Whiteflash Review: Is This Online Diamond Shop Any Good?

Updated On March 1, 2024
Last Updated on September 26, 2022 by Juli "Jewels" Church

This is a super in-depth review of Whiteflash.

In this up-to-date review I’ll break down:

  • Who Whiteflash is
  • What makes Whiteflash unique 
  • Key features
  • Things I like 
  • Thing I don’t like
  • Whether or not their diamonds are worth the price tag
  • And lots more

Let's get started!

Who Is Whiteflash?

Whiteflash is an online diamond shop specializing in producing diamonds with the best possible "cut" to produce the most flash. 

whiteflash review diamonds

You know when a diamond sparkles in the light?

That's because the diamond is cut in such a way the light that comes into the diamond is reflected back out (light return) as white and colored sparkles.

The white sparkles that flash in the light are called Flash Scintillation where the colored sparkles are called Fire Scintillation.

A crappy cut leaks light, which results in little-to-no flash from your diamond regardless of how big it is (i.e., carat size) or how clean it is (i.e., clarity).

Whiteflash branded their diamonds with the best cut "A CUT ABOVE®" which are diamonds cut reflect the maximum amount of light and flash back to the observer.

And that's where their name comes from "Whiteflash".

Their entire brand is based on producing a diamond with the best possible cut at the best price.

Before we start, if you want to hear our opinion about other online stores you should definitely check our list of top places to buy diamonds online.

What Makes Whiteflash Unique?

There are 2 main things that make Whiteflash unique from the millions of other diamond sellers:

  1. Their dedication to producing a diamond with the best possible cut resulting in the best possible flash and sparkle (i.e., their A CUT ABOVE® diamond line)
  2. And their dedication to customer satisfaction and social responsibility

Let me dig into each.

What Are A CUT ABOVE® Diamonds?

You have to remember, at the end of the day, diamonds are basically a commodity.

What this means is that a diamond is a diamond regardless of where you get it from.

Unfortunately, this doesn't help sell diamonds.

So... businesses lean on certain aspects of the diamond they can control, which produce a better product and can help differentiate their brand.

That's where "A CUT ABOVE®" or ACA graded diamonds come into play with Whiteflash.

Initially, I thought this was all marketing hype but the more I peeled back the layers the more I realized how much Whiteflash really has carved out a niche in the jewelry market.

That said...

There's 5 things you need to know about A CUT ABOVE® branded diamonds.

a cut above

#1. To Stand Out In The Diamond Market

In an effort to make a name for themselves in the hyper competitive diamond industry, Whiteflash decided to go all in on the most important "C" in the 4'cs of diamonds.

Cut.

The other 3 c's clarity, carat, and color are important, but nothing turns a head like a diamond that lights up a room.

#2. Partnering Up With Gem Labs

They teamed up with one of the biggest gem laboratories in the world, the American Gem Society Laboratories (AGSL), which specialize in grading the cut of a diamond (more so than GIA actually).

Whiteflash takes the diamonds that receive the best grade from the AGSL (Triple Zero Cut with a Platinum Certificate) and then only list hearts and arrows diamonds within that group.

They like to refer to this as "hitting the bulls eye".

super ideal whiteflash cut above

#3. Hearts And Arrows = Perfect Optical Symmetry

To be clear, the "Hearts And Arrows" patterns within a diamond are only present when the diamond’s facets are aligned precisely in three dimensions and that the diamond has outstanding “optical symmetry".

The below is an image of a diamond with the camera pointed down on top of the table (think top down). Here you can see the perfect "hearts" on the left as a result of optical symmetry among the facets of the diamond.

hearts and arrows whiteflash

On the image above, the diamond on the right doesn't have perfect hearts, therefore would not be branded A CUT ABOVE® by Whiteflash.

Only the diamonds with a perfect cut score from AGSL AND were cut with perfect optical symmetrical are allowed to be branded "A CUT ABOVE®".

This is also what's known as a "super ideal diamond".

But this is actually where other jewelry shops would stop. Whiteflash has additional filters.

