zitaowang|1448528680|3954350 said:
egemnoel|1448635425|3954650 said:Have a look at the images of this 1.57 G VS1 and you can compare. This diamond below is super ideal and hard to find any better.
http://highperformancediamonds.com/shop/diamonds/HPD7437/?shop=yes
egemnoel|1448814976|3955278 said:For the photos, yes, you bring up a point I also noticed. I inquired with High Performance Diamonds about this and am told that CBI is sold in live showrooms primarily – and those retailers don’t need images because they show the diamond in the view. As a result the photos are a kind of offhand “favor” for Wink Jones and HPD, the only one who uses them. As such, in addition to being humongous (4X as big as any other retailer) they are not post-processed and, frankly, are rather mediocre.
For me I purchased CBI without seeing them. But as I had every confidence in the vendor I had no reason to see them before I purchased them. I was also offered a full money back guarantee if the diamond was unsuitable.
But, I would encourage anyone to exercise use of the See It To Believe It program HPD offers. When seen in-person as they are normally sold, the diamond trumps any of the photos and are stunning. There are no issues in the hearts view or any other view, reliably.
As for overpriced. It depends on what you want. You get what you pay for. I have done much research, much viewing and much comparing. In my opinion there is nothing like CBI. So to me it’s more than fair value. Especially with the buyback guarantees Wink and HPD give, which are better than anyone else in the business.
When I get a chance I will show you why CBI are a truly respectable company to deal with and strive for perfection. The is based on my friend soon to be engaged was looking for a 1ct F VS2.
egemnoel|1448816143|3955289 said:http://highperformancediamonds.com/shop/diamonds/HPD7767/?shop=yes priced at $7,705
The CBI/HPD is $2,055 CHEAPER. Now the question is why did CBI not make this a 1ct diamond and charge over 2k more!!!! Now this is value for money! I would love one of them actually to answer this question so I can understand myself but from my understanding if it was cut to a 1ct it would NOT meet CBI standards.
I am not referring to the quality of the photography of the images as I find them sufficient
None of my argument contradicts my general impression that CBI rounds appear to be amongst the finest H&A rounds available backed by great after sales policies, I just find the value proposition to be weaker than other brands here.
egemnoel|1448915187|3955684 said:By contrast, CBI is not internet-focused. Their photos are an off-hand favour for HPD with less oversight. They're egregiously large and sometimes have tilt between lens and stage which distorts the pattern, as the one you posted does.
egemnoel|1449090595|3956538 said:No problem guys. I have purchased two CBI-diamonds in the past year, and they perform exactly as described to me by the nice people of CBI. In fact, they perform even better than my expectations.
When researching my purchases, I understood the consensus to be that CBI is the absolute utmost in performance of round brilliants. Expecting that, my expectations have been exceeded and with the larger diamond second time around was stunning!
spon88|1449134763|3956816 said:Hi,
Over the last few months I've been privileged to see "super ideal" diamonds from all of the main vendors mentioned in this thread under the guidance of an experienced UK gemologist. As well as looking at the data and various images etc, we were also able to check under microscope and conduct an informal "user" test at his store. All the stones were stunning and we could not place any one of them above the others. This is what guides my decision to purchase based on price/service if all of the other "super ideal" parameters are in place.
Just my 2 pence (cents?) worth.....
Cheers