BYOPlatinum?

[narual]

Hey there! Wasn't sure where to post this since it's not really about diamonds. Figured this was a safe place no one would get upset by

So recently, I proposed to my fiancee with a custom-made engagement ring that used the original platinum and diamond from my grandmother's ring, with a design that paid homage to the original ring, but was more substantial (lots more platinum and a halo of 22 small diamonds). That story is here: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/grandmothers-engagement-ring.173030/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/grandmothers-engagement-ring.173030/[/URL]

I'll have to post the engagement story soon -- I think you'll like that.

But what I'm writing about now comes later -- we're looking into wedding rings. The wedding will be in mid-January.

When I did her engagement ring, I didn't question costs much. I was very eager to get it on her finger, and cared more about keeping the spirit of the original ring and making it something she'd love, than the cost.

Now, looking at wedding rings, and especially given the tradition that the bride purchase the groom's ring (my fiancee is a social worker, not the most affluent career), we're trying to be cost-conscious, without sacrificing quality.

The jeweler who did her engagement ring informed me that to do a wedding ring that fits her engagement ring will take at least 4-5 more grams of platinum, at a price of $200 per gram for the platinum and 500 or so for the labor (more if we get a pair of bands to surround the engagement ring). I'm assuming my own ring will be much heavier than that, since it'll be a thicker band, and a larger ring (12.5 to her 5.5).

I don't have any issue with paying for the design work and the labor. But do I have to pay their huge, huge markup for the platinum?

The current price of platinum is something like 1440/troy ounce, or about $46 per gram, and I could buy a 5 gram platinum bar (.999 I think, might be .995) for about $240. If her ring is 5 grams and mine is 15, that's $960 for 4 bars, vs $4000 to use the jeweler's stock.

The first ring, they used the platinum from the old ring, it was a sentimental thing, so there wasn't any question about doing it. (I think they reduced the purity from .995 to .950 without asking my preference -- just thought I'd note that). But if I walk in there with 20 grams of platinum bars from credit suisse or something, do you guys think it would be a problem, or that they'd find some other way to make the extra $3k from us?

Is this something people do regularly or something that's never done or...? I just want my ring to be a decent match for hers without breaking the bank on it. I thought about going with titanium or one of the other cheap metals popular for mens rings, but I'd rather have something heavier that echoes hers in some way.

So... thoughts?

 

[vc10um]

I have no clue about BYOP (interesting concept, though, for sure) but have you checked eweddingbands.com? If you're just looking for a standard platinum wedding band, this site generally has the best prices. For example, a 6mm comfort-fit PT950 wedding band in a 12.5 is going for $971 right now...

 

[narual]

Thanks. Just looked at their site. Nothing there seemed terribly interesting. If I was looking for a very plain band, maybe, but I want something that echoes hers, which means it'll probably be custom. Or if I decide to get one that doesn't, I like the mokume-gane style, like these:
http://www.krikawa.com/jewelry/body-of-work/styles2.aspx?tag=233

 

[Mikla]

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question. I think this is true with most custom work (the mark up on materials is pretty outrageous). IMHO, this is the same as buying your own diamond and paying to have it set. I could be dead wrong, but I would love to know how this turns out!

 

[aviastar]

Your custom people refine and alloy their own platinum? In house? Cause if it's sent out then they will simply charge you (probably) keystone for whatever it cost them to make your platinum usable. Plus, they way I understand it, the markup is there to cover a lot of the labor, the shipping if there is any, the boxes the rings come in, the alloys, the materials for a the mold if they make one, the time to take glamor shots, etc. A million and one behind the scenes pieces to the process.

So, in short, I think they will still find a way to charge you enough to make it worth their time and effort and put food on their table. Whether or not they are honest and reasonable business-people will determine how much more they charge and if their markup is even fair to begin with. They might tell you they can take it in for trade (read: scrap) value towards the project, which means you'll only get about 50% of what you paid back for it. Who knows? But all they can do is say no, so ask away, and let us know how it turns out!

 

[narual]

I asked the guy who did the engagement ring (which also used platinum I provided, but supplemented with several additional grams). He'd already quoted me the labor separately from the metal, and his response didn't change that value.

"Labor for each ring will be around 500. If you have enough metal, you can offset the majority of the cost. There is a casting fee that is variable depending on how many attempts it takes to use your metal (last time it took 2, but I didn't charge for the second attempt). So, I'd figure 700-800 total for each if you have enough platinum including the volume of material for the sprue)."

(and he's not bending anything with the attempts - when the first attempt came back, he didn't feel it was sufficiently dense or that the stone fit perfectly enough (since it hadn't been out of the ring when he made the original wax), so he made some modifications to his CAD model to improve the distribution of the metal and to perfectly fit the stone. It delayed my engagement by a couple of weeks since they only work with customer supplied metal on Fridays, but the improved quality was worth it)

Seems to me that it's a pretty definite savings. Especially if I decide to have them do one for me, as well.

Can't hurt that they presumably already made a pretty decent profit from the engagement ring. I supplied the center stone and about 1/4-1/5 of the platinum, but they supplied the 22 small stones for the halo, and the rest of the platinum.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

This does belong in Rocky Talky because that is where diamonds and settings are discussed. I'd like to see some of the jewelers comment on this because my understanding is that you cannot just melt down and reuse platinum. So it would be interesting to know how they did this. But in general, I have never heard of anyone supplying metal for a ring other than a very specific circumstance such as you using an heirloom ring (and then it still has to be sent off). Most vendors are not going to allow the customer to supply platinum bars. And the wedding bands have to have an alloy..you can't just melt down and use 100% platinum.

I do think you should look at wedding bands and see if you can find one that is not custom, however. I would definitely just want a straight band to go with her ring, whether plain or with diamonds.

(If you click "Report Concern", you can ask an administrator to move this to Rocky Talky. And do consider posting your engagement ring in Show Me the Bling because very few people would see it in the Antique Jewelry forum. It is very beautiful!)