#4. No Clarity Defects

Whiteflash does additional vetting throwing out any super ideal diamonds that have clarity issues where inclusions may create a subtle effects that take away from the fire and flash. 

#5. No Cut Defects Or Fluorescence 

Whiteflash also throws out any diamonds with chips or scratches as a result of the cutting process.

Mined diamonds have something called fluorescence, which may affect the light performance of a diamond. Whiteflash uses ultraviolet light to test and remove any diamonds with non-negligible fluoresce.

To give you a sense of what this type of adherence to diamond cut can achieve, the below video shows you a side-by-side comparison of the sparkle of a A CUT ABOVE® by Whiteflash (pictured left) and a Triple Excellent Cut Diamond by GIA (pictured right).

You have to remember that cutting a diamond perfectly is a skill performed by humans (not machines) using sophisticated tools.

In order to achieve a perfect cut, a lot of time and energy needs to be spent polishing and carving to achieve the hearts and arrows pattern.

The thing is...

In order to achieve hearts and arrows, diamond cutters usually have to shave off precious weight from the diamond rough lowering the overall carat weight reducing its market value.

Because they require incredible craftsmanship to cut AND need to make up for the lost carat weight, super ideal diamonds cost a lot of money and the A CUT ABOVE® diamonds cost even more due to Whiteflash's quality standard.

But...

At the end of the day you have a diamond with the best possible cut money can buy, which produces a flash you won't soon forget!

Again, this is Whiteflash's entire brand and how they differentiate themselves from the crowd.

Whiteflash Dedication To Customer Satisfaction

The diamond industry is littered with scam artists, pushy sales people, and unethical sourcing practices, it's hard to figure out who's trustworthy and who's not.

There's even folks who would argue that some diamond certifiers regularly award high marks to flawed diamonds.

That said: Whiteflash understands this fundamental problem in the industry and responds with customer centric business practices, which result in consistent praise and recognition from industry watchdogs.

14 BBB Awards for Excellence

The first area of customer satisfaction being recognized is the the BBB Awards for Excellence given to Whiteflash 14 consecutive times.

Now on the surface, this award kinda seems like a "check the box" and get it kind of award, but getting anything 14 straight times has to mean something right?

whiteflash bbb award

For example, in 2018, 295 different companies received this award. 

From their website... this is an award given to

"...BBB Accredited Businesses and Charity Members that maintain a superior commitment to ethics, overall excellence, and quality in the workplace at the 2018 Awards for Excellence event."

I dug around for about 15 minutes and couldn't find any specific criteria for winning this award so take that for what you will.

It's also worth pointing out that this award is only given to Accredited Businesses based in the Greater Houston and South Texas branch of the Better Business Bureau.

So is it the best award you could possibly get? Probably not.

But it's certainly nice to have and shows me there is some level of investment in building an ethical jewelry company.

ISO 9000:2008 Certified

Now a step up from a BBB award is a full blown 3rd party review and certification.

That's what this "ISO 9000" is.

To me this is something that truly makes Whiteflash unique from any other jewelry company and another reason to believe they are in fact a customer centric operation.

In plain english what this certification means is that Whiteflash has demonstrated through a 3rd party review system, they consistently deliver a quality product and a seamless sales process.

whtieflash 9000 certified

To most customers, this fancy certification probably means nothing, but to actually get a 3rd party to certify that your sales process helps your end custom is again a testament to Whiteflash's intent to being a customer 1st operation.

It's also worth pointing out that Whiteflash is the first and only jewelry company with this certification.

Response To Conflict Free Diamond Sourcing

I have to say out of all the other jewelry companies I have reviewed, Whiteflash's response to sourcing conflict free has to be the most thorough.

If you're not familiar "conflict diamonds" are sold by rebel groups to finance wars against governments.

This used to be a huge problem, but the industry largely addressed it by implementing the Kimberly Process making it more difficult for conflict diamonds to be sold on an open market. 

It goes without saying Whiteflash sources from non-conflict suppliers, but they have also taken it a step further such as:

  • Joining the United Nations Global Compact, which is an organization dedicated to addressing human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption in business on a global scale.
  • Joining the Diamond Development Initiative, which helps ensure that the communities involved in mining diamonds actually benefit from their work
  • And donating profits of their Dreams of Africa collection to the Jewelers for Children non-profit.

