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Diamond melee price question

karylicious

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
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107
Could anyone tell me how much a diamond melee of 2.9 ct would cost me in VS-E,F,G? I am looking for 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 stones? Where would be the best place to buy?

Thanks
 
May I ask why you need them? Custom jewelry makers usually provide all the melee for a project. They can access it for less than a consumer can anyway.
 
This sounds like a repair job? I've had small stones replaced by a jeweler, and it's usually not very expensive and included in the cost of the repair. They match the color/clarity/cut of the item.
 
I am having a ring made but I find that the price he's charging me per carat is a bit much. I wanted to see if it was just me or if what hes charging me is really ok
 
karylicious|1347044909|3263855 said:
I am having a ring made but I find that the price he's charging me per carat is a bit much. I wanted to see if it was just me or if what hes charging me is really ok

It's all a package deal.
So he charges you $30 less for the melee, he can charge your $30 more for the labor.
 
karylicious|1347044909|3263855 said:
I am having a ring made but I find that the price he's charging me per carat is a bit much. I wanted to see if it was just me or if what hes charging me is really ok

I see the path you are going down, but here is my take (I am assuming you are working with a preferred vendor here on PS):

1. The price of melee 'is what it is'. You wont be able to negotiate and even in the off chance that you found a source, I am pretty sure he won't accept them as a part of the project.
2. If you have selected a designer to make your ring, do you a) really want to start off on the wrong foot by haggling over melee? or b) develop the attitude of 'feeling ripped off' from the start?
3. Most of the cost of the setting is in the labor & time, not the material. If you want to reduce the cost, make your design less ornate. 2.9 carats of melee (80-290 1-3pt stones) tells me that your design is extremely ornate.
 
J_Rock|1347050393|3263895 said:
karylicious|1347044909|3263855 said:
I am having a ring made but I find that the price he's charging me per carat is a bit much. I wanted to see if it was just me or if what hes charging me is really ok

I see the path you are going down, but here is my take (I am assuming you are working with a preferred vendor here on PS):

1. The price of melee 'is what it is'. You wont be able to negotiate and even in the off chance that you found a source, I am pretty sure he won't accept them as a part of the project.
2. If you have selected a designer to make your ring, do you a) really want to start off on the wrong foot by haggling over melee? or b) develop the attitude of 'feeling ripped off' from the start?
3. Most of the cost of the setting is in the labor & time, not the material. If you want to reduce the cost, make your design less ornate. 2.9 carats of melee (80-290 1-3pt stones) tells me that your design is extremely ornate.


I am working with a Canadian jeweler..:), on I've worked with many times in the past and have been very satisfied. The thing is that he started by giving me a price for the ring I wanted. He started making the computer design and realized it was a lot more work than he had planned. And now, my price went up almost 4000$... The ring was originally planned for 2.3 ct and I asked a bit bigger in size when the design was done the total is now 2.9ct total. I highly doubt that 0.6ct of fiamonds comes to 4000$$$... He answered that he would not make the ring for the original price since it wa too much work.. He also offered that if I could get a better price than he charges me for diamonds to get them.. So, I'm kinda stuck.. He cherges me his time and a profit on the diamonds and on the gold, I get that but a 4000$ increase.. That was why I was wondering the price per carat, to see how much I'm actually paying him extra for 0.6ct!!..
 
But it is the labor involved in setting 2+ carats of melee that costs more than the diamonds themselves. I really would like to see this design because it is hard for me to imagine over 2 cts. of melee!
 
Its a flower ring so lots of diamonds are needed..;)
 
In this case, it appears your jeweler severely underestimated the labor involved (which gave you an incorrect baseline). But I dont think his revised pricing is that far off once you put things in perspective. I have gotten quotes to literally pave an entire ring in diamonds. The carat weight was no-where near 2.9ct, in fact most rings you see here top out at a little over 1ct in melee.
 
OK, so he's very specific that the heart of the problem is the labor, not the cost of materials. In answer to your question, $1100/ct will get you pretty nice melee at most places but the labor to make the piece and set them is almost always more than the cost of the stones. Supplying your own stones doesn't really help much and it adds a whole element of fingerpointing if something doesn't come out just right (ex. the stones you got were the wrong size/grade or the alloy in the gold you supplied is the cause of downstream issues). That all goes away if you buy the parts from the same people who are making the ring.

2.9cts of melee is quite a bit for a ring, especially if there's a center stone involved. Are you sure about this? Is your design big and completely covered in diamonds?

The usual way to reduce the labor component is to reduce the number of stones, not necessarily the weight. Setting 20 0.05's is usually a lot less work than setting 100 0.01's.
 
thank you so much sor your input, it answered my question,
thank to everyone who helped me:)
I'll talk to my jeweler tomorrow and try to figure this out:)
 
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