In the beginning, I was a bit apprehensive about purchasing a diamond ring over the internet. I had shopped in several of the local premier jewelry stores in my city, and found one thing in common: Overpriced diamonds with a direct, out-right refusal to "compete with the internet distributors like Blue Nile", etc, and a warning that its always worth the extra price to be able to shop and view the diamond in person.
I didn't buy it. I had looked at a 1ct hearts on fire solitaire that was priced at $13,000. And it was I or J in color, and SI1 or SI2 in clarity. Are you kidding me? "Well, there is no other diamond that disperses as much light and carries as much fire as the HOF diamond, mainly because it is cut under 10X magnification". Oh horse****! That is the lamest specification I have ever heard in my life. Its subjective, not a measurement verification. Who cares if its cut under 10X magnification...I'm more concerned about the actual grading quantification of the cut. An ideal cut is great, but we all know that the "super-ideals" exist. Its like the best marketing strategy I've ever seen, aside from these stupid "silly bands" the kids are trading this month. Take a diamond graded low in color and clarity, then put a super-ideal cut on it, make it disperse more light with brilliance, and mark it up to diamonds that have better color and clarity. What a concept!!!
The jeweler in my local shop told me, "Any ideal cut diamond is a great diamond. Like a mercedes. But who wants to drive a mercedes when you can drive a bentley. Thats what the HOF diamond is like...the bentley".
"Come on dude. Look at me. Do you think I care about mercedes or bentleys or anything of that nature? I'm here to get the best diamond I can afford with the money I have for my lady, and I will consider all options, both here local in the jewelry stores or the internet" I've never been someone to pay for a name. Sure, women buy all the prada shoes and stuff but men, especially men like me, keep it simple. Functionality first. Again, I want the best stone for my money, I don't care what name is attached to it.
"Well, be careful then. We cannot compete with the internet prices but be forewarned you don't always get what you think you're getting".
So right off the bat I knew he was pulling the sales fear tactic, because the main internet sites I had been to at that point (Blue Nile, Novoris, etc) inscribed the serial numbers and grading report numbers on the stone girdle, and both sites provided 1) the grading report and 2) extra analysis to allow the consumer to study the reports and buy in confidence. Immediately I lost interest in that point forward in the local stores.
So I searched months high and low on the online sites, still before I became aware of Whiteflash. The thing that bothered me, although BN and the other sites included brilliance metering photographs and all other sorts of nifty ways to assess light dispersion, cut and symmetry, it just seemed to be categorized what you get in stock and pay no attention to actually specifying specific cut and symmetry requirements. Nothing on the internet website was compelling enough for me to know what I'm buying in confidence. I spent about 6-8 months taking notes, listing diamonds off websites, comparing them, etc. Just was never really "WOWED" by any distributor yet.
At that point, I decided to look a little more into hearts and arrows (or whatever the legally correct nomenclature is that doesn't violate trademark laws of the "bentley of diamonds"). I found some site that went into great detail the history of the super ideal cut "hearts and arrows" and eventually it led to Whiteflash A Cut Above being a very competitive supplier of a hearts and arrows super-ideal cut who also invoked their own specifications and requirements for cut and symmetry, even to the level of acceptable shape of "hearts". Immediately I began reviewing their website, and I couldn't believe how complete their diamond grading/analysis was for each diamond in their inventory. Their 40X magified photo, the IDEAL SCOPE and ASET photos were very convincing in the quality of the clarity and cut, but even more interesting to me at that point is the HEARTS photo, since they were the only online source I had seen to provide all of these types of online documentation. I cannot stress how invaluable this information was for allowing me to downselect to the right diamond. It was all I needed to know for certain what kind of diamond I was purchasing. Immediately I threw away months of work of notes and personal ratings of diamonds on the other sites, and within a couple of days I found three Whiteflash ACA diamonds that were so incredible I was having difficulty in deciding which to pick.
So I called Whiteflash, and was directed to a bright, energetic sales representative. She was perhaps the best sales representative I've ever dealt with. Ever. Extremely helpful with no pressure at all. Let me clarify something right now: I'm not typically a picky shopper, in fact, I'm usually pretty decisive and efficient. But in this case, I was purchasing a diamond for engagement to the woman I love, and for some reason I must have developed online shopping OCD. I was a lunatic, nit-picking every single thing and asking questions about everything. Seriously, I know I was a major pain in the ***. But she was incredible. You can tell how much she enjoys her job, empathetically helping people find exactly what they want. She followed up with me in a couple of days, and helped me by providing all the necessary information I needed to downselect.
I sent her a list of 5 diamonds, and the 1st and 3rd were two of the ones that she had picked using the criteria I gave her. Actually, my 3rd pick was her 1st, and she explained why she chose that diamond. Sure enough, she was RIGHT. I was getting a much better deal by purchasing the one she recommended. I credit much of my success in finding the right diamond, and ultimately the smoothness in planning the proposal, etc, to Whiteflash Inc. Great people make a great company, and if their sales team is a reflection of everyone else in the Whiteflash staff, I cannot imagine a better company of people in any industry. Period. So, to summarize, I could have bought a 1ct J/SI2 HOF diamond solitaire on a platinum band for $12-13k. Or I could have bought a 1ct G/VS2 premium cut Blue nile on their halo platinum model for $8k.
Instead I bought a 1.25ct J/VS1 on Whiteflash's "Amphora" Halo platinum (0.7ct of smaller stones G/VS1) for under $8500, and FELT CONFIDENT about it as soon as I wired the money!!! Upon receiving the stone, Whiteflash followed up with me and was very interested in my first impression when receiving the ring. All I can say is WOW....and be sure you wear shades when opening it in direct sunlight. I was outside the Fed ex location in Florida when I opened it and nearly burned my retina! Seriously, it was incredible, the cab of my truck looked like someone turned on a disco ball when the stone was in direct sunlight. She absolutely loves the ring, and so does all of her family and friends. Everyone is complimenting how beautiful the ring is. I have nothing but a 5-star review for Whiteflash Inc., especially considering and the dependable, courteous service I received from Renee. Thank you Whiteflash!
Steve G.
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