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Cluster necklace

CSpan

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 7, 2016
Messages
1,293
I fell in love with a cluster necklace on Yvonnes page and in April decided to have one made for my mom. Her birthstone is Opal and my brother and I are July, so she found me a ruby.

Inspo
il_794xN.2242786728_30d5.jpg

Stones-went with a lighter small opal.
icm_fullxfull.251281605_8somnp0wjlkwss4cgc80.jpg
I'm assuming the shutdowns and all delayed things but it has taken awhile. She let me know a few weeks ago that she had to re order the bezels because she had prongs and forgot I wanted the opals bezeled. A little strange since this has been ongoing for months. In hindsight I should have asked for some photos of the layout.

This is the finished necklace. It isn't exactly what I envisioned but it's a gift and I have already missed about 4 occasions to present it so I'm not sure what to do. Can I get your thoughts?

il_794xN.2486334021_fzqj.jpg
il_794xN.2438704772_szhb.jpg

I did email and ask for a photo of someone wearing it so I can see the scale and balance. I'm just not sure but I also don't want to offend Yvonne and it is a custom piece so it isn't returnable.
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
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6,532
In a word “no”.
you are paying for a handmade piece so you should expect and receive quality.
The Ruby is not set “flat”. It is twisting inwards.
Worse is the join between the two opals, it looks like a novices first attempt at soldering. It’s all well and good to say “oh, it’s a “rustic” look” - nah, it looks like beginners work.
The bezels are not well finished ie flush to the opal. It is tricky working with bezels and opals but I wouldn’t be pleased with that standard.
The setting for the ruby is poorly sized, it’s not sitting nicely and evenly in the setting and the two claws, ugh, too chunky and high and not a nice fit.
That aside, the design is blah. its just not balanced.
Love the gemstones.
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
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53,978
The gemstones are lovely but I agree with @Bron357. The setting is not as elegant or refined as the inspiration piece. Definitely clunky and rough. I’m sorry.
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 19, 2013
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5,485
Her not showing you the layout - is that typical or did it get lost on the shuffle?
Is this done by her usual bench, or is her bench operating in non typical COVID shelter mode?
was it timeline between the prong version and this version very small- like a ‘rush job’ maybe?
would you like it better if the smaller opal was on top, rather than the bottom?

I think these are all valid questions that could be discussed. (Not argued)
If you think it can be crafted finerit’s - and want a different layout -
(Did you get to see the layout of the pronged version?)
discuss your thoughts with her along with the facts, and ask what can be done to remedy it? Including offering to pay for part of resetting if indeed you indicated no approval of layout needed and she covers part. I won’t get into details but I do have an experience with her and a piece sent out without any thought on her part on it being appropriate/completely done, ‘just for the sake of getting it shipped/marking off a done box /and for my benefit’

It’s a lovely (and thoughtful!) concept with pretty stones.

edited
 
Last edited:

voce

Ideal_Rock
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May 13, 2018
Messages
5,161
I see nothing wrong with the way the ruby is set. The ruby isn't sitting flat because of the soldering, not because of anything else that I can see. I'm wondering if Yvonne is having someone else doing the soldering work these days. She has mentioned to me the work on soldering and findings was the most backlogged, when I once asked her if the business was back to producing everything yet.

Now, do you have an issue with the layout? Is this the layout you have approved, or did you trust Yvonne to do everything? Because if the latter, I think in the future you need to communicate more with Yvonne, and if the former, you can't fault her for whether the necklace looks "balanced" or not.

I think part of the issue is the difference in the sizes of the stones and the bezels being different heights, which adds to the difficulty of soldering properly. I don't know if you've discussed issues like this with the shop or just expected them to turn out everything perfectly without input.
 

CSpan

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 7, 2016
Messages
1,293
Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. I'm not very good with custom work.

I appreciate your help, I wasn't able to articulate what was I was seeing and this really helped me organize my thoughts.

All to say I love Yvonne's work, I have another project going which I know is going to be stellar. And I wouldn't hesitate to use her, I think this stupid pandemic has been a wrench for everyone. I have another project with another vendor that has been going on for ages, that one is directly attributed to bench closings, I know this hasn't been easy for anyone.
 

dk168

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Jul 7, 2013
Messages
12,492
Thanks OP for giving me an idea what to do with my learner jelly opals.

They are quite small and difference is size especially heights, so no good in a ring.

However they would work as a pendant or a brooch, even better as a convertible pendant/brooch!

DK :))
 

paragon1234

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Mar 8, 2020
Messages
206
Could you get her to refine the bezels so that they look smoother? Or even get someone else to do it? They do look a bit lumpy.
 

elizat

Ideal_Rock
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Mar 23, 2013
Messages
3,999
I think @Bron357 has it. The bezels in particular are not very well executed. I don't think it's balanced either.

I would send a photo of what you want on the layout- draw it or Photoshop, etc.

Unpopular view- the inspiration bezels look rough to me. I would not be pleased, but I also acknowledge that I am used to paying CvB like pricing, so there is a bit of you get what you pay for here too. I imagine Yvonne is much more budget friendly? Hopefully?
 
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