- Joined
- Jul 12, 2004
- Messages
- 4,058
Houston, the Eagle has landed! … Wink (7/28/2014)
Ten years ago (2004) Wink created a beautiful handcrafted 6.5 inch bracelet made of .33s GH/VS2-SI1 diamonds that was 10.5 ctw (but would have been 11.5 ctw if the standard 7-inch length). They were not sold as H&A but most of the stones exhibited arrows per Wink. It had the appearance of a 3-prong but the safety of a 4-prong mounting, the best of both worlds in my opinion. I have worn that bracelet daily for the past 10 years; it has been in the shower, out camping, and even in the waters of French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora etc.) It has received many compliments everywhere I go.
After purchasing a Fancy Yellow diamond ring from Tiffany & Co. while on vacation in early March 2014 (one blue box is enough), I contacted Wink in late March about the possibility of making a matching bracelet using the same findings as my other bracelet, but with fancy yellow round diamonds instead. After a series of emails and phone calls between Wink, Melissa, and myself, I gave the official go ahead to proceed with this project in early June.
Well I didn’t realize that I was asking for the “Holy Grail” per Melissa (Wink’s Product Coordinator). “You have no idea how hard it was to source a matching parcel of rounds. I contacted about four or five different sources including two that specialized in fancy yellows; everyone told me that if you were looking for radiants we'd have no problem. I was on the phone daily trying to find them. Everyone was telling me they’d be outrageously expensive (yes, we rejected the first $50K parcel). I swear people were telling me I was looking for the Holy Grail!”
Wink persevered and did not give up.
I received an email 3 weeks later that Paul Slegers and Lieve Peeters (of Crafted by Infinity) had sourced a parcel of .20s round brilliant diamonds - 45 stones, 8.94 ctw. Per Paul, Lieve, and Wink, the diamonds are Fancy Intense Yellow (SI clarity) with a very faint orange tone to them. Wink regards this as a positive as it adds warmth to the stones when viewed face up, without being strong enough for him to grade it as a FIoY. Due to their rarity, I also learned that the price per carat for fancy round brilliants is much more than radiants of similar size and color.
After Wink received the parcel of diamonds 2 weeks later, we “played” over the Internet. Wink is great with his Live Videos. Just to be sure that I was seeing hue/tone/saturation as best as I could, I had my 2560x1600 tablet and my 27” monitor up. I was blown away with their beauty and saturation. I gave my approval, paid for the entire parcel, and then off they went to the setter for another two weeks of waiting.
The resulting 6.5 inch bracelet holds 36 stones for a total weight of 7.15 ctw (8 ctw if standard 7-inch length). The only difference in the findings is that this bracelet is 18K yellow gold while my original bracelet was 14K. It exceeds my expectations and is drop dead gorgeous in my opinion. I am extremely happy with this very beautiful and unique bracelet of all FIY round diamonds and plan to wear it with my original bracelet from Wink.
Since I have small wrists, we had 9 extra diamonds from the parcel. I wasn’t going to let 1.79 ctw of beautiful FIYs go unused, so they went into a stock 14K white gold pendant (with 14K yellow gold heads) by Stuller that was modified to hold all of these diamonds. I will post pictures of this later after it is completed.
Finally, since I have a Gemologist Diploma from the GIA (earned in 1989), I am very picky about my jewelry, but am extremely happy with the craftsmanship and customer service that I have received from Wink. He is the consummate gentleman and I greatly value his knowledge, honesty, and integrity. I am so fortunate to have found Wink via Pricescope in 2004 and am also forever grateful to Paul Slegers and Lieve Peeters for sourcing these beautiful Fancy Intense Yellow (FIY) round brilliant diamonds.
Ten years ago (2004) Wink created a beautiful handcrafted 6.5 inch bracelet made of .33s GH/VS2-SI1 diamonds that was 10.5 ctw (but would have been 11.5 ctw if the standard 7-inch length). They were not sold as H&A but most of the stones exhibited arrows per Wink. It had the appearance of a 3-prong but the safety of a 4-prong mounting, the best of both worlds in my opinion. I have worn that bracelet daily for the past 10 years; it has been in the shower, out camping, and even in the waters of French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora etc.) It has received many compliments everywhere I go.
After purchasing a Fancy Yellow diamond ring from Tiffany & Co. while on vacation in early March 2014 (one blue box is enough), I contacted Wink in late March about the possibility of making a matching bracelet using the same findings as my other bracelet, but with fancy yellow round diamonds instead. After a series of emails and phone calls between Wink, Melissa, and myself, I gave the official go ahead to proceed with this project in early June.
Well I didn’t realize that I was asking for the “Holy Grail” per Melissa (Wink’s Product Coordinator). “You have no idea how hard it was to source a matching parcel of rounds. I contacted about four or five different sources including two that specialized in fancy yellows; everyone told me that if you were looking for radiants we'd have no problem. I was on the phone daily trying to find them. Everyone was telling me they’d be outrageously expensive (yes, we rejected the first $50K parcel). I swear people were telling me I was looking for the Holy Grail!”
Wink persevered and did not give up.
I received an email 3 weeks later that Paul Slegers and Lieve Peeters (of Crafted by Infinity) had sourced a parcel of .20s round brilliant diamonds - 45 stones, 8.94 ctw. Per Paul, Lieve, and Wink, the diamonds are Fancy Intense Yellow (SI clarity) with a very faint orange tone to them. Wink regards this as a positive as it adds warmth to the stones when viewed face up, without being strong enough for him to grade it as a FIoY. Due to their rarity, I also learned that the price per carat for fancy round brilliants is much more than radiants of similar size and color.
After Wink received the parcel of diamonds 2 weeks later, we “played” over the Internet. Wink is great with his Live Videos. Just to be sure that I was seeing hue/tone/saturation as best as I could, I had my 2560x1600 tablet and my 27” monitor up. I was blown away with their beauty and saturation. I gave my approval, paid for the entire parcel, and then off they went to the setter for another two weeks of waiting.
The resulting 6.5 inch bracelet holds 36 stones for a total weight of 7.15 ctw (8 ctw if standard 7-inch length). The only difference in the findings is that this bracelet is 18K yellow gold while my original bracelet was 14K. It exceeds my expectations and is drop dead gorgeous in my opinion. I am extremely happy with this very beautiful and unique bracelet of all FIY round diamonds and plan to wear it with my original bracelet from Wink.
Since I have small wrists, we had 9 extra diamonds from the parcel. I wasn’t going to let 1.79 ctw of beautiful FIYs go unused, so they went into a stock 14K white gold pendant (with 14K yellow gold heads) by Stuller that was modified to hold all of these diamonds. I will post pictures of this later after it is completed.
Finally, since I have a Gemologist Diploma from the GIA (earned in 1989), I am very picky about my jewelry, but am extremely happy with the craftsmanship and customer service that I have received from Wink. He is the consummate gentleman and I greatly value his knowledge, honesty, and integrity. I am so fortunate to have found Wink via Pricescope in 2004 and am also forever grateful to Paul Slegers and Lieve Peeters for sourcing these beautiful Fancy Intense Yellow (FIY) round brilliant diamonds.
Just gorgeous an blingatastic.
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