These are just some of the areas I found Whiteflash to be investing time and resources into.

All good things that I like to see out of a socially responsible company!

What Did I Like About Whiteflash?

So now that I've covered what makes Whiteflash unique, what do I like about this brand?

What stands out to me as something that makes me consider buying from Whiteflash vs any other brand?

Let's have a look!

A CUT ABOVE® Diamonds

First off, it's got to be Whiteflash's ACA diamond collection.

When it comes to diamonds, cut is king.

I mean, let's be honest, from a distance no one can tell the difference between carat sizes, color, and especially not clarity.

But cut, you can see a well-cut diamond shimmer from across the room.

NOTHING beats that head turning sparkle.

Think of it like this...

Achieving a perfect cut is like building a high performance engine or cooking a gourmet dish with just the right balance of flavor and spice. 

Diamond cutters need to carve and polish to achieve perfect optical symmetry such that all the light that enters a diamond is returned to the observer in white or colored flashes rather than being lost due to poor cut.

Far and away the best thing about Whiteflash is their dedication to producing a diamond with the perfect cut.

In fact, I would say that if cut quality was your #1 priority when buying your diamond (and it should be), then you should seriously consider Whiteflash as a diamond provider because I haven't seen any other jewelry company invest so many resources to perfecting it.

Diamond Certificate Availability (Transparency)

Another thing I really liked about Whiteflash is that they give you diamond certificates without having to talk to anyone.

This is for both their in-house stock AND their virtual inventory.

This is a testament to their dedication of transparency and letting the customer there's nothing to hide.

whiteflash diamond reports

It's all out there for you to read and analyze if you want to.

For their in-house stock, they even produce the Sarine Report, which is an even more in-depth report of the diamond if you want to read that as well.

Honestly, most consumers will never touch or know how to read these reports, but seeing as how readily available they are, this is a great sign of trust.

Surprisingly James Allen (one of my favorite online diamond sellers) does not actually give you the certificate without having to first talk to someone, which is probably just a tactic to get the customer talking to a salesperson.

james allen report

It's a little thing, but little gestures like making the certificate freely available for a customer speaks volumes about Whiteflash.

Pre & Post Sales Support (No Buyer Risk)

When it comes to selling anything online it's critical the seller provide support before AND after the actual sale to minimize the feeling feeling of risk when buying.

This is especially true when buying something not only expensive but tied to a very big emotional milestone in most people's lives... aka buying a diamond.

Here's what you get from Whiteflash:

  • Free Insured Shipping (Domestic/International)
  • 24/7 Online Chat (and email follow-up)
  • 30 Day Money Back Return Policy (In-House Diamonds)
  • 10 Day Money Back Return Policy (Virtual Catalogue)

Free shipping, easy returns, these are simple things I'd expect a reputable online company to provide and Whiteflash delivers.

Lifetime Trade-Up

This one I wanted to call out specifically because if you purchase one of their in-house diamonds, you're eligible to upgrade at any point in the future using the full value of your purchase.

lifetime trade up whiteflash review

For example, if you buy a diamond for $3,000 and want to upgrade to a $5,000 diamond you only need to pay the difference.

Other shops like James Allen and Blue Nile require you to choose a diamond 2x the price of your original diamond in order to upgrade. So if you have a $3,000 diamond you'd have to buy a $6,000 diamond in order to trade up.

This is not the case with Whiteflash.

Again, ONLY in-house diamonds, so make sure you don't buy from their virtual stock if you want this benefit.

One Year Buy Back

The last thing I really liked about Whiteflash (and something no other jewelry company offers) is their 1 year buy back program on their in-house diamonds.

If within 1 year of your purchase you want to back out of the sale, you can get 70% of the value of your diamond refunded to you.

Isn't that something?

Whiteflash does this to further reduce the risk of a big purchase so you have 30 days 100% money back PLUS 11 additional months to get 70% of your money back in the event you want to return your diamond.

