Antique ring refurbish: Am I being taken for a ride?!?!

[dm22]

Hi all,

I decided to start a new thread building off my previous post on hunting down this vintage transitional cut Edwardian style ring:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-on-1-75ct-oec-hand-filigree-platinum.209209/

Ended up I was able to get a great deal on the ring mainly due to the amazing feedback I received on PS! So thank you to all who helped. The appraisal checked out (highly recommend Gary Lester for those in the Baltimore area) and was very educational for me. During the appraisal two minor things came up with the setting. 1) Someone had previously sloppily soldered lead to a seam of the setting 2) The 6 small diamond around the "crown" design of the setting were loose

The in store metalsmith confirmed both observations and assured me that though the lead solder was sloppy the structural integrity of the ring was perfectly fine. Also the 6 small diamonds were only loose because that is how the ring had been designed back in the day.

All great I thought I'll get everything tightened up and fixed along with the setting resized up 1 maybe it will all cost $800. Nope, the estimate I was given by the sales lady and head jeweler for the work was $1,375....

Now I've received and learned a great deal of knowledge on this site about diamonds but am absolutely clueless when it comes to work like this. I am willing to pay for quality work but want to make sure I'm not being taken for a ride. Here is the price breakdown:

Size up to 5.5 (from 4.5) platinum: $245
24 beads on crown setting diamonds: $805
Laser 2 solder seams: $85
Clean up solder: $100
6 tips on center diamond (Appraisal showed no problem but sales lady said if I want it fully refurbished I should): $140
_________
Grand total: $1,375

Any suggestions, comments, experiences or general banter is highly appreciated!!

 

[Circe]

It is a wee bit on the pricey side (for comparison, the gentleman I go to just charged me $90 to take a ring from a 4 to a 7 ... considerably more platinum). However, if you're in an area where good benches are hard to find, or if these guys are exceptionally skilled at refurbishment, I would bite the bullet: vintage pieces can be finicky in the extreme, and better to pay top dollar than to lose an heirloom quality piece. Trust me, I speak from experience on this one ... I took a treasured ring in to have a prong rebuilt and it was functionally destroyed. My advice nowadays is to always ask to see examples of the restoration work upfront ....

 

[Karl_K]

There is a large amount of highly skilled detailed hand work involved doing that right and in a high labor cost area it seems to me on the high end but not crazy high.
It looks like they are thinking about a full days work for the bench which does not seem unreasonable.

I second seeing some examples or at least pictures of restoration work they have done on similar pieces.
The skill of the bench person is going to make or break a project like that one.

 

[attyl]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm hoping the OP is notified somehow.

dm22, can you comment a little more on how the appraisal with Gary Lester worked? There doesn't seem to be a lot of feedback on him online in general, let alone on PS.

Thanks!