realtoki
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2010
- Messages
- 5
Hello! I've been a loong time lurker and have posted on pricescope ages ago, but I doubt anyone remembers me from that time.
Anyway, going straight to the point!
(Disclaimer: this is a long, picture-heavy post laced with some bragging and lots of complaining. Read after the === to skip the background story)
I was recently proposed to by my loving fiance with a gorgeous ring made by Steven Kirsch.
After nearly 3 months of extensive back and forth with a very skilled(!) local jeweler, my SO (bless his heart for putting up with my extremely picky anal retentiveness) decided he'd be better off biting the bullet and paying the premium to have the original designer make the ring whose setting we were trying to replicate. I hadn't even considered SK as an option because he was out of our budget, so I was beyond thrilled when he decided to make the switch.
As many of you may have had the pleasure to experience, working with SK was like a breath of fresh air.
I had made a super detailed portfolio (aka the "ringfolio") with bits and pieces from 10 different rings to try to explain my dream ring to our original jeweler, who aparently couldn't envision the final outcome, and kept sending me CADs of a frankenstein of a ring... But SK immediately understood everything and said my ringfolio was very clear about every detail, and even summed it all up in the work order. Now that's what I a call a pro! And although I had no CAD to confirm exactly how my ring would turnout, I had high hopes. I did send one last paranoid email with a long list of worries while SK was working on it, and he just told my SO that he knows exactly what I'm worried about, and that I need not worry.
When the ring was done, my SO kept telling me how amazing it was...without showing me. And of course, my mind was going crazy and I kept asking if the prongs were right, if the shank was such, if this was that, etc, etc and he just kept telling me that it was perfect, and that and he and SK went through my ringfolio together to make sure he got every feature just the way I wanted. SK apparently also said that he really enjoyed making this ring and doesn't think he can make it any more beautiful than it is.
So I rested assured and played the waiting game...for a whole month!
SO and I live in different countries at the moment bc of my job, so I knew exactly when he would be proposing. Despite that, I still had one of the best proposals ever, but when he popped the question and put the ring on my finger.... I was speechless... because it did not look like my dream ring
(at this point my SO probably wanted to strangle me because he jumped through so many hoops to try to satisfy me.. not to mention he just got off a 15-hour flight an hour ago... yet still managed to pull off a glamorous proposal, and here I was, complaining during this beautiful moment.)
======== I will try to explain what I wanted and what doesn't look right =========
The most important feature was the SK 208(233) basket/gallery I was trying to replicate.
Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PE6f44YxW0
It's similar to the "Preciosa" but the 208 gallery is more curved and has a metal edge like a channel setting.
The second most important feature was a particular "chubby" double claw prong design with specific proportions that I had always wanted.
When I was explaining it to the receptionist/assistant over the phone, she said it definitely looks different from what SK normally makes because most people like thin double claws, but assured me that "SK can replicate any design in the world." These were her exact words, which totally put me at ease at the time.
Other details: I wanted pave only on the gallery and no pave along the prongs and shank. I wanted no cathedral, but I didn't want a level band in the center, so I wanted it to come up as a knife edge just towards the center and remain domed on the rest of the band. I also wanted the setting as low as possible, but just low enough for the culet to show, even with a wedding band on.
Ok. Now here goes my complaining, with lots of purposefully non-glamour photos to accentuate the flaws.
Please view onward with a critical eye and extreme anal retentiveness, and comment on whether I'm being unreasonable.
I'm in town for a few weeks and plan on taking the ring in to get a few things fixed under warranty and need some thoughts on whether I should mention the other nonconforming aspects while I'm at it..
Yes, it's beautiful. but *sigh* here we go~
1. The two sides of the shank are uneven. From the picture, the right side is noticably higher and looks almost bent upwards. This part bothers me the MOST and I will be asking SK to fix it under their warranty.
2. The gallery is not like the 208. I specifically compared the 208 to the Preciosa and asked for the metal edge and boxy-ness to accentuate the amazing slanted double row of melees and curved design, but it just looks like rounded pave, and in real life, it barely even looks curved. Nevertheless, it's still spectacular craftsmanship and I'm debating whether or not to have him fix this...