This is another benefit that only applies to Whiteflash's in-house stock of diamonds.

What Didn't I Like About Whiteflash?

Now when I say, "these are the things I didn't like", these are personal opinions of mine and what I see when comparing Whiteflash to the general market.

I try to be as impartial and objective as I possibly can in this section to ultimately help you the reader.

Let's dive in.

Online Shopping Experience (No 360° HD Camera)

This is probably the biggest area of improvement I see for Whiteflash.

When it comes to selling anything online you need to make the buying experience as easy as possible but also provide the customer with as much information as possible (as quickly as possible) to make a buying decision.

Whiteflash provides every certificate, image, and measurement, but lacks in the video department. 

For their in-house diamonds, they do have video option, but you can't actually see all the characteristics of the diamond that well. 

Here's what you get if you want to see a video of an in-house diamond...

whiteflash 360 camera

You can see the flash scintillation, which indicates a good cut, but you can't clearly see any inclusions or impurities. 

Other popular online diamond sellers like James Allen and Blue Nile have addressed this by providing 360° HD imaging to let the user see every aspect of the diamond before buying.

This is especially important for customers who want to see inclusions or impurities in their diamonds before buying.

Check out how easy it is to view a diamond and all it's characteristic on James Allen.

james allen zoom

Overall, it's not the end of the world, but hopefully Whiteflash can install better zoom functionality and button this up.

Their Selection of Settings

Surprisingly Whiteflash only has 4 setting styles. Basically just the traditional mainstays like:

  • Halo
  • Solitaire
  • 3 Stone Set
  • Pavé & Side Stones

Whereas James Allen has 8 and Blue Nile has 12.

Again, not the end of the world, but I kinda wish they had more setting options instead of just the traditional setting styles.

In-House Diamond Inventory

Now Whiteflash isn't a super huge diamond conglomerate so their selection of diamonds is relatively limited to compared to bigger shops.

For example, at the time of this writing, Whiteflash only has 911 diamonds in-house with 825 of those diamonds being round style.

This is important because all their benefits (1 year buy back, lifetime upgrade, etc) are only good for in-house diamonds.

in house diamonds in stock whiteflash

Personally, I prefer round cut, so it wouldn't make a difference to me, but if you didn't want a round style and instead want a more fancy shape like princess or a marquise shape diamond, you'd be out of luck with Whiteflash.

Instead, I'd opt for James Allen or Blue Nile as an alternative.

No Lab Diamonds

Another thing I wish Whiteflash had were lab diamonds.

Specifically, lab diamonds that meet the A CUT ABOVE® criteria for Whiteflash.

Lab diamonds are becoming more popular for ethics reasons providing all the same attributes of a diamond, but being made in a lab instead of being mined from the earth.

Not to be confused with cubic zirconia, which are not diamonds, I'm talking about diamonds actually made in a lab.

Generally, a lab diamond equivalent can be 20% - 40% cheaper than a natural diamond but possess all the same qualities!

Again, not a huge thing, but they are becoming more popular and I would like to see Whiteflash stock some in-house lab created diamonds.

How's Whiteflash's Pricing?

Now I want to get into how Whiteflash's prices compare to other big name online jewelry company like Blue Nile or James Allen.

Remember, Whiteflash has in-house stock, which are diamonds they carry in their stores and they have virtual stock, which are diamonds they can sell through trading partners.

in-house and virtual whiteflash

Their "in-house" stock is further broken down into 3 buckets. Those are:

  • A CUT ABOVE® Diamonds: These are the "best of the best" in Whiteflash's inventory. To get this distinction, AGSL needs to issue a rating of Triple Zero Cut with a Platinum Certificate with hearts and arrows with additional review by Whiteflash.
  • Premium Select Diamonds: A slight step down, these are GIA Triple Excellent graded with hearts and arrows with additional review by Whiteflash. 
  • Expert Select Diamonds: These are AGSL diamonds with Triple Zero Cut rating but missed the requirements of the A CUT ABOVE® category. These are not hearts and arrows diamonds.

To conduct a proper comparison, I pulled 1 diamond from each company.

