Anyone with experience setting a stone overseas

[sonyachancs]

I'm in Singapore, and I would like to send my stone to one of the PS recommended vendors (I've been speaking to Michael E and Caren and they are lovely), but I have no idea how to do this. I am guessing I need insurance - and from whom, and how do I try and get away from too many pesky taxes? Does anyone have any experience doing this?

Setters in Singapore: if good, VERY expensive (usually a mark-up for their reputation), and otherwise not really doing the best work. Even my untrained eyes can spot imperfections in their melee and etc, and usually the sales people have basically no idea what I'm talking about.. Which makes me worry about how they'd translate my requirements to their craftspeople.

Please help, thanks!

 

[michellechan2211]

Have never researched setters in Singapore (I have considered ready made settings that do not include melee for setting my less expensive stones, since gold IS cheaper around here) but for shipping overseas, I do recommend sending it by registered Singpost and buying insurance (I believe a dollar for every hundred dollars worth of insurance in addition to the extra cost of registering an item) simply because its the most cost effective way to keep the stone insured. I have had no problems with taxes by marking it as a gift. To avoid taxes on the return sending, you have to mark it down to less than 400 dollars, or else there might be a chance that you might be slapped with taxes.

ETA: out of curiousity, who did you consider to set your stone?

 

[sonyachancs]

Have never researched setters in Singapore (I have considered ready made settings that do not include melee for setting my less expensive stones, since gold IS cheaper around here) but for shipping overseas, I do recommend sending it by registered Singpost and buying insurance (I believe a dollar for every hundred dollars worth of insurance in addition to the extra cost of registering an item) simply because its the most cost effective way to keep the stone insured. I have had no problems with taxes by marking it as a gift. To avoid taxes on the return sending, you have to mark it down to less than 400 dollars, or else there might be a chance that you might be slapped with taxes.

ETA: out of curiousity, who did you consider to set your stone?

hi michelle, thanks for that! I was thinking about registered Singpost versus Fedex and the other courier services - that insurance information is really helpful too, thank you!

I am in touch with Michael E and danielmjewelry - they are being very kind and prompt with emails, but I haven't decided which one exactly as yet! Do you have any recommendations?

 

[jstarfireb]

I have sent stones from the US to Thailand to be set, and I usually send them uninsured via registered mail. It's slow but very secure and now can be tracked. The setter gave me the following guidelines and said she had never lost a stone this way. Declare them as "craft supplies" or "mineral sample" for customs and put a low value (probably less than $50) so they get through customs without being opened. Insurance is kind of a red flag that there's something valuable inside and encourages theft. Weigh the package down with shredded or crumpled magazine papers because light packages are a dead giveaway for jewelry. Hope that helps!

ETA: By the way, in case you like her work, the Thai vendor I use is Sally from Heart of Water Jewels. The advantage would be that Thailand is closer to you than the US. She and her team are outstanding and priced very competitively for the quality of the work, but I understand that this is a specific design aesthetic that you may or may not be going for. http://heartofwaterjewels.etsy.com

 

[sonyachancs]

I have sent stones from the US to Thailand to be set, and I usually send them uninsured via registered mail. It's slow but very secure and now can be tracked. The setter gave me the following guidelines and said she had never lost a stone this way. Declare them as "craft supplies" or "mineral sample" for customs and put a low value (probably less than $50) so they get through customs without being opened. Insurance is kind of a red flag that there's something valuable inside and encourages theft. Weigh the package down with shredded or crumpled magazine papers because light packages are a dead giveaway for jewelry. Hope that helps!

ETA: By the way, in case you like her work, the Thai vendor I use is Sally from Heart of Water Jewels. The advantage would be that Thailand is closer to you than the US. She and her team are outstanding and priced very competitively for the quality of the work, but I understand that this is a specific design aesthetic that you may or may not be going for. http://heartofwaterjewels.etsy.com

I've seen Sally's work (during my perusal of all the recommended vendors) and it's a pity it's not quite the look I'm after at the moment. Thanks for the information about the customs bit though, that really is very useful!!

 

[michellechan2211]

I have gotten in touch with Daniel M as well but I have not sent a stone overseas. I have not used local vendors either, although I have considered getting settings second hand since they DO seem to be cheaper here.

Also, I gave the advice thinking that you would send it to the States- There are different guidelines for sending stones to other places so it depends. Normally, the setting vendor will advice accordingly.

 

[sonyachancs]

I have gotten in touch with Daniel M as well but I have not sent a stone overseas. I have not used local vendors either, although I have considered getting settings second hand since they DO seem to be cheaper here.

Also, I gave the advice thinking that you would send it to the States- There are different guidelines for sending stones to other places so it depends. Normally, the setting vendor will advice accordingly.

michelle, where did you look for settings from? I haven't considered buying a ready-made setting here!

 

[SB621]

What about HK? There are plenty of small places you can ship to for a setting in HK that is actually much cheaper then the US. As long as you were doing a fairly simple design any HK Jeweler could do it.

 

[sonyachancs]

What about HK? There are plenty of small places you can ship to for a setting in HK that is actually much cheaper then the US. As long as you were doing a fairly simple design any HK Jeweler could do it.

I would have to mail it there as well - but which vendors would you suggest? I would almost certainly be able to make a trip to HK in the near future (as opposed to the US)...

 

[chrono]

All that shipping back and forth isn't only time consuming, nerve wracking but can end up costing more. Have you done the cost analysis? Labour and material costs so much less in Asia compared to the US. Tracking also "stops" once it leaves the country of origin and there's discussion that the insurance coverage also ends at that point. I don't recall if that's really true but if the stone is not replaceable, I would not send it overseas.

 

[sonyachancs]

All that shipping back and forth isn't only time consuming, nerve wracking but can end up costing more. Have you done the cost analysis? Labour and material costs so much less in Asia compared to the US. Tracking also "stops" once it leaves the country of origin and there's discussion that the insurance coverage also ends at that point. I don't recall if that's really true but if the stone is not replaceable, I would not send it overseas.

it looks like $1000USD for what I'm planning to make - which comes to 1300SGD; and a pre-made mount in Singapore with a desirable jeweller seems to start at 1900SGD. It's ridiculously expensive here - which is why even with the shipping costs and etc factored in, I might possibly get a better deal sending it to the US!

I know it seems counterintuitive to send it outside Asia to do it - but Singapore doesn't necessarily have a craftsman culture, and most of the designs we have are very old-fashioned and not my type at all, and things are so expensive here!

My worry - which you have pointed out - is that the stone will not be replaceable Not quite sure what to do..

 

[mochiko42]

A little late in replying to this, but similar to OP, I am in Asia (HK). I haven't really found a vendor that I like locally (as in Singapore, many of the jewelry options tend to be very traditional.. and focus more on blingy-ness than quality, e.g. you will see many stones and settings that are large/ostentatious but poor cutting/material or very boring designs). I have shipped stones to Thailand before for resetting.. even though HK and Thailand are very close, it was a nerve-wracking 4 days! However everything arrived safely and without incident, and I will feel more confident and comfortable when shipping stones overseas in the future.

Sonyachancs, hope you found what you were looking for!