fierypyropixy
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2009
- Messages
- 600
Recently, the jeweler we''ve done business with here went out of business. On Tuesday, I ventured out to a store I''d heard advertised on the radio, and whose website bragged that they did in-store custom work. Shop was small, mostly diamonds but devoted one side of their small room to colored gems.
I spent a bit of time in the store, looking through the tomes of catalog settings and discussing what could be done with mainly two of my stones that I''d brought with me. Both small. An 8x10 JXR Amethyst, and my little 8mm natural blue topaz asscher from Finewater. (The woman was mesmerized and was so convinced that it was an aqua even though I insisted, yes, it WAS a natural topaz.)
The asscher, I''d like to set in a simple cheap four prong "Tiffany" setting so that I could switch it with my e-ring if I felt like it. I pointed at a plain cathedral setting that was under the counter in front of me and $400, because it was pretty similar. I had her pull it out and put my topaz in it to try out how it would feel with my wedding band -- but it was clearly for a stone under a carat. When I asked what the total price would be if set, I was told $850. I was taken aback, by the $450 difference, but didn''t pursue it. Thought maybe there had been some miscommunication or some reasonable excuse. I''m always trying to make excuses, it''s a fault of mine.
I knew that I could basically get the same setting as my e-ring, from Tripps, for right under $100. I had filled out one of those customer contact cards and included my email address, and the saleswoman (the office manager too, from her card) emailed me yesterday trying to talk me into a custom setting involving some cad work. My response to her included some preliminary questions to hammer down their fee for setting a stone in a ring that needed no modification whatsoever, AND their fee to size down a ring by a half-size.
Here''s where the crazy comes in. Her response???
"Setting charges for gems not purchased here are $150 per carat with a $35 min. Sizing a ring purchased elsewhere ½ or 1 size down would be $70 (14k) – assuming no stone tightening is needed. A tiffany (14k) would run $235.00, the airline cathedral you liked would be $415 (14k) – plus any setting charges. We do not charge to size our rings but I am unable to give you a final price without knowing the carat weight of the topaz."
So, these people would charge me a whopping $450 simply to SET my 8mm topaz. In a ring that was the appropriate head size for the stone.
I don''t even need to tell you, my fellow colored gem aficionados, that the little topaz didn''t even COST that much.
That screams Highway Robbery to me! I understand that the jeweler wants to encourage purchases of loose gems from their own store, but . . . good grief. $150 . . . PER CARAT is laughable, right?? I could have sworn that in my time here, I''ve read numbers more like . . . $80 - 125 for the entire setting job. Right? This penalty for having one''s own stone comes off as ridiculously petty.
I spent a bit of time in the store, looking through the tomes of catalog settings and discussing what could be done with mainly two of my stones that I''d brought with me. Both small. An 8x10 JXR Amethyst, and my little 8mm natural blue topaz asscher from Finewater. (The woman was mesmerized and was so convinced that it was an aqua even though I insisted, yes, it WAS a natural topaz.)
The asscher, I''d like to set in a simple cheap four prong "Tiffany" setting so that I could switch it with my e-ring if I felt like it. I pointed at a plain cathedral setting that was under the counter in front of me and $400, because it was pretty similar. I had her pull it out and put my topaz in it to try out how it would feel with my wedding band -- but it was clearly for a stone under a carat. When I asked what the total price would be if set, I was told $850. I was taken aback, by the $450 difference, but didn''t pursue it. Thought maybe there had been some miscommunication or some reasonable excuse. I''m always trying to make excuses, it''s a fault of mine.
I knew that I could basically get the same setting as my e-ring, from Tripps, for right under $100. I had filled out one of those customer contact cards and included my email address, and the saleswoman (the office manager too, from her card) emailed me yesterday trying to talk me into a custom setting involving some cad work. My response to her included some preliminary questions to hammer down their fee for setting a stone in a ring that needed no modification whatsoever, AND their fee to size down a ring by a half-size.
Here''s where the crazy comes in. Her response???
"Setting charges for gems not purchased here are $150 per carat with a $35 min. Sizing a ring purchased elsewhere ½ or 1 size down would be $70 (14k) – assuming no stone tightening is needed. A tiffany (14k) would run $235.00, the airline cathedral you liked would be $415 (14k) – plus any setting charges. We do not charge to size our rings but I am unable to give you a final price without knowing the carat weight of the topaz."
So, these people would charge me a whopping $450 simply to SET my 8mm topaz. In a ring that was the appropriate head size for the stone.
I don''t even need to tell you, my fellow colored gem aficionados, that the little topaz didn''t even COST that much.
That screams Highway Robbery to me! I understand that the jeweler wants to encourage purchases of loose gems from their own store, but . . . good grief. $150 . . . PER CARAT is laughable, right?? I could have sworn that in my time here, I''ve read numbers more like . . . $80 - 125 for the entire setting job. Right? This penalty for having one''s own stone comes off as ridiculously petty.
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