Now, it's important to call out neither Blue Nile nor James Allen have their diamonds graded by AGSL, which is where Whiteflash gets their A CUT ABOVE® diamonds certified.

Instead, both Blue Nile and James Allen have most of their diamonds certified by GIA, which is the certifying body for Whiteflash's Premium Select stock.

premium select whiteflash

For this test, I pulled 1 diamond from Blue Nile's "Astor" collection, 1 diamond from James Allen's "True Hearts" collection, and 1 Diamond from Whiteflash's "Premium Select" collection, all diamonds certified by GIA.

All the diamonds pulled have near identical characteristics (see below) to ensure an apples-to-apples comparison.

The characteristics I chose were:

  • Carat: 1.04-Carat
  • Cut: Super Ideal or Best Cut By Brand
  • Color: G
  • Clarity: VS2

Here's what I found.

Pricing Compared - Blue Nile

First off, Blue Nile.

I couldn't find any 1.04-Carat so I bumped it up one notch to 1.05, which should still make things comparable. 

Surprisingly the price came in at a whopping $7,409!

bluenile whiteflash pricing

The thing about Blue Nile, which I thought was off putting was they don't actually give you too much information on their "Astor" collection.

They just say "these are the best" and have been reviewed to be the best by Blue Nile, which I thought was lame.

If you read more into what an "Astor" diamond is, they aren't even certified to be hearts and diamonds.

That said, I'm not really sure what extra I'm paying for when buying an Astor diamond. I guess brand?

Pricing Compared - James Allen

So Blue Nile was super expensive, how's James Allen stack up?

Let's just say James Allen comes in at a MUCH more reasonable price point for a diamond you KNOW is a hearts and arrows super ideal diamond.

james allen price comparison

I pulled the exact details so you can see this is a GIA certified triple excellent diamond with no fluorescence.

I call out the fluorescence because it is common for jewelry companies to discount diamonds with fluorescence as it is generally perceived to be a defect.

true hearts details

Pricing Compared - Whiteflash

Okay so we have Blue Nile and James Allen, how does Whiteflash stack up?

Below you can see very comparable pricing to the James Allen stock. A little more expensive, but nothing crazy.

whiteflash pricing

Overall, both James Allen and Whiteflash are comparable in cost and deliver essentially the same value.

At least on the surface, I can't see why Blue Nile charges an additional $1,400 for the same (possibly worse!) quality diamond regardless of the extra .01 in carat weight.

That said, I think my preference goes slightly to Whiteflash since they specialize in cut and are 100% transparent with their service. Plus, I really like their buy back and upgrade programs. James Allen is a little more strict with their upgrade program.

But if you were more budget conscious you could save a little money and go with James Allen's diamond and feel confident you've got a quality diamond at a good price.

Whiteflash Review Bottom Line: Are Whiteflash's Diamonds Worth The Price?

If you're in the market for a new diamond and the "cut" of a diamond is most important to you, than I would say Whiteflash is worth the price tag.

At first glance, they may seem just like any other online jewelry company.

But to me nothing comes through in the value of a diamond more than cut.

In other words, if I had a budget for a new diamond, I'd sacrifice carat, color, and clarity before cut.

And for a company like Whiteflash to specialize and invest time, money, and resources to delivering diamonds with the best possible cut makes buying from them a no brainer.

On top of that, the lengths they go through to be 100% transparent with their products is a breath of fresh air in a market like jewelry where you never know what you're actually paying for.

Between the 1 year buyback and lifetime upgrade program, Whiteflash stands behind their product way more than most jewelry companies.

The only downside of Whiteflash is (at the time of this writing) they only have 911 diamonds in-house with 825 of those diamonds being round style.

So if you want more fancy shapes like oval, princess, marquis, etc, I'd opt for James Allen.

But if you prefer a round diamond (I personally do), you want the best cut for your diamond, and you want to do business with a reputable company I recommend buying from Whiteflash.

Now It's Your Turn

So that’s it for my review of Whiteflash.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Have you purchased a diamond from Whiteflash before?

If so, what was your experience with it? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.