polls Repeated Visit To recap, during our last visit in 2020, Eugene Seah walked through with us on the what we should look out for when choosing a diamond, before introducing their White Series Decagon diamonds . Ever since that visit, we have occasionally dropped by the store to look at their jewellery collection. JANNPAUL Lab Diamonds Recently, we discovered that JP started to carry lab diamonds. Hence, we decided to drop by their store again to find out more from Eugene, about the lab diamonds in colorless and fancy colors. The lab diamonds from JP are are guaranteed to be free from stria or off hues and are all Type IIa, the chemically purest makes and are AGS or GIA certified only. They are available from D to F colors, fancy pink and blue, with VVS1 to VS1 clarity. - uses the highest quality carbon seeds only - never reuse our carbon seeds - do not add catalysts (eg. Boron, Aluminium or titanium ) to speed up the growth process - their growing chambers are contaminant
"I just can't get you out of my head, boy, It's more than I dare to think....I just can't get you out of my head, boy...It's more than I dare to think about...Every night, every day...."
Ooops! So here I go again...searching for yet another perfect diamond. Finally, I found a beautiful Crisscut diamond from B2C Jewels (B2C). Overall, although there were some hiccups along the way, it was still an overall pleasant purchase. Indeed, I am very glad to have stepped out of my comfort zone and chosen B2C for my 2nd online purchase!
The Crisscut aka Prince cut or Scissor cut diamond style is relatively new fancy diamond cut, and Crisscut diamonds are rare. Its unique cut makes a diamond brilliant than a normal Emerald cut diamond, since it gives an illusion of a whiter and brighter diamond. ✨
According to Karl_K, Crisscut "was designed for colored stones and stolen and a brand slapped on it for diamond material in my opinion. It came to age in the take a design from the 1950s gemstone cutters slap a "in diamond" to the description and get a bogus patent era. Emerald cut in some low RI (Reflective Index) gemstones can be kinda blah. Have nice color but little play of light. The scissor cut was designed to have more life in low RI material than the emerald cut. edit: off the top of my head I am thinking it was first designed for Tourmaline because a lot of the rough is suitable for long rectangular cuts."
How long I took to search for the Crisscut diamond
The entire search took 1 to 2 months! I have searched numerous online websites and poured through countless GIA reports. Although James Allen (JA) carried a few Crisscuts (which were sold out by the time of this post), the size is either too small or too big, and out of my budget. My search finally landed me at B2C.
Quality of the service
5 out of 5 (Outstanding)
The virtual assistants are not automated chat bots, but real people behind the keyboards. Although they are not around 24 hours, they were very helpful and responsive. I noticed that most of them are guys instead of ladies, and I have mostly spoken with Simon and Anthony; who are both immensely patient and accommodating to the 101 questions I fielded. After every virtual consultation session, they never fail to send the chat transcripts. The reason for their outstanding service is shared at the later part of this blog.
Experience of the platform
3.5 out of 5 (Room for improvement)
The platform seems a bit slow during the week when I was finalizing my purchase. As I am a visual person, my search was hampered since I need to mouseover every link to view the photos of the diamonds. Unlike JA, there were no 40x magnification or 360-degree high-definition videos for me to pour over. In addition, instead of real photos, images of the computer rendered diamond settings are shown. Nevertheless, the platform is definitely adequately equipped for me to search for what I want, especially there is a section to Search Diamonds by Stock/GIA Certificate Number!
In addition, the reviews by their customers were not very apparent, and hidden under the testimonial and the proposal stories pages. Aside from the proposal stories pages, no actual photos and videos of their purchases were published... and these made me think twice prior I decided to purchase from them.
After the order was made, the order history did not capture the details of the shipment; only the order number. The status of the order has to be viewed separately, through the track your order link, which I find quite not intuitive.
Nevertheless, B2C is very responsive to the email enquiries. So, do not hesitate to drop them an email if you can't find what you are looking for.
Waiting time and delivery
4 out of 5 (Some room for improvement)
My purchase arrived around 1 month after I made my order; which was done on 14th Jan 2021. Although I was informed that it will take maximum 10 days for my ring to be done, my order is still delayed. B2C followed up to explain that the delay was due to the need to remake the ring, as ring mount did not cast perfectly. However, they will do their best to expedite the delivery, without compromising the quality.
