James Meyer – need advice on Jim sourcing a sapphire, etc.

[reggie]

So I called Jim this morning to get some ideas on pricing, etc. We talked for at least a half an hour and he was super nice. He told me a few interesting things which I think other people on here might benefit from knowing.

I asked him specifically about 1331 with a faceted sapphire/diamond and he told me that if you wanted to have a nice profile of your diamond/sapphire showing underneath the bezel you would want the depth of your gem to be at least 6mm.

He also said that if he sources you the diamond/sapphire for you it would take just a few weeks to complete your ring. But if you wanted to source your own stone and sent it to him today it wouldn’t be complete until June. He said that he has been getting a lot of business lately from people wanting diamonds from their old rings reset in his settings. He said he has so many requests for that type of work he would be busy for a long a time and he would never be able to get his own stuff done. Because of this he has to space those types of requests out. Totally understandable and don’t blame him for having this type of approach.

I mentioned that I found out about him from Pricescope and he seemed pretty amazed by that. (I mentioned it because we were talking about sourcing sapphires and how if you don’t know what you are doing you can really get burned. I told him I agreed and if I went that route I’d go with a couple trusted sources known on this forum.) I think this site really does send him a lot of business his way and he did seem pretty grateful about that.

He gave me some prices on couple cushion diamonds he had on hand but they had a depth of around 4mm so I passed. The next size up from that was a 1.72ct cushion diamond and would be way at the top of my price range and then some.

He said he would send me pictures of some sapphires he had around or could get for me. No idea if they will be good or not but hopefully he has some type of documentation. If you bought a sapphire from him would you have him send it to an independent appraiser or something of the sort before it was placed in a setting to make sure what he is selling me is correct, etc? Or would do that after the fact once the ring is in the setting like you would have to do if you bought one of his rings already premade on his website? Or would this not be any option at all and you would go looking on your own?

I ask these questions because I think I am starting to get into a time crunch. Being that I am just starting the process of finding a sapphire I’m thinking that by the time I find a sapphire on my own and then send it to him the the ring wouldn't be completed until July/August at the minimum. I don’t think that time frame would work for me.

I would love to hear anyone’s advice. Thanks!

 

[Upgradable]

This is just my opinion.

I really believe that Jim knows his stuff and has quite a high expectation and level of execution. He provides a detailed valuation with pictures when he completes the piece. So, I would feel completely comfortable having him source the stone, allowing me to okay the color/shape, and then having him create the piece around it. I have a much higher degree of comfort with him authenticating a stone than I could.

 

[chrono]

Just as an FYI, if the stone needs to have a 6 mm depth, then your sapphire cushion will most likely measure around 8.5 mm or thereabouts based on a total depth of 70% which is a general depth for coloured gemstones. This equates roughly to an over 3 ct sapphire.

As for the stone itself, if you are local (in the US) to Jim, I’d advise you to see the stone in person and give the approval before getting it set. That would also be a good time for you to have an independent appraiser look at it as well to make sure the stone has no issues (trust but verify). Doing it after the fact is fine but as always, doing it upfront entails less complication down the road (added hassle and cost of the removal of stone after the ring is done, stone colour or other attribute not as you expected, etc).

 

[reggie]

Thank you for both of your opinions.

I figured the sapphire would have to be pretty large to get that depth. Thank you for doing the math for me. I really have no idea if this option is even possibility but I'm keeping my options open. The setting was relatively affordable compared to what I have looked at in the past so it does increase my gem budget but who knows. I’m sure to people who really know their sapphires and have specific tastes the price tag on this thing would be pretty high and exceed my budget. I am indifferent on some things so hopefully that make this more affordable.

If not we talked about a few more rings that could be tweaked so hopefully it all works out. Thank goodness the girlfriend is in love with a lot of his stuff otherwise I’d have to start over again.

Thanks again!

 

[Rockit]

I think that you are in good hands if you continue with Jim, whichever way you go.