Who has the best upgrade policy & why?

[NicoleNeedsHelp]

A few months ago, I bought a 1.8 carat diamond and I stated that "I will never upgrade again". Well.......oopsie.......(I am inserting my foot into my mouth now). DSS set in hard and fast. So, I am upgrading (and paying for it heavily since I bought the stone from a seller without an upgrade policy- I am going to sell the stone privately and take a loss--but YOLO). So, lesson learned.........I cannot be trusted and I need to buy from a vendor with an upgrade policy.

My question is---which company has the best upgrade policy and why? I think the answer is Whiteflash-but I do not know for sure. Can anyone chime in with other vendors and/or experiences with upgrading with Whiteflash. Thanks!

 

[molecule]

IMO, it depends on the cut of the stones you pick. With whiteflash's policy you can't upgrade to an oval or an emerald.

 

[NicoleNeedsHelp]

IMO, it depends on the cut of the stones you pick. With whiteflash's policy you can't upgrade to an oval or an emerald.

Good point & these are the things I need to know! At the moment, I am specifically looking at MRB

 

[Linny]

HPD allows you to trade in any stone for any other stone - or more than one- so long as it’s any amount more than your original purchase. So you could trade a larger stone for two or three smaller stones or you could go to a smaller stone from a larger one and go up in color or clarity. No restrictions means no restrictions! It only has to be 1cent more to quality for upgrade. I don’t know a better policy out there. They also have an 80% buy back policy which is unheard of. And these policies are for life. They stand behind their product - CBIs and it shows. They only carry MRBs though so if you think you might want to upgrade to a different shape then that might be an issue. They also have a 21 day money back guarantee so you can be sure if your purchase.

Here is more info:

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

 

[Big Fat Facets]

i understand that whiteflash and high performance diamonds/crafted by infinity offer very comparable upgrade policies. the difference is that whiteflash seems to have more inventory to select from than hpd/cbi.

 

[LLJsmom]

HPD allows you to trade in any stone for any other stone - or more than one- so long as it’s any amount more than your original purchase. So you could trade a larger stone for two or three smaller stones or you could go to a smaller stone from a larger one and go up in color or clarity. No restrictions means no restrictions! It only has to be 1cent more to quality for upgrade. I don’t know a better policy out there. They also have an 80% buy back policy which is unheard of. And these policies are for life. They stand behind their product - CBIs and it shows. They only carry MRBs though so if you think you might want to upgrade to a different shape then that might be an issue. They also have a 21 day money back guarantee so you can be sure if your purchase.

Here is more info:

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

@Linny, I know you purchased from HPD. I am saying this because I spoke to them recently. @NicoleNeedsHelp should confirm this with them. What I understood is slightly different, and I won't specify here because regardless of which vendor, @NicoleNeedsHelp should verify herself at the time of purchase the most updated policy that would apply to her.

 

[LLJsmom]

i understand that whiteflash and high performance diamonds/crafted by infinity offer very comparable upgrade policies. the difference is that whiteflash seems to have more inventory to select from than hpd/cbi.

I noticed that too.

 

[yssie]

HPD allows you to trade in any stone for any other stone - or more than one- so long as it’s any amount more than your original purchase. So you could trade a larger stone for two or three smaller stones or you could go to a smaller stone from a larger one and go up in color or clarity. No restrictions means no restrictions! It only has to be 1cent more to quality for upgrade. I don’t know a better policy out there. They also have an 80% buy back policy which is unheard of. And these policies are for life. They stand behind their product - CBIs and it shows. They only carry MRBs though so if you think you might want to upgrade to a different shape then that might be an issue. They also have a 21 day money back guarantee so you can be sure if your purchase.

Here is more info:

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

Your commercial aside - this is stated nowhere in any of HPD’s documented policies.

What is your source? If this was a dispensation that you were granted for a personal purchase, that is a disclaimer very relevant to this thread.

Edit - What @LLJsmom said.

 

[Linny]

@Linny, I know you purchased from HPD. I am saying this because I spoke to them recently. @NicoleNeedsHelp should confirm this with them. What I understood is slightly different, and I won't specify here because regardless of which vendor, @NicoleNeedsHelp should verify herself at the time of purchase the most updated policy that would apply to her.

Agreed. They explained this to me quite some time ago when I was making my original purchase since I asked these questions at that time. For example I have two daughters and I asked them if I ever wanted could trade in my single stone and purchase two smaller stones- one for each daughter, so long as the total amount was a greater value than my original purchase and at that time they told me that was allowable. Of course I have no experience actually using the policy in that way but that is what I was told when I asked originally. I wouldn’t know if there have been any variations on the policy between then and now however. And, yes, definitely it’s always best to reach out to each vendor and dig into all the specifics if each policy with them. I definitely wouldn’t want to misinform in error. My apologies if that is the case I was just relaying what I was told when I initially asked these kinds of details about the policy.

