Source stone or let jeweler do it?

[BearFluff]

If I'm having a ring made, should I source the stone myself or let the jeweler do it? I want a sapphire halo ring in platinum with approx. 2ct sapphire as the main stone and a diamond halo of about 1ct tcw.

#1 - I've been quoted $5.2k for the platinum ring with 30 small diamonds set into a ballerina style halo, 1ct tcw, sapphire not included. Is this a reasonable price?

#2 - I've been quoted $2.5k for a "commercial quality" sapphire, as they called it. They said a good quality sapphire would cost up to $5.5k. Is this a reasonable price?

To me (as a non-expert) the ring price doesn't seem too bad, it's probably 50% for the cost of materials and 50% for labour in making the ring. But I'm a bit dubious about the sapphire. I'm not sure what they mean by "commercial quality" but it probably means "rubbish", and $2.5k seems like a lot of money for something which probably isn't very good. I'm also wondering if they're marking up the sapphire to make a profit and maybe I'd be better off buying my own sapphire and taking it to be set?

The jeweler is sourcing some sapphires for me to look at. Can anyone give me some pointers about what I should expect for $2.5k and $5.5k? Or should I just buy my own sapphire?

 

[pyramid]

I would think the one quoted as commercial quality is what they believe or have experience in the store that most people would buy for a 2 carat solitaire. It is not cheap like a mall store ring but not a prestige gemstone. Sapphires come in all prices, if you look over at the Colored stone forum here you will get more information. Heated is cheaper than non heated but still can be like double thousand figures plus. There is a beautiful sapphire over there belonging to slksapphire I believe her name is and that one is mega money.

It depends on your income, lifestyle etc etc.

 

[pyramid]

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-blue-sapphires.200291/#post-3644879#p3644879


Reading through this thread you can see that some sapphires are more expensive than diamonds.

This forum has people with great collections which are not your average so you need to taper it to your
own price point and learn what is best for your money. At 2.5k stone would be best for some and a 5.5k for others, there are
diamonds worth their price point in each with various matters causing it such as color, zoning, cut, heating, other treatments, profit margins of jeweler, middle men, so we would not be able to say the difference between the two you are considering. Most people are looking for color and a color they like and post pictures. I think what is worst is windowed stones or stones which are too dark, although some like those too. Once you educate your eye by looking at many you will see what you thought was pretty is not so much anymore but then you need to realize the most expensive are going to be beautiful. Setting a budget is the most sensible thing to begin with for any purchase. Another thing is not to impulse buy there will always be another one that comes around unless it is a hit you in the stomach kind of thing and you need to have it and it is within budget. You have to love it, not just like it too.

You should ask the moderaters through the report post section here to move your topic to colored stones as you will get better advice there from the regulars and experts who write there. There is even advice from an author of a book on sapphire and rubies who is leading in his field.

 

[BearFluff]

I know there are stones at all price points which are worth that amount of money. My concern is that the jeweler will source a $1.5k stone, add $1k to the price to make a profit and then offer it to me for $2.5k. In which case I'd be better off buying my own stone and taking it to the jeweler to be set.

Do jewelers commonly do this, and would people recommend buying my own stone or letting the jeweler source it? What type of stone should I expect for around $2.5k - $3.5k, and what should I be looking for to identify if the jeweler is offering me a cheaper stone at an inflated price? Also does the price for the platinum/diamond ring sound reasonable or is it overpriced?

 

[pyramid]

Just looking through some post on sapphire and in this one slksapphire (who has the beautiful stone) and got a gemologist to look for her stone is saying that $2000/per carat for a heated stone is the very minimum. So that would be $4000 for a 2 carat stone.
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/thoughts-on-this-sapphire.199436/#p3630399

 

[pyramid]

I do not know enough about sapphires, but know as you do that all jewellers have to make a profit. The best thing is to hit the report concern button below your posts and ask the moderator to move this post to the colored stones forum as you will get more information and replies there than on the Diamond forum where you are just now. People ask for posts to be moved all the time.

 

[pyramid]

I think it would be cheaper to source your own stone, but you either need to read and educate which takes a lot of time or get help from people on the colored stones forum. You will still need to get some knowledge yourself and make the purchase yourself ofcourse. More educated the better stone for your money.

Depends on your jeweller too they are not all the same, there is also a list of good vendors that the colored stone people can recommend to you. I know one is Wink who has been on the forum for years and I know I would not get as much knowledge as him in a month or two so would go to him if I was looking. He had a business for years and now works online but has many contacts and knows his stuff. Maybe your jeweller is good but depends - don't go to chain jewellers as they have huge markups for location, staff etc. The vendors work on a profit margin too although it should be less online due to having less overheads.

If you have time, spend some hours reading the colored stone forum, do a search for sapphire posts on it, set a firm budget. The budget is most important for any buyer no matter what they are going to spend or can spend. The reason is the more you find out the more you want to increase your budget which is not a good thing.

 

[pyramid]

I know there are stones at all price points which are worth that amount of money. My concern is that the jeweler will source a $1.5k stone, add $1k to the price to make a profit and then offer it to me for $2.5k. In which case I'd be better off buying my own stone and taking it to the jeweler to be set.

Do jewelers commonly do this, and would people recommend buying my own stone or letting the jeweler source it? What type of stone should I expect for around $2.5k - $3.5k, and what should I be looking for to identify if the jeweler is offering me a cheaper stone at an inflated price? Also does the price for the platinum/diamond ring sound reasonable or is it overpriced?

No one can answer what type of stone to expect, I would say for $2.5 for 2 carats it wouldn't be great, the quality could be different from different places, it seems that a good quality would, be $5k plus. Remember that is a good quality. Education will tell you what is a better looking ring. Things like windowing, obstruction, color zoning sapphire, color modifiers e.g. green blue sapphire, grey blue sapphire - where before I just thought they were blue they weren't, and such, I never noticed in gemstones until I learned about them. The stones I would have been happy with back then, I would not buy now.

It will also cost, but independent appraisers can be your eyes too if you do not know a lot about the stones you are buying. There are lists of them on this site too for different areas of usa.