BGD graduated DBTY necklace

[Efriede]

Afrer looooooong thinking about getting jackets I have decided to go with DBTY necklace in the last minute. I am so thrilled with this new addition to my collection!

Its platinum 16" five stone (0.12 - 0.20 - 0.31 - 0.20 - 0.12) graduated DBTY made by wonderful people at BGD. I wanted larger stones for the project, as after visiting Tiffany and actually trying various carat weights, I did like both solitaires and multiple stones DBTY. I couldnt decide on one style so I went with a bit fewer but larger graduated stones for this project. Again BGD was wonderful at making this necklace and filling my juwelry box.

So, now to the pictures from BGD

 

[Efriede]

 

[missy]

Gorgeous!!!! Wear in health and happiness!!!

 

[Efriede]

Thank you, Missy.

And Special Thanks to Terry , she provided me with the pair of 0,20s, that I bought from her on DB. The stones are wonderful and keep with BGD 0.12s melee very well! Oh, and the center stone I sourced from Bluenile, its 0,31 F Sl1 GIA 3X, with great angles etc..

 

[movie zombie]

DBTY is just not my thing but on you, well, it looks divine! you got the exact and perfect length. very attractive and something you can wear through the years. congrats!

 

[Enerchi]

GORGEOUS!!! I love the graduated stones - what a great idea! I think the length and spacing is perfect on you - amazing choice!!!

 

[Efriede]

Thank you, MZ and Enerchi. The spacing was inspired by Smith 1940 and her georgeous rose gold necklace. I thought I could achieve similar effect with 4-2-2-2-2-4 spacing. Due to the weight in front the necklace actually stays in place most of the time. But the stones do flip and the outer 4 stones tend to stay with culet up most of the time and the center stays 50/50 with culet up or down. But it doesnt affect sparckle!

 

[m-2-b]

It lays beautifully on your neck!

 

[armywife13]

It is absolutely gorgeous!

 

[Rosebloom]

Oh wow this is fantastic! What a great idea. I just ordered a custom DBY with 7 15-pointers and now I'm wondering if I should have gone for graduated stones? It looks incredible on your dainty neck too. Congrats!

 

[JuneRose]

Beautiful!!! Wow! I love the twist on a classic

 

[JLW05]

Absolutely gorgeous and I love the graduated diamonds. What a fantastic idea!

 

[Orchid Lei]

Superb!

 

[Mayk]

Just beautiful! I love the choices you made for stone size and placement.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I'm always amazed at some of the creative ideas of PSers - this is a great idea with graduated stones!

It looks lovely on your neck - nice choice!

 

[Monnyjay]

I love it, I have one of those on my list. I have also tried on a Tiffany's one and really liked it. How does yours compare to theirs? I don't know if they have them with graduating stones, the one I looked at where all the same size.

 

[Efriede]

Thank you ladies, for your kind words. The necklace now is my absolutely favourite piece. It goes perfect with everything and I just love the placement and diamond size. Though, I see upgrading the center stone in future , I think sub half a carat will be just what I want in the end . Actually I tried at Tiffanys 0.45 solitaire and five stone (0.15 each stone) DBTY and both were georgeous, I put them both at once and saw that the graduated nacklace with one big stone could be just perfect. By the way Tiffanys prices are crazy here in Germany. The 0.45 did cost 4800€ and the five stone 0.75 tcw. 3900€.

As for the BGD bezel and chain quality, it looks 100% identical with Tiffanys for me. Of course, I dont have the original at home to compare, but from my memory they are comparable. But going with BGD for this project, I couldnt expect less than that . I did read tons of reviews of their DBTY pieces and saw lots of pictures, thus I was sure the end result will be perfection. Moreover, they are always very accomodating with such a difficult (read: savvy) customer as myself as I tend to source the diamonds from different sources, like preowned or great deals on Bluenile. That was my third project with them and certainly not the last

Actually I think DBTY is a perfect option for recycling your own or preloved diamonds. It is such a fun to be able to create really unique piece. Graduation, diff sizes or lengths, you name it! I did have a lot of fun.

 

[Akvileja]

Oh, that is so pretty! The necklace is beautiful on you!

May I ask how you do this kind of custom project from Germany? Do you send the stones directly to BGD unseen, or do you ship them to you first and then to the US? I am in Europe too and have been thinking about having one of the PS vendors set a stone for me, but just thinking about handling paperwork with customs regarding custom fees and VAT when shipping out gives me a headache.

 

[Skippy123]

that is beautiful and you have a lovely smile, congrats!!!

