My WhiteFlash ACA Collection Series Experience

Welcome September! Welcome SST!

How will it affect us as a consumer when we import diamonds in from the United States? Well, stay tune to find out more!

0.304ct F VVS2 ACA Collection Series Diamond!

I shall take this opportunity share with you my WhiteFlash ACA Collection Series experience!

Stay tune to find out more!

Update: 20 September 2018 It is almost here! Stopping by Alaska now.

Update: 15 October 2018

Finally, I have some time to update my blog. Have been busy with work and other misc. stuff.

Alright, so my diamond did not arrive on 21/09/2018. This is because there has been a flight delay in GuangZhou, China. So, it arrived the following Monday (24/09/2018). I did my final transaction to MoneyMatch on 12 September night time, so MoneyMatch transfers the money out on 13 September, WhiteFlash replied me on 15 September midnight saying that day have received the money, but it will take 3 days to clear starting from that day itself. At the point of receiving the email from them, US is still 14 September, so it is still a valid business day. So let's count. 14 (Friday), 17 (Monday), 18 (Tuesday). So the diamond was shipped out on US date 18/09/2018.

In case you are wondering, I mentioned final transaction above because I have split my transactions into 3 parts. Why? This is because I have 3 RM 50 vouchers thanks to the referral code (REF_ACOO) some of my clients put in, so I am rewarded with them. Hence, in my dashboard, it looks like this:

So with this referral code, first time customer can use it to gain RM 50 discount, and at the same time, I can get RM 50 voucher.

Alright, let's see the packaging.

The  package contents. They also include a Hearts & Arrows scope along with a stone picker which I did not include here.

The AGS Lab Grading Report

WhiteFlash 2018 Calendar

Temporary stone holder aka spring holder

Now, please be reminded that the cherry wood ring box and the temporary stone holder aka spring holder are not included by default. However, feel free to request for it and they are more than happy to include them as well. WhiteFlash will always try to meet customer's satisfaction as long as it is within their means.

Let's move on to the stone itself.

Hearts... Very prceise!

Arrows... Nice.

Video taken under yellow room LED with Samsung Galaxy Note 5 torch flashing over it. Just look at how it is firecracking over there!

This is my second WhiteFlash diamond purchase and the result is definitely better! Clarity aside, the proportions of this diamond is simply great as it meets all the criteria I wanted in a stone - Small table, steep crown angle, 50% or beyond star length, 76% lower girdle percentage. This stone hits the nail, seriously. Moreover, the calculated ideal weight of this diamond is the same as the actual weight, complementing this diamond in a good way.

Does this mean the previous stone is not good? Definitely not. However, the previous stone has a star length of 48% and I find that the sparks are glittering around the stone more than bursting out in full spectrum. I used to focus on the contrast level in the ASET of the grading report a little bit more but after looking at more and more diamonds from WhiteFlash, I find that it is also quite practical to do a check and balance with the actual diamond video. I have a client that upgraded to a bigger stone and it outperforms the original stone despite the ASET in the grading report looks clean and lack of contrast. This is probably because the new stone has a 76% lower girdle facet while the old stone has 78% (I think). So this shows that the contrast level is not as important as I think it may, but nonetheless, it provides a mind-clean effect for myself. As long as the diamond has a star length of at least 50% and above, I am fine with it.

So, will I skip any 48% or 49% diamonds? The answer is: It depends. I will have to look at the video and the cut precision to determine whether that particular diamond is worth to consider or not. If everything checks out well, I am fine with it. Chances will be higher if the lower girdle percentage is 76%. This is because this will help the stone to return bold sparks that can fully convert to beautiful fire. Besides, star length is a minor facet and should not be the only factor to determine a stone's worthiness.

Buying a stone from WhiteFlash Collection Series means the stone is 100% guaranteed eye-clean, even at close range. This is because the lowest possible clarity level is VVS2 and this itself is already an overkill. Nonetheless, due to the very clean nature of these WhiteFlash Collection Series stones, we can rest assure that the inclusions did not affect the performance of the diamond. This is one of the main strength of WhiteFlash Collection Series.

To be honest, for the price I am paying for the stone, I would consider it a steal. This is because there are VS stones that are priced beyond this 0.304ct F VVS2 stone itself. This is probably because the time WhiteFlash buys in the VS stones, the base price is more expensive (due to various reasons).

Introducing WhiteFlash Collection Series looks like a battle against Black by Brian Gavin to me. While I do not doubt the quality of Black by Brian Gavin in terms of cut as they are pretty consistent, I find that WhiteFlash's pricing is more competitive usually. More over, WhiteFlash usually has better inventory and the right-to-choose first compared to other vendors because of the volume of stones that they take-in. While sometimes the Hearts for a WhiteFlash stone can be hit-or-miss, they have shown some improvements in terms of optical precision consistency over this one year. I guess the steep competition in the market has pushed them to improve.

WhiteFlash remains one of the best place on this planet to buy AGS graded stones that have tight proportions that are coupled with excellent 4Cs and high optical precision. The inventory level of WhiteFlash is also rather high compared to its competitors. And with the addition of WhiteFlash Collection Series, this has made them a jeweler that can produce some of the rarest stone in this world. Oh,  by the way, their upgrade policy is rather generous. You can always upgrade to a diamond with the same value or higher. However, please remember that the original "free shipping" cost will be removed while upgrading.

In conclusion, I am certainly a happy man to be able to buy this magnificent diamond that falls under the prestigious WhiteFlash Collection Series. Can't help but to look at it a few more times every time I pass by it. Also, tax-free experience means Malaysia will be one of the cheapest country in the world to get a super ideal from WhiteFlash!

Of course, to put it objectively, if I want the best consistency in terms of Hearts, no doubt Brian Gavin Diamonds comes to my mind first. However, if I view the whole buying process by factoring in the price, the quality, the 4Cs, and also the upgrade policy, no doubt, WhiteFlash will be the first to pop-up in my mind. This is how good they are, thanks to some of the fantastic people that work there. ;)