Vendors who can make a custom ring at a fair price?

[PursuitOfBling]

Simply put, I have a not immensely difficult (engagement) ring design in mind. It's really just a design or two spliced together that I'd like to have made at a reasonable, not Earth shattering price. If build is good, I might even have the option to have it featured in a Sapphire ring column/article in a prominent fashion magazine here in the UK.

I was wondering if any of you could point me in the right direction. So far the only one I have in mind is Lord of Pearls / Lord of Gem Rings. Does anyone have their direct email address? (I don't have an eBay account unfortunately.)

Likewise, any other vendor details who can do fairly high quality engagement ring builds at highly competitive prices would be much appreciated.


I know there is a search function, and a list of vendors already, but the list is SO comprehensive, I was hoping someone might be able to slim the list down for me based on my vague requirements.

The ring will be made up of the following which the vendor will have to provide as part of the creation, since I'm starting from scratch.

1 x Natural Sapphire (heated as long as it's not diffuse, is fine) centre stone (2.8 to 3.5 carat)
Multiple diamonds (1 to 1.4 ctw, ideally VS quality)
18k setting (based off of my design)

The above specs are variable dependant on pricing of course. All help would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards
PursuitOfBling

 

[distracts]

Why can't you just sign up for ebay?

I would also say that if you're looking for LOGR prices, what you are looking for is not a "fair" price but rather a "dirt-cheap" price. The "recommended vendors" list pinned at the top of the forum lists other Ebay setting vendors, as well as ones on Etsy and ones that have their own websites.

 

[Michael_E]

Simply put, I have a not immensely difficult (engagement) ring design in mind. It's really just a design or two spliced together that I'd like to have made at a reasonable, not Earth shattering price.

1 x Natural Sapphire (heated as long as it's not diffuse, is fine) centre stone (2.8 to 3.5 carat)
Multiple diamonds (1 to 1.4 ctw, ideally VS quality)
18k setting (based off of my design)

Your requirements as far as the materials are quite high and I'm afraid that even if a vendor were to give their labor away for free that the pricing would still be seen by many as being unreasonable or even earth shattering, (I know that the price of a sapphire like this could be in the 5 figures depending on color and regardless of heating). I'm not being critical, but I'm curious if you could you be more specific about what sort of pricing you feel would be reasonable?

 

[minousbijoux]

I would also suggest that LOGR is not the place to go to have a ring completely designed; I understand from others here that there has been an ability on their part most of the time to modify their existing settings (sometimes with problems, sometimes not), but unless I'm forgetting someone here, I don't think any one has had them successfully design a ring from scratch.

 

[T L]

Daniel M is very reasonable. He's an etsy vendor.

Fair price and quality are not necessarily the same things. You often get what you pay for, but if you're looking for a simple and nice setting, I think Daniel M is a good choice, and his craftsmanship is certainly better than LOGR.

The center stone will make or break the price I'm afraid. Sapphire prices are crazy right now due to the Kate/Diana ring frenzy.

 

[Pandora II]

Remember to add 25% to the cost to cover VAT and duty when you import to the UK. When it was $2 to £1 it was well worth importing from the USA, but not really anymore unless it's a case that you just can't find what you are looking for in any other way.

I can give you names of reputable people in London who could supply the stone and who could produce the setting. However you will pay a fair price, not a cheap price. I would estimate that you need to look at a budget of around £7k and upwards if you are looking for a popular colour of stone with a good cut. If you have more details on the sort of setting and what your parameters are on the stone (colour, shape etc) then I could probably have more of a guess at the cost. Good sapphires have a big jump in price at the 3ct mark.

 

[PursuitOfBling]

£7k is well above my budget. I wasn't expecting it to be cheap, but I wasn't expecting it to be that high either given you can get 18k 2.3c Sapphire and 1+c diamond rings from Diamondstore and Diamondrocks for around £1.8 to £1.9k. Admittedly the quality might not be up there and we're talking about a smaller sapphire (as mentioned that part was negotiable or changeable) but it's still considerably cheaper. Perhaps 3c+ was a silly venture for the sapphire, though I do find my taste in sapphire colours might not necessarily be the ideal (I prefer medium-dark sapphires as oppose to medium or corn blue).

In any case, I will try some of the vendors mentioned.

