Custom Jewelry makers?

[jodysmith]

Hello, I am new to the board, stumbled across it while searching on platnium.
My wife has her eye on a Tiffany''s "ribbon" ring. Very beautiful ring, just overpriced(I think).

I have visited a local jeweler and inquired about making a very very close duplication of the ring. (notice the lack of the word "copy")
Is this a normal practice? Is custom made jewelry expensive?
Are there any guidelines for what this should cost?
Any pointers?

I really appreciate any/all replies!

Thank you,

 

[jodysmith]

Another thing, on the same note, can someone recommend a good diamond/jewelry dealer in North Atlanta?

Thanks again!!!

 

[PlatinumDiamond]

Greetings!

Well, I had a custom nugget ring made out of 950 Platinum S1 by Platinumsmith, Jeff Truitt. I sent him a picture of a gold nugget ring via email to give him the general idea of the style nugget ring I wanted custom made. I added a few different specs to the one pictured which gave it it's own look. Such as I had the shank made wider, thicker, and had a hammered finish put on it where as the picture of the gold one did not. The nugget style was pretty close to the picture as far as how it looked.

When the ring was finished, it came in at a weight of 43.2 grams! A real heavy weight. The ring turned out exactly like I wanted it to. Let me rephrase that, it turned out better than I imagined it would.

As long as you make some change to the ring, it will not be a duplicate but rather a basis of the design. Expensive? All depends what you think expensive is. With the weight of this ring and the custom work, I don't think the price was all that bad .... actually the price was less than what I had set aside to have this done.

 

[sumi]

Well, I can't give you specifics because I'm not a jeweler. I can speak from personal experience though. I have some custom pieces and they didn't take too long. My e-ring is custom and my husband told me it took between 1 and 2 months (I THINK! I don't remember exactly! This includes the time for the jeweler to find a stone.) I don't have any pieces that were duplicated, they are original pieces so the design process itself added some time.

I don't think custom pieces are TOO expensive. I heard somewhere that it is a tad more expensive to have something made because you have to cover the production costs. For a piece that's mass produced, the production cost can be spread out over each piece that's sold. You just can't do that with a one of a kind.

In my experience, I have been very pleased with custom work both in terms of the quality of the piece and the price. I think that really depends on finding a good jeweler though. Sorry I can't recommend anyone for you, I'm nowhere near Atlanta.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Making Tiffany duplications has been done and I personally had a necklace made. The original design, if copyrighted as to be altered (from what a jeweler told me) by 25%, to keep from getting in trouble. I had a jeweler make a VERY close copy of the Tiffany Diamonds by the Yards collection necklace and it ended up costing more than I had originally planned, but the end result is very pretty and the bezel is nicely constructed.

My pointers would be BE SURE to talk to the actual bench person doing the work versus a jeweler who will then contract the work out to another person, because this is where communication gets tricky. Bring in as many pictures from as many angles as possible to ensure a close copy and also, find a jeweler at least experienced, if not exclusively dedicated to ONLY custom work and be sure they have pieces they made in the showroom so you know they will do a good job.

Can you post a photo of this ring? I couldn't find it on the site.

Michelle

 

[jodysmith]

Here are some pics.

Hopefully this will help.

Thank all of you for your replies.
We went a talked with a locally owned jeweler this evening and I feel very comfortable with his place. He broke down the cost of the ring into each part.
He quoted us $2750 for a .73c/H/vs2/ ideal cut Is that good, fair?

 

[sumi]

very pretty! Please post pictures when you get the ring made!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

----------------
On 3/2/2004 9:23:02 PM jodysmith wrote:

Here are some pics.

Hopefully this will help.

Thank all of you for your replies.
We went a talked with a locally owned jeweler this evening and I feel very comfortable with his place. He broke down the cost of the ring into each part.
He quoted us $2750 for a .73c/H/vs2/ ideal cut Is that good, fair?

Yes, sounds like a fair deal; about right

! Make sure the diamond is well cut. Ideal cut can mean *anything*. Review the tutorial on cut and be sure to run the diamond's EXACT specs, after you get a sarin, past us all over on the Rocky Talk forum.

The ring is gorgeous, BTW. Nice choice!

Michelle

 

[Mara]

wow I LOVE that ring!!!




Please definitely come back and let us know how things went and post the final pictures. I may have to add that charmer to my list for a future right hand ring!

Was the $2750 for just the diamond? That would be a bit pricey but he is an offline jeweler, so more markup built in.




If so, what is the cost he quoted just for the ring making /setting? Curious.

 

[PlatinumDiamond]

Jody, glad to hear you found someone to make it for you.
Yes, please post pics of it when you have it in hand. It sounds like it will be nice!

 

[jodysmith]

$2750 for the diamond only,

Now that I have had some time, I am looking at these online retailers, I see there are lots of them. Some seem to post here regularly on the board. Can someone recommend one? I'm thinking I can save some $$ by piecing this out...
Any thoughts?

Thanks,!!!!!

 

[diamondlil]

Hi Jody.




The $2750 price for that stone seems very reasonable to me. I am in the process of designing a custom ring also and getting a price from both a local jeweler as well as an online vendor. One thing about my local shop is that he broke his price down for the stones and the setting separately so I could understand how he came up with his fees. His price on the side stones (I already own my center stone) was very reasonable, but if I get my side stones elsewhere for him to set in his custom design for me, he charges more for the setting. From his point of view, I can understand this. Just thought I would mention this so you can ask your jeweler.




Diamondlil

 

[winyan]

Hi there Jody...

I know that ring from my cousin's hand, her's was indeed purchased at Tiffany, but I was under the impression it was no longer available.

LawGem, if the original manufacturer stops making a piece, is it still infringment if someone else makes it after x # of years (in this case, I think it's about 8 or 9.)

win

 

[Mara]

Jody...you can definitely get a similar (if not better cut) stone for similar pricing online. You may have to drop to SI clarity but it would be a better cut stone AND eye-clean if you did your homework.




What would I do?




I'd buy the stone online with one of the vendors here and then have the offline jeweler commission the custom piece. But that is just because I am a H&A fan after seeing my fiance's ACA H&A stone, a knockout. See those arrows in the Tiffany picture? THAT is what you want to see when that stone twirls and sparkles. Get a cool H&A well-cut stone and you will .

 

[DavidEmslie]

Hi, its a fairly normal practice for jewlery to be duplicated closly....but then again there are only so many basic ring designs that can be done with out going over the top too.

As a customer, commisioning a custom work, you are asking for X product to be made...what ever that may be.

Of course it is imposible to direcly copy a design to exact in a ring, unless your doing a direct mold off the original.

Asking for a custom jeweler to make someting is not a problem. Often times people cant get a specific design becuase its not in the metal they want, not avalible in the finger size they want or its just overpriced...and hence it makes sence to have a one off ring made.
yes, thats correct, it can be less expensive to have someting custom made than to buy it direcly at retail...even with online prices...but it depends on the work to be made too. It also depends on the designer and there prices too.

the best thing to do is ask, as it never hurts, and you find out alot.