3. When I said no cathedral, the assistant said "so you basically want the gap in the 208 filled" and I said um not exactly, but that's how it turned out. I didn't want the shank connecting to the gallary, and wanted more of like the Tiffany Novo look, but I guess that would have made the head sit higher. This part is actually growing on me, and I'm fine with it as long as the high side (mentioned in #1) isn't on the right side, which will hopefully be fixed soon!
4. The surface of the shank towards the center isn't even. Here's an ugly close-up. The other side is worse, with a wide soldering bump that's been polished.
5. The shank/band is disproportionate/deformed.
I do know his work is completely handmade, so I shouldn't compare to a wax-casted piece, but this is too noticably deformed..
This is the shape I envisioned:
6. The shank/knife edge part is really flat when viewed from top, which makes it look very oddly disproportional compared to its height in the profile view. I had hoped it to be more voluminous like the photo above, and have the knife edge just at the center and round out, but he made the knife edge go almost all the way to the sides, which is probably why the shape in #5 results.
7. The shank is tapered at the center... This I mentioned numerous times to our original jeweler but I failed to mention to SK because none of his designs taper... I did want a thin band, but he made the band taper exceptionally thin, and the knife edge gives the illusion of an almost non-existent band... (see pic below) It's not so bad on its own, but any wedding band wider than 2mm looks very weird together..
8. And last but not least, the prongs...!
I honestly don't know if I would be asking too much to have him fix this to the design that I requested... In my ringfolio, I actually had photos of "what not to look like" and these type of prongs were one of them.
One thing that's for sure is that the top two prongs (particularly the right one) looks different from the others, so I will ask him to take a look at it, at the very least..
Again, I know his work is all handmade and it's difficult to be as precice as a machine, but he is deemed one of the best of the best, and we are paying the premium for his meistershaft. His warranty actually covers "anything less than perfect" which is obviously regarding craftsmanship, but I dont know how that applies to specific design requests.
Please share your thoughts on my craziness, and don't be shy to tell me how insanely anal or totally ungrateful I am... I promise not to be offended!
Anyway, going straight to the point!
(Disclaimer: this is a long, picture-heavy post laced with some bragging and lots of complaining. Read after the === to skip the background story)
I was recently proposed to by my loving fiance with a gorgeous ring made by Steven Kirsch.
After nearly 3 months of extensive back and forth with a very skilled(!) local jeweler, my SO (bless his heart for putting up with my extremely picky anal retentiveness) decided he'd be better off biting the bullet and paying the premium to have the original designer make the ring whose setting we were trying to replicate. I hadn't even considered SK as an option because he was out of our budget, so I was beyond thrilled when he decided to make the switch.
As many of you may have had the pleasure to experience, working with SK was like a breath of fresh air.
I had made a super detailed portfolio (aka the "ringfolio") with bits and pieces from 10 different rings to try to explain my dream ring to our original jeweler, who aparently couldn't envision the final outcome, and kept sending me CADs of a frankenstein of a ring... But SK immediately understood everything and said my ringfolio was very clear about every detail, and even summed it all up in the work order. Now that's what I a call a pro! And although I had no CAD to confirm exactly how my ring would turnout, I had high hopes. I did send one last paranoid email with a long list of worries while SK was working on it, and he just told my SO that he knows exactly what I'm worried about, and that I need not worry.
When the ring was done, my SO kept telling me how amazing it was...without showing me. And of course, my mind was going crazy and I kept asking if the prongs were right, if the shank was such, if this was that, etc, etc and he just kept telling me that it was perfect, and that and he and SK went through my ringfolio together to make sure he got every feature just the way I wanted. SK apparently also said that he really enjoyed making this ring and doesn't think he can make it any more beautiful than it is.
So I rested assured and played the waiting game...for a whole month!
SO and I live in different countries at the moment bc of my job, so I knew exactly when he would be proposing. Despite that, I still had one of the best proposals ever, but when he popped the question and put the ring on my finger.... I was speechless... because it did not look like my dream ring
(at this point my SO probably wanted to strangle me because he jumped through so many hoops to try to satisfy me.. not to mention he just got off a 15-hour flight an hour ago... yet still managed to pull off a glamorous proposal, and here I was, complaining during this beautiful moment.)======== I will try to explain what I wanted and what doesn't look right =========
The most important feature was the SK 208(233) basket/gallery I was trying to replicate.
Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PE6f44YxW0
It's similar to the "Preciosa" but the 208 gallery is more curved and has a metal edge like a channel setting.
The second most important feature was a particular "chubby" double claw prong design with specific proportions that I had always wanted.
When I was explaining it to the receptionist/assistant over the phone, she said it definitely looks different from what SK normally makes because most people like thin double claws, but assured me that "SK can replicate any design in the world." These were her exact words, which totally put me at ease at the time.
Other details: I wanted pave only on the gallery and no pave along the prongs and shank. I wanted no cathedral, but I didn't want a level band in the center, so I wanted it to come up as a knife edge just towards the center and remain domed on the rest of the band. I also wanted the setting as low as possible, but just low enough for the culet to show, even with a wedding band on.
Ok. Now here goes my complaining, with lots of purposefully non-glamour photos to accentuate the flaws.
Please view onward with a critical eye and extreme anal retentiveness, and comment on whether I'm being unreasonable.
I'm in town for a few weeks and plan on taking the ring in to get a few things fixed under warranty and need some thoughts on whether I should mention the other nonconforming aspects while I'm at it..
Yes, it's beautiful. but *sigh* here we go~
1. The two sides of the shank are uneven. From the picture, the right side is noticably higher and looks almost bent upwards. This part bothers me the MOST and I will be asking SK to fix it under their warranty.
2. The gallery is not like the 208. I specifically compared the 208 to the Preciosa and asked for the metal edge and boxy-ness to accentuate the amazing slanted double row of melees and curved design, but it just looks like rounded pave, and in real life, it barely even looks curved. Nevertheless, it's still spectacular craftsmanship and I'm debating whether or not to have him fix this...
3. When I said no cathedral, the assistant said "so you basically want the gap in the 208 filled" and I said um not exactly, but that's how it turned out. I didn't want the shank connecting to the gallary, and wanted more of like the Tiffany Novo look, but I guess that would have made the head sit higher. This part is actually growing on me, and I'm fine with it as long as the high side (mentioned in #1) isn't on the right side, which will hopefully be fixed soon!
4. The surface of the shank towards the center isn't even. Here's an ugly close-up. The other side is worse, with a wide soldering bump that's been polished.
5. The shank/band is disproportionate/deformed.
I do know his work is completely handmade, so I shouldn't compare to a wax-casted piece, but this is too noticably deformed..
This is the shape I envisioned:
6. The shank/knife edge part is really flat when viewed from top, which makes it look very oddly disproportional compared to its height in the profile view. I had hoped it to be more voluminous like the photo above, and have the knife edge just at the center and round out, but he made the knife edge go almost all the way to the sides, which is probably why the shape in #5 results.
7. The shank is tapered at the center... This I mentioned numerous times to our original jeweler but I failed to mention to SK because none of his designs taper... I did want a thin band, but he made the band taper exceptionally thin, and the knife edge gives the illusion of an almost non-existent band... (see pic below) It's not so bad on its own, but any wedding band wider than 2mm looks very weird together..
8. And last but not least, the prongs...!
I honestly don't know if I would be asking too much to have him fix this to the design that I requested... In my ringfolio, I actually had photos of "what not to look like" and these type of prongs were one of them.
One thing that's for sure is that the top two prongs (particularly the right one) looks different from the others, so I will ask him to take a look at it, at the very least..
Again, I know his work is all handmade and it's difficult to be as precice as a machine, but he is deemed one of the best of the best, and we are paying the premium for his meistershaft. His warranty actually covers "anything less than perfect" which is obviously regarding craftsmanship, but I dont know how that applies to specific design requests.
Please share your thoughts on my craziness, and don't be shy to tell me how insanely anal or totally ungrateful I am... I promise not to be offended!
As others have said, handforged may have more imperfections than a cast ring. I doubt most of the things you pointed out would be noticed by anyone else in real life viewing. I don't think it is unreasonable to ask about the shank (although I am not sure he can really do anything about that without remaking the ring). However, I would not be mentioning all the other things if it has been a few months. Really, if there were defects, I feel like they should have been brought up immediately, or at least within the first 30 days. So I am not really sure about how he will react to a complaint at this point. But I wish you good luck and let us know what happens!
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