$100k+ budget - Harry Winston or Custom?

[stone-cold11]

Nope, he is an artist so you either wants his work, trust his taste or he don''t want to work with you. Apparently he has enough biz to keep him busy that he can choose his customers.

 

[DiamanteBlu]

Harry Winston has seen better days. They just reported a consolidated net loss of $24.5-million for the quarter ended July 31. And their sales for the quarter are down to $94.8-million, from $186.1-million in the same period of last year. Oops. And I know that Graff, Kaufmann de Suisse, et al. are in a similar boat. Linky

They should be willing to deal more than usual, especially for existing stock.

That being said, I would still go the custom route.

 

[Harriet]

If you go with HW or Graff, try the Bal Harbor boutiques (Luc; Ashok).

 

[dncdnc]

Seconding what PO10472 & audball said, find the perfect stone for YOU in the perfect setting for YOU. You have infinite options in both regards.

A $100,000 budget means that essentially budget is not an issue -- find the perfect ring for you regardless of the cost. But you're certainly under no obligation to spend the whole $100,000. If the right rock plus right setting =$25,000, then that's $75k for other purposes.
In short, look around at diamonds to your heart's content and the one that grabs you like no other, buy it. Then find the setting that is entirely absolutely you.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

The one thing I''d be careful about is being sure the stone is really ideal cut if you do go with HW. We had a person here awhile back who wanted a ring from HW, Cartier, Graff, etc. and they did some comparisons on the diamond specs. Surprisingly, many of the diamonds were not as well cut as we see from PS vendors who specialize in H&A stones. I am sure you can get a HW stone that is ideal, but you''ll have to do the homework to make sure. Please let us know what you end up getting!

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Date: 9/12/2009 11:27:10 AM
Author: misscrystal
Good morning! Wow, thanks for all the responses. I really, really appreciate it!

I do think I have read on Pricescope that LM has made pieces for HW in the past, so that is why I would maybe lean towards going with him if the HW doesn''t work out, as I really like his work with the double claw prong settings.

Also, it would be really cool if HW matched prices, but as far as I''m concerned, I''m almost positive they don''t. =( Wow, the more and more I think about it, that would be amazing! As whenever we have spoke to someone working at HW, they say that we can get a diamond anywhere, have it set, but it is still not the same...

That is news to me The next time you are in there please ask what it would cost approx for the halo Micropave setting for a 2ct stone that would be interesting information as an option, I had no idea they would even consider doing this.