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As I was not satisfied with my existing Fancy Blue lab diamond, I have been hunting for a Fancy Light Blue. After reading a couple of reviews from PriceScope, I decided to take a risk and purchased the newly released 1 carat loose blue diamond offerings from Lightbox Jewelry.
What I have purchased
What is a lab grown diamond?
According to the
Lightbox Jewelry, "
Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds that were grown by scientists in a lab. They share the same chemical makeup as natural diamonds, and are optically identical. The biggest differences between natural and lab-created diamonds are how they’re made, and how rare they are.". ✨
Quality of the service
4 out of 5 (Very Good)
The
virtual concierge service is available in US only. Nevertheless, you can leave messages and enquiries through the email addresses found in the
contact us page. The customer service officers were responsive and assured me that the color I should be getting for my fancy colored diamond purchase is either power blue or blush pink.
Experience of the platform
5 out of 5 (Excellent)
The platform is adequate, responsive and easy to navigate. An email was sent once I have finalised and paid for my order. Furthermore, I can easily track the status of my delivery in real time through the Shop mobile app.
Waiting time and delivery
5 out of 5 (Excellent)
The delivery was completed within 3-4 to my local US address, since Lightbox Jewelry does not ship to countries outside of US for the loose diamond collection. The package is compact and does not take up unnecessary space! My second delivery from comGateway did not disappoint since it was done through DHL. 🚚
Simple no frills packing with little wastage.
My
Lightbox Jewelry order came securely packed in a small compact box, slightly larger than an adult palm. The contents are fuss free; a grey Jewelry pouch, a technical specification brochure and an invoice. The loose diamond is wrapped up in a white tracing paper labeled with a serial number.
Quality of the product
3.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
With the help of the 30x magnification loupe, I was able to tell that the diamond is in VS range with minimal inclusions.
However for the diamond cut, I think it should fall somewhere between Good and Fair, instead of Good and Very Good - the arrows are not very distinct under the scope (I had to retake them multiple times). The diamond seems to lack in✨ scintillation and does not have the optimum 🔆 brilliance and 🔥 fire. It is such a pity. 😒
Therefore, you should manage your expectations when it comes to this area. Here is what the website states; that the cut quality that customers should be getting is Very Good. 😑
Why cutting grade is important, even for fancy coloured color diamonds
Without a quality cut, the fancy coloured diamond will look like a dull coloured piece of glass. A quality cut diamond will be very bright and sparkly due to the brilliance, fire, and scintillation, with an even pattern of light and dark areas which makes the diamond pleasing to the eyes.
The cutting grade can be assessed by the ASET and IDEAL scope.
ASET of the 1 carat blue
Since we are evaluating a fancy color and not a colorless diamond, the ASET can give us some insight on how the diamond interacts with light..
Here’s a quick explanation of what the different colors represent and my assessment in the brackets.
• Red: intense light return – red is generally what you want to see (the diamond is not very bright).
• Blue: contrast – important for contrast and scintillation. Blue areas should be as symmetrical as possible (not much contrast is observed in the middle, and arrows are not defined and hard to see).
• Green: less intense light return – keep green areas minimal (the diamond is not very sparkly).
• Black/White: light leakage – keep black/white areas minimal (quite a fair bit of light leakage in the middle).
IDEAL scope of the 1 carat blue
The Ideal scope reveals whether if there is light leakage. To recap...
- Black areas indicate light returned at very high angles. These areas are dark in the ideal-scope because light is blocked from above eg: the lens, eye or camera.
- Red areas indicate the brightest light returning to the eye.
- Pink areas indicate less intense light return.
- White or grayish areas indicate light escaping, or ‘leaking’ out of the diamond’s pavilion and not being returned to the eye.
Nevertheless, although the cutting is not as good as I have hoped for, these images are still better than the Pink Lightbox pendant which I have purchased in January this year.
I guess I am very unlucky when it comes to purchasing from
Lightbox Jewelry. Nevertheless, its photos as follows....🙄
Color under the different lighting conditions...
If there is one thing I am very happy about, Lightbox Jewelry delivers in terms of the color! 💎 The color is very close to what was shown in the website. Personally, I will grade the color as somewhere between Fancy Light Blue and Fancy Blue indoors, and between Light Blue and Fancy Light Blue outdoors.
At night...under the white LED lights
Under the white LED lighting, the diamond turns into a pale, pastel blue with a green tint - the first and second photo shows the most accurate color. It looks darker under certain lightings and yet turns into a pleasing shade of light blue when it is in a brightly lit room. Here is how it looks like next to my IDEAL cut Fancy Blue diamond.
In the morning and evening...
<VIDEOS PENDING, OTW>
Size of the diamond...
Next, I am glad to see that Lightbox Jewelry delivers in terms of its size too. Here is the chart which shows the measurements of the 1 carat diamond which I should be getting. Mine measured 6.48mm (width) and 4mm (depth). 📏
My Thoughts
I am generally satisfied with this purchase when it comes to the color only.
This is because
I can't help but feel quite disappointed by the cut quality. The cut quality of the 1 carat Blue diamond could have been better.
Perhaps, most subpar cuts are being used for fancy colored Lightbox diamonds, since 2 of my fancy color purchases have subpar cut quality. 🤔 Nevertheless, I believe that the cut quality of the Lightbox Jewelry is either a hit or miss affair.
Since I am an overseas buyer, I am unsure if
I can or I should exchange this for another one...especially since
Lightbox Jewelry may not consider my purchase as a valid one (it has explicitly stated that it does not ship to my country). I guess this is the price to pay for being impatient and too excited to do an early review for my international readers. 😒
The ultimate question, will I purchase from
Lightbox Jewelry again? After being let down
twice in a row...perhaps no for Modern Round Brilliant (MRB)? However, I might reconsider when it comes to other fancy cut diamond shapes. This reminds me, here are the official news, that more fancy cuts will be ready, as early as next year!
"Lightbox Loose Stones follow the company's industry-leading linear price model and are available in pink, blue and white in sizes up to two carats in the classic $800 a carat range. The initial offering includes round brilliant and princess cuts, with additional cuts set to release early next year."
"Lightbox announced today, that for the first time ever, it is introducing larger stones at its $800 a carat pricing. The offering includes pink, blue and white lab-grown diamonds in sizes up to and including two carats, with a two carat round brilliant lab-grown diamond pendant retailing for $1,600 plus the cost of the setting. Additional stone cuts and jewelry silhouettes in 14-karat gold are set to release early next year. Lightbox is further expanding its accessibly priced product range with the launch of 'Finest', a new category of superior quality Lightbox lab-grown diamonds, priced well-below what is currently offered in the market."
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