piece picture in a few weeks when we get it back.

Did you receive your ring back? Would love to see pictures!
 

daneelolivaw

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
5
Not yet! We are sitting on the edge of our seats. Melissa said we should have by end of next week. Will circle back when we do !
 

daneelolivaw

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
5
Hi everyone, sorry for the delay posting pictures, but here a couple. We love the piece and thanks again to Wink and the HPD crew!

0

0
 

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
33,852
Hi everyone, sorry for the delay posting pictures, but here a couple. We love the piece and thanks again to Wink and the HPD crew!

0

0
All I see is 2 red X with no pics.
 

SimoneDi

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 19, 2014
Messages
3,811
Beautiful!
 

hypermom

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
473
That is stunning!
 

chamois

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 15, 2008
Messages
586
Beautiful !!!!!

The workmanship is divine.....perfect :appl:
 

derbygal

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 15, 2010
Messages
2,182
Wow it is amazing!
 
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