Although I have changed the delivery address, FedEx is the appointed delivery company, did not pick up the changes and delivered to the wrong address! I was pretty upset since I have to rush home from work to pick up the package. 🚚 SHAME on you FedEx! 🤦
The B2C Jewelry Box came...in a double box
The B2C order came firmly packed in a dual box (small within the medium box). I presume that the double box combo was meant to keep my order unharmed from FedEx rough handling. No frills packaging, means that only the Jewelry box, the GIA certificate and the invoice are found inside the FedEx dual box package.
Since I paid for around 100 USD for the shipping ( it is indeed over 20 USD more than the other international shipping I have paid for my lab grown pink diamond), I was expecting a little bit more and was disappointed to find my GIA report slightly crumpled.
Surprise surprise, the B2C Jewelry box comes LED equipped, and I was so caught off by this that I nearly dropped the box when I opened it...a nice shock nevertheless!
Quality of the product
4.5 out of 5 (Nearly Perfect)
GIA serial number is correct
With the help of the 30x magnification loupe, I was able to match the GIA serial number of the report. B2C has ensured that the serial number is not covered by the setting. Since the Crisscut is a VS2, I can easily spot the crystal inclusion, as stated in the GIA report.
UV test reveals lovely medium blue fluorescence...
I shone the UV light to reveal the lovely medium blue fluorescence. ❤️ Although the color is E, the diamond does not show any sign of milky or oily appearance. 💎
ASET of the Crisscut
Viewed through the ASET scope, it was a relief to find out that there were not a lot of white, but a mixture of red and blue. A quick check with experts in PriceScope revealed that blue areas should provide "nice contrast and movement, highlighting the distinctive pattern", as shared by diamondhoarder.
I also compiled a video to illustrate how the Crisscut diamond performed under the morning sunlight.. and how it looks like compared against the JA True Hearts diamond ring.
Workmanship could have been better - but it is a one off lapse
The first thing I noticed is that the ring is slightly bigger than size 4 and I have to wear a ring resizer. Nevertheless, B2C has certainly delivered in the workmanship for the prongs (sharp and delicate) since the size of the prongs did not over-shadow the shape and the size of the diamond. Although one prong is crooked, it is not noticeable since it is in white gold, and the brilliance of the diamond managed to hide this tiny flaw. The frontal view is certainly breathtaking and lovely!
Alas, to my great disappointment, one of the side profile is quite problematic (head/gallery swayed to one side, with deep dents below). I am not sure whether this was due to the production team's rush to remake the ring, so that my order was not further delayed.
Although this is only noticeable when viewed from the sides, and not from the front. However, this flaw really irked the perfectionist in me, since I can't help to notice this whenever I wear the ring...
The moment I emailed my concerns to B2C, they immediately sprung into action. They investigated what could have lead to the lapse, andAnthony and Patrick (the manager) called me personally twice, to profusely express their apologies. Apparently they were overwhelmed with orders (which I presume was due to the Valentine Day's rush) and this somehow lead to the QC lapse.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by their snappy responses to remedy the situation...and touched that they went out of the way to ensure that my experience is not tinted by this one-off lapse.
As I am an overseas buyer, I have to incur GST charges whenever I receive an overseas order. Although this is a repair, I will need to claim the GST (tediously long 3-6 month process - which I will blog about later) after I have paid for it. Fortunately, B2C understands my dilemma of returning the ring for repairs and the tedious, protracted process to get the issue rectified. Therefore, they are currently looking into a suitable solution, so that I can work with my local jeweler (more of that later) to fix it.
My Thoughts
One thing that stands out from this purchase is that B2C is really an underrated diamond online retailer. Its after service is really top notch and they make sure that I will be a happy, returning customer.
There is a saying that you will never know how great a company is, until you witness how its customers are treated when things go wrong.
In an ironic way, I only get to know I am dealing with an exceptional company when things went wrong. Now I understand why there are a quite a few PriceScope forummers who are loyal B2C customers. In addition, if more bloggers have covered their experiences with B2C, or shared their in-depth experiences in B2C in PriceScope, more people will get to know about this great company!
Another observation is that I will consider getting only the loose diamonds from diamond online retailers in the future. This is because of the recent (2020 Dec) botched purchase that my husband has made from JA (an awfully made Emerald diamond ring, with crooked head and hideous prongs - JA immediately offered a return and refund without any questions! - definitely blogging about it later), another not-so-perfect purchase JA from my friend (will need to ask her permission prior publishing the photos of her ring and experience), who also encountered the dreaded JA uneven prong curse.
Although the labor costs for a bench jeweler in Singapore is notoriously high - a simple diamond pave costs over a thousand! - I have no choice but to consider getting the diamond set locally. The time and effort involved in sending the ring back for repair, is certainly not worth the cost savings. 🤔
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