Uploaded October 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Bespoke Unit's Paul Anthony and Charles-Philippe take a look at the Diamond Crown St. James The Alexander 160-count wooden humidor. Does this luxury humidor's quality warrant its $600 price tag? Watch our review to find out!
BUY NOW:
Diamond Crown St. James Series The Alexander (all sizes):
amzn.to/2ClMmlI
CONTINUE WATCHING:
Video explaining why we prefer Boveda humidification:
youtube.com/watch?v=TvKrASMrN8w
Calibrate a digital hygrometer like the one included with The Alexander:
youtu.be/d5jXXqayEJQ
Learn to season a wood humidor with Boveda packs:
youtube.com/watch?v=NKFMWf8-er0
Paul & Boveda's Rob run down the pros & cons of wood humidors:
youtu.be/Fb6F06r7aJ8
We break down different humidor seasoning methods:
youtu.be/Njrcwh9K4GA
READ ABOUT CIGARS:
Read Bespoke Unit's top luxury humidor picks, including this one:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/humidors/best/luxury
Our page on wooden humidors:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/humidors/wooden
Humidor & Cigar Storage Homepage:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/humidors
Bespoke Unit Cigars Home
bespokeunit.com/cigars
Diamond Crown St. James The Alexander Humidor Unboxing & Review
The first thing we noticed is that this humidor has some weight to it. Compared to the Quality Importers humidors we reviewed, The Alexander is noticeably more solid. Of course, those are an eigth of the price.
A more solid, heavier wood humidor indicates hardwood construction. Hardwood is less permeable to air and moisture, more effectively creating an isolated microclimate for your cigars.
Unfortunately, we've discovered that Diamond Crown's humidor manufacturing recently moved to China. Still, the construction quality seems to be top-notch, even if they're no longer American-made.
Arturo Fuente Cigars owns Diamond Crown, and it's a bit disappointing to see the move to China. This stands in contrast to luxury brands like Elie Bleu & Davidoff, who still make their humidors in France. Luxury brands which have kept their humidor production in the USA include Daniel Marshall & American Chest Company.
The thickly-laquered finish on The Alexander's black ebony exterior is certainly attractive. The handles on the sides have a high polish, but have an out-of-place matte finish on the inside.
Opening the humidor and taking a sniff confirms what we've heard online. Rather than the sweet, subtle scent of Spanish cedar, we smell glue. Before seasoning, you'd definitely want to air this one out for a few days.
Instead of a shelf, you get a ventilated divider. You could indeed place Boveda packs on top of this divider. There are also vertical dividers for separating vitolas.
The key included for the lock looks almost identical to those from the Quality Importers humidors. Diamond Crown describe the lock as a proprietary mechanism; we'll test this out later to see if it's a decent lock.
A magnetic humidification source sticks onto the interior of the lid. Though we prefer Boveda humidification, this tells us that there's a metal plate built right into the wooden lid.
This means you can magnetically attach Boveda packs inside without worrying about using adhesives on the Spanish cedar lining.
The Alexander comes with a calibratable digital hygrometer, which is nice. However, we recommend a smart hygrometer, especially for wood humidors.
That's because checking the humidity without physically opening the humidor is a plus. Still, a calibratable digital hygrometer is a nice feature.
For this 160-count humidor, you can season using 6x 60g Boveda packs or a 320g pack.
Overall, we find this to be a good value, due to its solid construction and beautifully thick lacquer finish. The main downside is the glue smell it has when new.
REMEMBER to comment! We'd love to hear your thoughts on this humidor and comparable pieces you'd like to see on Bespoke Unit!
Yours,
The Bespoke Unit Team
CONNECT:
Web: BespokeUnit.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/BespokeUnit
Facebook: Facebook.com/BespokeUnit
Twitter: Twitter.com/BespokeUnit
Subscribe to Newsletter: BespokeUnit.com/newsletter
Diamond Crown St. James The Alexander Humidor Unboxing & Review
youtu.be/W7_Y8eqmWt0
Bespoke Unit's Paul Anthony and Charles-Philippe take a look at the Diamond Crown St. James The Alexander 160-count wooden humidor. Does this luxury humidor's quality warrant its $600 price tag? Watch our review to find out!