 

[Efriede]

Doing custom work from Germany and getting juwelry done in USA took a lot of corage <sp? > from me, indeed. I am so glad I went with BGD for my first stud project, so that later I felt absolutely comFortable to just wire them the funds and wait for the Fedex man to deliver some weeks later. I have been in contact with other highly regarded vendors here during quote gavering, but even their qoutes were almost always lower than BGD, It just didnt click and I could not find trust feeling even after initial contact. May be they didnt take me seriously, I dont know. But with Lesley and Brian and their absolutely personal customer service, I felt at ease and almost like talking to a family member. Moreover they did accomodate my wish to source the stones from elsewhere and served as the eyes and gave their opinion, if the stones are OK. So, yes, I basically buy the stones on bargains site unseen, have them send directly to BGD, they have a look at the goods for me and make a juwelry piece then. I must mention other vendors were not so happy about my scheme and wanted that I buy everything from them..oh.well..

That all being said, I buy only smallish cheap stones on DB and BN site unseen, for bigger stones I still prefer absolute security that I like it at the end, thus I buy BGD signature stones. Sending the goods back and dealing with German customs is not in my plans initially. So far everything that I bought turned out beautiful and no regrets whatsoever.. Hope that helped you

 

[Efriede]

Oh yes, and your question regarding sending stones to USA vendor for setting...my initial idea to create DbTY necklace was mainly to incorporate two pairs of my old diamond stud earrings that I dont wear anymore since I have larger pair from BGD, so I just wanted to send them my earrings and reset them kn DBTY. i could not do it, as at the post they said I shall provide with original reciepts for them, which I naturally dont have as they are gifts from my parents from ages ago and a recent apprisal for a current value, which would cost more than just buying a couple of stones in USA. Plus shipping fee, plus transport insurance...so I just left them in the box...hoping one day I visit USA personally and can send them to Lesley to make something from it..

Where are you in Europe, may I ask. Maybe at your country is not that difficult?

 

[Akvileja]

Thank you for your info on how you did your custom project! I am in Sweden and I doubt Swedish customs are any easier to deal with...

So far I have bought from BGD and their signature stones. I felt quite comfortable doing that, given the great reviews they get here. I have also ordered from WF and was very happy with them too. But these purchases were of their standard products - studs, pendant and hoops. Now I am considering coloured stones and that is a totally different question. My local jewellers are a mix. Some are ridiculously expensive. Some are good pricewise and communication wise, but craftmanship is only so so. This is the eternal dilemma I guess.

 

[Efriede]

Totally understand you regarding price and quality of stones and workmanship here in continental Europe..
And your uncertainty about colored gems. I was also considering buying some sight unseen, but shyed away as they are totally different beast. And no photo can really show the RL color and texture. The folks in USA are so lucky gals to have it all and not dealing with customs, etc..

 

[dkata]

Dear Elfriede,
I was very happy to read your post, because I live in Austria, and I always wanted to buy from the vendors like BG or blunile! But I am afraid, I have to pay customs duty, and finally it would not make sense to buy from USA.
Do you have some experience? How much duty do you have to pay if you buy from Brian Gavin? Or how did you do it, that you did not have to pay? Actually I only ordered some small things - shoe clips - from ebay, maybe for 100 €, and I had to pay 50 € customs duty! This was a bad surprise!! I would be happy, if you could share with me your experiences, because I also want to have a DBTY necklace, but the prices are also in Austria really high!!
Of course I can also write you in German, but I guess, it is not allowed to use an other language!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Very Pretty!

 

[Efriede]

Hi, Dkata! I ordered three times from BGD, two times I have them send to me directly, to Germany, in that case I paid 22% of customs and VAT. And one time I have them send to Switzerland to my sister just before she visited me. Switzerland customs are only 8%. I hope that helped you. The customs are really high, indeed, but if I want comparable quality diamond juwelry here in Germany Tiffany or Cartier are the only choices, and their prices are crazy, so even with the VAT I think it is still attractive to buy from USA.

 

[Efriede]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that secondhand things are excluded from VAT, so buying preloved diamonds is a good option to save a bit as well on VAT.

 

[Akvileja]

Hi Dkata! I had the same experience as Efreide with customs and VAT when ordering from the US (but VAT is even higher here ). The parcel is not delivered by FedEx until the fees are paid. You should be able to get the exact numbers of what you need to pay by the Austrian customs.

I have also ordered from BlueNile. If you select shipping to Austria, prices on the site will be in Euro (and the range of products much less ), and VAT is added when you checkout. Everything is handled by BlueNile. There are no customs fees within the EU.

I have never returned anything, but my guess is that the administration would be easier when returning within the EU.

 

[dkata]

It means, if I buy from ebay, there will be not VAT? I bought the shoeclips on etsy, and I had to pay VAT!

 

[Kalliope]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that secondhand things are excluded from VAT, so buying preloved diamonds is a good option to save a bit as well on VAT.

So that means if you're buying from the preloved section here on PS you won't have to pay VAT? That is something to keep in mind .