Does anyone have any actual contact details by way of email addresses? Ideally for LOGR and Daniel M.

All the best

 

[distracts]

You will find their sites in the recommended vendors list pinned on the top of this board, and contact info at their sites. We are not allowed to share email addresses on this board.

 

[Pandora II]

£7k is well above my budget. I wasn't expecting it to be cheap, but I wasn't expecting it to be that high either given you can get 18k 2.3c Sapphire and 1+c diamond rings from Diamondstore and Diamondrocks for around £1.8 to £1.9k. Admittedly the quality might not be up there and we're talking about a smaller sapphire (as mentioned that part was negotiable or changeable) but it's still considerably cheaper. Perhaps 3c+ was a silly venture for the sapphire, though I do find my taste in sapphire colours might not necessarily be the ideal (I prefer medium-dark sapphires as oppose to medium or corn blue).

In any case, I will try some of the vendors mentioned.

Does anyone have any actual contact details by way of email addresses? Ideally for LOGR and Daniel M.

All the best

It's all going to come down to the quality.

Most of us here would sacrifice weight for better quality in terms of colour and cut. For your budget I would suggest looking at under 1.5ct and a cushion or oval cut.

Pre-made rings often use heavily treated and poorly cut gemstones. Stock settings are also considerably cheaper than a custom setting which is why you are seeing rings on those sites for those prices. A custom setting with diamonds can easily top the $1.5k mark once you have paid for the CADS, the moulds, the labour etc. Many stock settings have melee set by machine or preset in the mould before casting, a custom piece will be handmade.

Have you done much research on sapphires and what you get for various price-points?

Please try and buy the sapphire before you order a setting to ensure that it will fit. The vast majority of sapphires are not cut to calibrated sizes.

 

[PursuitOfBling]

£7k is well above my budget. I wasn't expecting it to be cheap, but I wasn't expecting it to be that high either given you can get 18k 2.3c Sapphire and 1+c diamond rings from Diamondstore and Diamondrocks for around £1.8 to £1.9k. Admittedly the quality might not be up there and we're talking about a smaller sapphire (as mentioned that part was negotiable or changeable) but it's still considerably cheaper. Perhaps 3c+ was a silly venture for the sapphire, though I do find my taste in sapphire colours might not necessarily be the ideal (I prefer medium-dark sapphires as oppose to medium or corn blue).

In any case, I will try some of the vendors mentioned.

Does anyone have any actual contact details by way of email addresses? Ideally for LOGR and Daniel M.

All the best

It's all going to come down to the quality.

Most of us here would sacrifice weight for better quality in terms of colour and cut. For your budget I would suggest looking at under 1.5ct and a cushion or oval cut.

Pre-made rings often use heavily treated and poorly cut gemstones. Stock settings are also considerably cheaper than a custom setting which is why you are seeing rings on those sites for those prices. A custom setting with diamonds can easily top the $1.5k mark once you have paid for the CADS, the moulds, the labour etc. Many stock settings have melee set by machine or preset in the mould before casting, a custom piece will be handmade.

Have you done much research on sapphires and what you get for various price-points?

Please try and buy the sapphire before you order a setting to ensure that it will fit. The vast majority of sapphires are not cut to calibrated sizes.

I've done a little bit. What I've found is that sometimes the smallest things make a huge difference in price. For example, colour variance, or eye clean inclusions. I don't actually mind very slight eye visible inclusions, though I know they can make a big difference on price, as can colour. Medium blue brilliant sapphires seem several orders of magnitude more expensive than others, but I've seen a few decent sized (2.6c to 2.8c) sapphires that I like the cut and colour of for around $1-$1.4k. I figure I should leave another $1k for diamonds and the rest for the setting and labour.

I was hoping the fact that I could (not for definite yet, trying to talk the editor in to it) get an article advertising the ring and maker in a fashion mag that has a viewing coverage of over 15,000 might push things in my favour with respect to pricing.

The idea was to have a page spread on sapphire rings in media, celebrity fashion etc, and a few custom designs or jewellers that break the mould from the Diana/Kate look of rings. I thought having mine included would serve as a double benefit to both me and the jeweller.

 

[chrono]

There is a hefty price jump when a blue sapphire makes the 3 carat mark. I don't know where you are seeing pricing but the trade preferred tone (and consequently more expensive) is a medium dark.