 

[symc820]

Here's what I got...
HPD is hands down the most flexible from what I've seen.
I didn't know about the WF not being able to change different cuts though so the below might not be complete:

Vendor	Upgrade Policy
Crafted by Infinity	100% credit for anything(s) equal or greater value
Black by Brian Galvin	100% credit for any in-house diamond of equal or greater value (2/3 variables)
Whiteflash A Cut Above	100% credit for any in-house diamond of equal or greater value
James Allen True Hearts	100% credit for any replacement diamond of at least 2X or greater value
Victor Canera Ideal Hearts	100% credit for any in-house diamond of equal or greater value
Astor by Blue Nile	100% credit for any replacement diamond of at least 2X or greater value

 

[symc820]

Agreed. They explained this to me quite some time ago when I was making my original purchase since I asked these questions at that time. For example I have two daughters and I asked them if I ever wanted could trade in my single stone and purchase two smaller stones- one for each daughter, so long as the total amount was a greater value than my original purchase and at that time they told me that was allowable. Of course I have no experience actually using the policy in that way but that is what I was told when I asked originally. I wouldn’t know if there have been any variations on the policy between then and now however. And, yes, definitely it’s always best to reach out to each vendor and dig into all the specifics if each policy with them. I definitely wouldn’t want to misinform in error. My apologies if that is the case I was just relaying what I was told when I initially asked these kinds of details about the policy.

Isn't it documented here? Or did I misread what everyone's talking about?

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

 

[Linny]

Isn't it documented here? Or did I misread what everyone's talking about?

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

I found the question of trading to multiple diamonds here:

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

 

[Linny]

And it says “a few dollars” so maybe a 1 cent transaction would be silly

 

[yssie]

I found the question of trading to multiple diamonds here:

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

This is exceptionally generous. I was mistaken earlier - clearly stated and I apologize. Thank you for sharing this link!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Here's what I got...
HPD is hands down the most flexible from what I've seen.
I didn't know about the WF not being able to change different cuts though so the below might not be complete:

Vendor	Upgrade Policy
Crafted by Infinity	100% credit for anything(s) equal or greater value
Black by Brian Galvin	100% credit for any in-house diamond of equal or greater value (2/3 variables)
Whiteflash A Cut Above	100% credit for any in-house diamond of equal or greater value
James Allen True Hearts	100% credit for any replacement diamond of at least 2X or greater value
Victor Canera Ideal Hearts	100% credit for any in-house diamond of equal or greater value
Astor by Blue Nile	100% credit for any replacement diamond of at least 2X or greater value

Just clarifying that CBI has a trade-up for another CBI diamond, not just "anything".

I think CBI and WF both have excellent upgrade policies. I will say from my experience upgrading for matched pairs for studs several times, that WF does usually have a good bit more diamonds in stock. Once upon a time, I bought a diamond from a vendor not named above, and they stopped carrying larger diamonds making it impossible to upgrade. So do keep that in mind for all vendors.

 

[Linny]

This is exceptionally generous. I was mistaken earlier - clearly stated and I apologize. Thank you for sharing this link!

 

[LLJsmom]

I found the question of trading to multiple diamonds here:

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

Yes Linny. Please know I am not arguing with you. I don't disagree with the fact that this policy is stated on their website. I can't speak to my personal experience with this as I have not used it. For my own peace of mind, I would confirm if buying now that all aspects of this policy as written above is still applicable.

 

[Linny]

Yes Linny. Please know I am not arguing with you. I don't disagree with the fact that this policy is stated on their website. I can't speak to my personal experience with this as I have not used it. For my own peace of mind, I would confirm if buying now that all aspects of this policy as written above is still applicable.

Agree 100% - and don’t worry I didn’t read it that way at all. This is a great thread. I’m learning a lot too! Really interesting to understand the different policies.

 

[Kya]

Informative post!

Does anyone know if IDJ has any trade up policies?

 

[symc820]

Informative post!

Does anyone know if IDJ has any trade up policies?

According to some older reviews they do, but it's not listed on their site. Please let us know if you reach out to them and what their policy is.

 

[daisygrl]

IMO, HPD has the best upgrade policy. Unlike any other vendor, HPD offers 80% buyback for life! If you no longer want the stone or hardship of some kind kicks in and you feel like you need to sell the diamond, they will buy the diamond back from you for 80% of what you paid. Whiteflash offers that for 1 year and only offers 70%.

HP Diamonds

www.hpdiamonds.com

Furthermore, nothing is written in the stone. So if the engagement/marriage does not work out, you can exchange the stone for a couple of earrings if you wish. - not trying to sound pessimistic, just realistic.

Brian Gavin's policy: you will need to upgrade your stone in two categories: size/color, color/clarity, clarity/size. That would add up overtime.

 

[missy]

This is an informative and helpful thread. I would always double check with the vendor to make sure the upgrade policy is still as written and I would also get it in writing at the time of purchase.

One other point to keep in mind is that a business can go out of business and/or retire and that would probably make any upgrade policy null and void. "For life" refers to the life of the business more so than the specific buyer's life if you kwim. Something one needs to take into account.

I love the fact that HPD will buy back their diamond at 80% and that they have a super generous upgrade policy. You cannot beat unrestricted.