I have always been wondering about
Crafted by Infinity. This brand has very positive review in
PriceScope, and most importantly, they used to produce diamonds for
Nice Ice private label. Todd Gray runs the show at Nice Ice and although he no longer sell diamonds personally, but if this brand passes his scrutiny,
it says a lot. I see him as my mentor as he teaches me a lot of good stuff. In fact, you may actually bumped into his site before because it has some of the best diamond education contents!
High Performance Diamonds is one of CBI's dealer in the US. They sell CBI exclusively via their show room, as well as their website - pretty much the same way like how other super ideal vendors operate.
Previously, the prices are higher than other super ideal vendors, so I seldom mention them. Also, their performance images sometimes do not give normal consumers 100% confidence compared to its competitors. However, recently, they have started to upgrade the quality of their images. What I mean by "upgrade" is not using PhotoShop to make them look nicer, instead, what I mean is that now the images represent the quality of their stones better! In fact, previously, I won't solely rely on their Hearts image on their website, instead, I will compare it against the one in the AGS grading report and I am not surprised that quite often that the one in the AGS grading report looks better. Of course, sometimes it could be the other way round too.
Now, let's take a look at the diamond that Melissa from HPD has chosen for me:
Ok, looks pretty good overall, not the best Hearts I have seen, if you want to compare against the top players in this industry. But don't get me wrong, the Hearts is pretty good by itself already.
As usual,
MoneyMatch is my preferred money remittance provider. I perform the transfer on the 1st of April 2019. However, there is a hiccup in the process. This time they insist on the
Corporate Number / Tax ID Number / Employer Identification Number, which I do not have. The matter is resolved once Wink from HPD provided me with the Employer Identification Number but the money remittance has been delayed by one day. Nonetheless, it doesn't matter because once I have provided the necessary details, the payment promptly arrived at their side on the 3rd of April 2019. Great!
Wink will make you a video of your diamond and email it to you. It will also be uploaded to YouTube. Here is that diamond I bought:
In the video he mentioned that all CBIs look the same no matter the size, the colour, and the clarity. Sales talk? Ok, if I really want to pick on it, then maybe a little, as I believe no two diamonds are exactly the same, However, what that line means to me is that CBI has consistency in producing a consistent beautiful look throughout their line of diamonds. After speaking to John Pollard, their Director of Education, I truly believe in that. Anyway, more on that later. Now, let's take a look at the package that was received on the 8th of April 2019.
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| You will receive this large Fedex box. |
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| The large box actually contains a medium box. It goes without saying that this is done to provide extra protection to the items in the package. |
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| 2 bubble-wrapped packages in the medium box. One contains the loose diamond together with the grading report, while the other contains the diamond evaluation kit and the jewellery cleaning kit. |
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| Oh yes, there are some dark chocolates too. |
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| Which actually serves as the "name card". Wink Jones will be the founder of High Performance Diamonds. You will find him very decent to talk to. |
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| "Meet the Cutter" invitation. Paul Slegers is the founder of Crafted by Infinity. |
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| A message from Paul Slegers - In 2018, they only cut 2000 stones. And I have one of it. ;) |
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| Platinum AGS Grading Report - Always a pleasure to see one. |
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| That CBI stone! |
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| Hello there. |
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| Arrows captured while in loose diamond box. |
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| Hearts captured while in loose diamond box. |
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| So there you go, diamond evaluation kit - You get an ASET, an IdealScope, a 10x loupe, a prong holding tweezer, a loose diamond holder that can be put onto your finger to see how it looks. You also get a jewellery cleaning kit. Do note that the IdealScope is probably not the Expert Model, but rather, it seems to be the standard Beginner Model, as I do not see any difference compared to my own Beginner Model. |
So how is the performance? FANTASTIC. I can already see some colourful fire on the surface of the diamond under office lighting environment (this stone is shipped to my work place). The contrast level is excellent and the whole diamond is just mesmerizing to look at. Under handphone torch light, the colours are just flowing silky smooth between the individual facets of the diamond. Well, not that I have not seen something like that before in other brands, but what makes CBI special is that their consistency in providing such effect by maximizing on the diamond's potential rather than maximizing on the diamond's carat weight makes the CBI brand a consistent performer in the diamond realm. Yes, sometimes I do see some not-so-good Hearts & Arrows in their line, but please don't get be wrong. "Not-so-good" is a bit exaggerated here because I am really comparing the top tier Hearts & Arrows players in the industry, not any typical diamonds that exhibit some sort of Hearts & Arrows pattern by itself. In fact, personally, I am more of a proportions guy rather than a Hearts & Arrows guy, but usually I am a greedy guy that wants both! :)
Anyway, John Pollard, the Director of Education from Crafted by Infinity, told me that Hearts & Arrows is not their "endgame", instead,
careful planning of how to to maximize on the diamond's potential using their proprietary calculation to do 3D precision planning is. And with that, Hearts & Arrows will be their by product. Yes, I believe in that. No other reason. Because light reflection and refraction is just physics. Period. Forgo the potential calculation to maximize on diamond carat weight will not maximize on the diamond's potential. Now, this is how CBI is different from its competitors -
Consistent performance throughout its line of diamonds. I can come to this conclusion by simply verifying the personal experience experienced by various owners of CBI on
PriceScope. Check them out here:
Now, not that other diamond cutters cannot do the same physics calculation. They probably can. But as mentioned before, to do it as consistent as Crafted by Infinity, I think I will give the championship ring to Crafted by Infinity for now. ;)
Ok, now let's talk about Wink Jones, the founder of High Performance Diamonds. You see, all these super ideal sellers succeed so well in the industry is because of the people that play the major role in each respective company, and Wink Jones is certainly one of the guy that you want to talk to if you are on the hunt for a diamond. He used to carry some other brands, like Lazare and Hearts of Fire. You can actually find both of these brands in Malaysia, distributed by DeGem and HABIB respectively. But check out the price! ;) Ultimately, he settled on Crafted by Infinity stones, for one simple reason - They are simply the best. And he is very very enthusiastic with all the diamonds he is selling under High Performance Diamonds.
How about John Pollard? Well, Wink Jones told me he is a walking diamond dictionary, and after dealing with him, it is easy to see why. He is so willing to teach that he personally emailed me to let me know what is wrong with the diamond that he I questioned in PriceScope.
So, as you can see, the people in the super ideal industry are truly the most brilliant asset. If not, why so many people would spend so much of their money to purchase sizes like 2 carats, 3 carats or even 5 carats from them?
Next - Upgrade Policy. High Performance Diamond's upgrade policy is simply a dollar more. Yes, you can't get this anywhere where in Malaysia. Or in most places. A famous brick-and-mortar store needs you to buy 100% extra to be entitled for the upgrade, while High Performance Diamonds? Just one single dollar ($1). That's... incredible.
High Performance Diamonds also have the best buy back policy - 80% LIFETIME! Yes, LIFETIME. I honestly don't think you can get this anywhere else in the whole world other (I could be wrong, but I can feel that I am going to be 99% correct).
Lastly, shipping is free to Malaysia. Importing loose diamond is tax-free in Malaysia. Making Malaysia one of the best place to buy super ideals in the whole world. You only need to pay the wire transfer amount. Unfortunately, I don't think Malaysia credit card will work, but of course, if you feel like trying, do give it a try. Anyway, I think the 5% wire discount is worth much more than the credit card points that you are going to earn. ;)
Alright, that's all for now. Email me if you have any questions - myengringexp @ gmail dot com.
