- Joined
- Nov 16, 2017
- Messages
- 1,244
Hello to all! I stumbled on this forum back in November and am happy to say that I’ve received a world class education on diamonds, thanks to all of you who have offered so much valuable knowledge. You all saved me from making a serious diamond purchasing mistake. I’m also posting to give a huge shout out to Todd Gray, LaylaR, Wink and Melissa, and the HP Diamonds staff. I just purchased a 25th anniversary diamond replacement e-ring from HP Diamonds and I am really excited about the entire journey. My back story—my original diamond was pretty crappy. It came with a “certificate” --a letter written by the jewelry store owner. It had two huge clear, but visible table inclusions (maybe knots or cavities?), a greyish tint and a really poorly cut. It hardly sparkled at all and was almost always dark and lifeless. I didn’t know much about diamonds back then, but I knew enough to see that my husband had been seriously ripped off. It was about a carat, and according to the “cert” was an G/H color with “mid-level” clarity. I had it appraised and it came back as K/L color and I2 clarity. I politely confronted the jeweler with the appraisal but he refused to give a refund or take the diamond back in trade. I wore it for few years for my husband’s sake, but honestly really hated it. We ended up selling it (with full disclosure) long ago and I never replaced it, mostly for financial reasons.
Fast forward to now—I wanted to do it right this time. I wanted a diamond that sparkled, that had life, that would sing to me. So I read and researched a lot and thought I had it bagged. I almost purchased a few better than average stones, but luckily my indecision and hesitation, kept me from making another expensive mistake. Thankfully, I found Price Scope. After reading some threads I reached out to Todd Gray, because I was impressed with his knowledge and explanations. After much helpful back and forth, Todd enabled me see that in order to satisfy my needs and wants, a CBI was the only diamond for me. He never pushed me in that direction, just gave me enough knowledge and guidance to allow me to come to that conclusion on my own. Todd is one of the most interesting persons I’ve ever met online. It was such a pleasure to work with him. Thank you, Todd! When I was ready, I reached out to Melissa at HP Diamonds and she assigned LaylaR to help me with my purchase. I really can’t say enough about Layla. She not only has the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a Ph.D. level scholar, she also LOVES diamonds and jewelry and it shows in her work. Oh, and her taste is impeccable, too. I can’t tell you how many emails we sent back and forth, or how many different combinations of settings, stones, variables we talked about. Through it all, Layla was kind, helpful, informative and genuinely excited for me. My budget was modest, but she gave me the same attention that I know would have been given to someone looking for a much more expensive product. Thank you, Layla!
My diamond is a .82 E VS2 CBI, and the ring will be a 14k white gold cathedral reverse tapered shank with a Stuller Solstice six prong head. It took a lot of back and forth to get to that point, but I think it’s the perfect decision for me. I can’t wait for the finished product. HP Diamond’s pricing was not only very reasonable, they also honored a lower price quote when the newly cut diamond I chose (not a cut to order diamond) came back from the lab with a higher color and a higher clarity grade than initially expected. They did not have to do that and I seriously respect Wink for doing so (without me even asking--something I would not have done). Thank you, Wink!
If anyone is thinking about a CBI, or working with HP Diamonds, LaylaR or Todd, my advice is GO FOR IT!!
(Sorry for the hugely long post!)
Fast forward to now—I wanted to do it right this time. I wanted a diamond that sparkled, that had life, that would sing to me. So I read and researched a lot and thought I had it bagged. I almost purchased a few better than average stones, but luckily my indecision and hesitation, kept me from making another expensive mistake. Thankfully, I found Price Scope. After reading some threads I reached out to Todd Gray, because I was impressed with his knowledge and explanations. After much helpful back and forth, Todd enabled me see that in order to satisfy my needs and wants, a CBI was the only diamond for me. He never pushed me in that direction, just gave me enough knowledge and guidance to allow me to come to that conclusion on my own. Todd is one of the most interesting persons I’ve ever met online. It was such a pleasure to work with him. Thank you, Todd! When I was ready, I reached out to Melissa at HP Diamonds and she assigned LaylaR to help me with my purchase. I really can’t say enough about Layla. She not only has the patience of a saint and the knowledge of a Ph.D. level scholar, she also LOVES diamonds and jewelry and it shows in her work. Oh, and her taste is impeccable, too. I can’t tell you how many emails we sent back and forth, or how many different combinations of settings, stones, variables we talked about. Through it all, Layla was kind, helpful, informative and genuinely excited for me. My budget was modest, but she gave me the same attention that I know would have been given to someone looking for a much more expensive product. Thank you, Layla!
My diamond is a .82 E VS2 CBI, and the ring will be a 14k white gold cathedral reverse tapered shank with a Stuller Solstice six prong head. It took a lot of back and forth to get to that point, but I think it’s the perfect decision for me. I can’t wait for the finished product. HP Diamond’s pricing was not only very reasonable, they also honored a lower price quote when the newly cut diamond I chose (not a cut to order diamond) came back from the lab with a higher color and a higher clarity grade than initially expected. They did not have to do that and I seriously respect Wink for doing so (without me even asking--something I would not have done). Thank you, Wink!
If anyone is thinking about a CBI, or working with HP Diamonds, LaylaR or Todd, my advice is GO FOR IT!!
(Sorry for the hugely long post!)
I just purchased it a few days ago and it won't be ready for roughly two to three weeks.
I compared mine 0.80 brain Gavin signature stone to some some Costco one while was in the store ,and visually it look the same as their 1 carats 
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