BUY NOW:
Diamond Crown St. James Series The Alexander (all sizes):
amzn.to/2ClMmlI
CONTINUE WATCHING:
Video explaining why we prefer Boveda humidification:
youtube.com/watch?v=TvKrASMrN8w
Calibrate a digital hygrometer like the one included with The Alexander:
youtu.be/d5jXXqayEJQ
Learn to season a wood humidor with Boveda packs:
youtube.com/watch?v=NKFMWf8-er0
Paul & Boveda's Rob run down the pros & cons of wood humidors:
youtu.be/Fb6F06r7aJ8
We break down different humidor seasoning methods:
youtu.be/Njrcwh9K4GA
READ ABOUT CIGARS:
Read Bespoke Unit's top luxury humidor picks, including this one:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/humidors/best/luxury
Our page on wooden humidors:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/humidors/wooden
Humidor & Cigar Storage Homepage:
bespokeunit.com/cigars/humidors
Bespoke Unit Cigars Home
bespokeunit.com/cigars
Diamond Crown St. James The Alexander Humidor Unboxing & Review
The first thing we noticed is that this humidor has some weight to it. Compared to the Quality Importers humidors we reviewed, The Alexander is noticeably more solid. Of course, those are an eigth of the price.
A more solid, heavier wood humidor indicates hardwood construction. Hardwood is less permeable to air and moisture, more effectively creating an isolated microclimate for your cigars.
Unfortunately, we've discovered that Diamond Crown's humidor manufacturing recently moved to China. Still, the construction quality seems to be top-notch, even if they're no longer American-made.
Arturo Fuente Cigars owns Diamond Crown, and it's a bit disappointing to see the move to China. This stands in contrast to luxury brands like Elie Bleu & Davidoff, who still make their humidors in France. Luxury brands which have kept their humidor production in the USA include Daniel Marshall & American Chest Company.
The thickly-laquered finish on The Alexander's black ebony exterior is certainly attractive. The handles on the sides have a high polish, but have an out-of-place matte finish on the inside.
Opening the humidor and taking a sniff confirms what we've heard online. Rather than the sweet, subtle scent of Spanish cedar, we smell glue. Before seasoning, you'd definitely want to air this one out for a few days.
Instead of a shelf, you get a ventilated divider. You could indeed place Boveda packs on top of this divider. There are also vertical dividers for separating vitolas.
The key included for the lock looks almost identical to those from the Quality Importers humidors. Diamond Crown describe the lock as a proprietary mechanism; we'll test this out later to see if it's a decent lock.
A magnetic humidification source sticks onto the interior of the lid. Though we prefer Boveda humidification, this tells us that there's a metal plate built right into the wooden lid.
This means you can magnetically attach Boveda packs inside without worrying about using adhesives on the Spanish cedar lining.
The Alexander comes with a calibratable digital hygrometer, which is nice. However, we recommend a smart hygrometer, especially for wood humidors.
That's because checking the humidity without physically opening the humidor is a plus. Still, a calibratable digital hygrometer is a nice feature.
For this 160-count humidor, you can season using 6x 60g Boveda packs or a 320g pack.
Overall, we find this to be a good value, due to its solid construction and beautifully thick lacquer finish. The main downside is the glue smell it has when new.
REMEMBER to comment! We'd love to hear your thoughts on this humidor and comparable pieces you'd like to see on Bespoke Unit!
Yours,
The Bespoke Unit Team
CONNECT:
Web: BespokeUnit.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/BespokeUnit
Facebook: Facebook.com/BespokeUnit
Twitter: Twitter.com/BespokeUnit
Subscribe to Newsletter: BespokeUnit.com/newsletter
Diamond Crown St. James The Alexander Humidor Unboxing & Review
youtu.be/W7_Y8eqmWt0