 

[Pandora II]

I think you'd probably need to be working with someone UK based if the magazine article was to have any bearing on that - your best bet would be to find someone starting out in the business who would be interested in helping out.

Are the prices you are quoting based on a sterling exchange rate - ie including the 20% VAT and the 5% duty (paid on finished jewellery not on the stones)?

I'll have a think if I know anyone who might fit the bill if London is any use to you (some of the guys I studied gemmology with are also bench jewellers) - you said the design was relatively simple. Your fixed costs will be the CADS, the melee price and the gold price - where you are negotiating would be on the labour and profit margin. The stone could be sourced anywhere - you'll still have to pay VAT if you import (they are super tight on checking parcels these days) but you will save on the duty.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I recently got a 2.3ct med blue sapphire for a price well under your stone budget, however as you can tell from photos, there is an eye visible inclusion, the cut is on the deep side, the stone is heated, the shape is unusual (and honestly, seems unpopular), and the price was set 6 years ago without being raised due to current popularity in sapphires. So trying to find a similar sized one that's clean and cushion cut which is a really popular shape in the current sapphire market will probably be hard.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-sapphire-need-setting-help.173077/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-sapphire-need-setting-help.173077/[/URL]

You can look at simplysapphires.com, I usually use them if I want a general gauge as to average pricing of sapphires, and I understand that there are usually sales going on and that the owner will work with you to find something to fit your budget.

As far as setting goes, I got quotes for a simple custom 14k gold design with two 5pt diamond accents, and the quotes were from 650$ to 1400$. I imagine something with a lot of melee would easily be twice the price. The cheapest quote I got was from a local philly jeweler who I ended up going with, and it seems to be the trend in terms of price. So finding someone local might be your best bet, especially since you're looking to go custom so having someone near by might also be good for peace of mind.

How exciting about the magazine, best of luck on your ring project!

 

[PursuitOfBling]

Thankyou all very much for all the comments! Very useful and insightful stuff.

The prices I mentioned are not inclusive of the VAT, but I may or may not be able to claim that back depending on the magazine article and whether I can link the ring to marketing, media and photography with work. But the cost of VAT comes with the territory I suppose. generally VAT offsets the cost of the cheaper import, but usually the price overseas is still a touch cheaper.

I wouldn't mind keeping it local (within the UK), I just don't really know any major or popular UK jewellers similar to the US or Chinese based one's discussed in this thread. Here in the UK the smaller private small business type jewellers tend to charge above average sums which is a bit of a shame.

Pandora, you seem pretty well connected, so maybe you could recommend me a few of the more reasonably or good value priced one's. They might be making a lot less profit than they otherwise could, but I have a (imo) very nice design, and there is the potential publicity angle of it, so it might be worth their while and a fun project to boot.

 

[PursuitOfBling]

Got the green light on the project, from the very designer who's ring design my one was based off of anyway! No mention of names or anything yet, but it is a financial mine field, but he's been very supportive in instructing me on what can or can't work. Sort of treating this as a labour of love so lets see if the quality matches!

I'll offer more details as the project progresses. Just don't want to give anything away till it's some way along!

 

[Pandora II]

Glad you found someone - none of my sources were interested... too much time and overheads involved to not make a decent amount and 15,000 not really a big enough circulation.

The suggestion was to try art colleges, but the look might not be as fine as you are after.

 

[PursuitOfBling]

Glad you found someone - none of my sources were interested... too much time and overheads involved to not make a decent amount and 15,000 not really a big enough circulation.

The suggestion was to try art colleges, but the look might not be as fine as you are after.

No worries. Thanks for asking.

I do however find it a little odd that they think 15,000 isn't much of a circulation given basically free advertising (the magazine already has monthly advertisers such as Tag Huer, Karren Millen, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo etc). Maybe they are already extremely popular, or maybe their maths says otherwise, but if even 0.5% of 15k were to purchase a ring based on the coverage, at an average of £1000 a purchase, that's still £75,000 worth of revenue, and I'd imagine a tidy bit of profit.

Can't speak for others, but I know if it was me in such shoes, and I actually enjoyed the job (jewellery design) as a labour of love, it would have been a no brainer project. Though I guess with bills to pay etc, different strokes for different folks. This is all on the proviso the editor green lit the article anyway. He's highly interested but it's still not a dead set, so with that in mind I appreciate the opinion.

But I digress!

 

[minousbijoux]

I do however find it a little odd that they think 15,000 isn't much of a circulation given basically free advertising (the magazine already has monthly advertisers such as Tag Huer, Karren Millen, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo etc).

Can't speak for others, but I know if it was me in such shoes, and I actually enjoyed the job (jewellery design) as a labour of love, it would have been a no brainer project.

FWIW, when you originally said the number, I thought you made a mistake and left at least one zero off! By US standards (maybe an unfair comparison), 15,000 sounds like a tiny circulation number...

 

[PursuitOfBling]

I do however find it a little odd that they think 15,000 isn't much of a circulation given basically free advertising (the magazine already has monthly advertisers such as Tag Huer, Karren Millen, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo etc).

Can't speak for others, but I know if it was me in such shoes, and I actually enjoyed the job (jewellery design) as a labour of love, it would have been a no brainer project.

FWIW, when you originally said the number, I thought you made a mistake and left at least one zero off! By US standards (maybe an unfair comparison), 15,000 sounds like a tiny circulation number...

Perhaps, in comparison to say something like The Times magazine. But then again, a full page ad in The Times costs anywhere from $50,000 to $120,000. The cost of a ring would be a non issue altogether were it for a magazine like that lol.

It's all relative really. If I had missed out a 0, say the number was 150,000, I'd imagine a full page promotional article (which is really much more valuable than a straight advert) if I had to guess, would cost several thousand pounds.

I'd be interested to know the advertising rates for Wall Street Journal Interactive, which last I read had circulation of around 150k.

Truthfully though, I'd love to see more private and small business jewellery work in magazines and newspapers instead of just the big brand names as per usual. In any case, as much as this is quite an interesting topic of discussion (genuinely), we're going way off topic lol.

 

[SB621]

Have you looked at Jewels By Erican Grace? www.jewelsbyericagrace.com

They sell sapphire rings and I have seen several on there lately. They are all via consignment so you will get a great price. I would contact them and see what they have or what they can find you.

 

[Michael_E]

I do however find it a little odd that they think 15,000 isn't much of a circulation given basically free advertising (the magazine already has monthly advertisers such as Tag Huer, Karren Millen, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo etc). Maybe they are already extremely popular, or maybe their maths says otherwise, but if even 0.5% of 15k were to purchase a ring based on the coverage, at an average of £1000 a purchase, that's still £75,000 worth of revenue, and I'd imagine a tidy bit of profit.!

I think that your views about how advertising works are not quite in line with reality. A one time advertising shot such as an article in any publication can not be expected to yield a response from anywhere near .5% of the circulation. In this case the craftsperson producing the work would be very lucky to get one or two new projects from the work. If they were willing to continue advertising for many months afterward, they may get a better return, but a one time shot rarely has a measurable effect. Hopefully the craftsperson that you're using will get a much better effect than is the norm, (at the least they should have some fun with your design ideas).

 

[Ella]

You will find their sites in the recommended vendors list pinned on the top of this board, and contact info at their sites. We are not allowed to share email addresses on this board.

To clarify, you are welcome to share contact information for trade members as long as you are not in the trade yourself. We simply require no sharing of personal information on the board to protect privacy.

 

[Pandora II]

The problem is that your budget is small but you want 1.5ct of diamonds and custom work - out of that the maker would have to pay for CADs, casting, diamonds etc and that really leaves zero profit for them... all hand-made (ie not casting) is even more expensive and time-consuming.

London is a very expensive city to live in and rents/mortgages need paying, certainly the young jewellery designers I know are taking in a lot of repair work/setting work etc from the trade to pay the bills. There are also quite a number of publications where up and coming small designers/jewellers can get featured for free and that have a higher circulation number specifically aimed at the jewellery industry.

Unless a small business/jeweller has invested significant time and capital into setting up things like websites it is very unlikely that they would get much in the way of commissions from the general public - the UK general public are VERY cagey about the jewellery industry (I get a lot of friends asking me to go and check-out rings they are thinking of buying to make sure they're not being ripped off) and even if someone has their name on an advertisment, unless it's something incredible and unique (ie the Johnny Rocket kind of work) then they are unlikely to be contacted if they don't have websites etc