Do Jewellers not like creating rings from own sourced diamonds??.

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

That’s a great explanation, thanks for the insight. The Jeweller that I want to go with because I like his quality the most from his previous work has quoted me $3500. I just didn’t want to choose someone that wasn’t charging my fairly. But your explanation helps a lot, thank you!

So I have had a really varied response in terms of prices. I’m after a good quality hand made ring but the prices I have received have been (AUD) $2300, $2800, $3200, 2 x $3500, $3900 and $4200. I’m not sure how the prices can vary so much when they have all quoted on the exact same ring design. The quote is for a hand made platinum 2.1mm pave cathedral style 6 claws
with 18 melee diamonds.
I don’t want a poor quality ring but I also don’t think it’s necessary to pay almost double. Can anyone please offer some advice on approx how much a ring like this should cost?

Something I like to do when I evaluate the price of any piece or quote set in front of me is to first go through samples of the jeweler’s work and see if I’m happy with the quality, independent of price. Next, I ask myself, is $XXX a price I’m happy to pay for this design or piece (independent of other quotes, not in comparison)? I also then break down the quote into material cost and labour cost. I always ask a jeweler to include the approx quantity of metal and caratage of melee in the quote, and then I use spot price of metal plus general melee cost to tease out an estimate of labour cost. Then I ask myself, am I happy to pay $xxx for this level of quality? If I’m not, then I have two options - go with someone else or go with a different, cheaper design to bring overall cost of the project down.

Different jewelers specialise in different things. If you want something intricate, you probably will need to resign yourself to paying a premium (and only you will know if the premium is worth it!) if you want something simple, perhaps a stock setting or a cast setting is what you need. That’s a question only you can answer.

I will say though - you pretty much get what you pay for, with the caveat that you’re diligent and have done your homework to be able to say with reasonable certainty that the jeweler can put the money where their mouth is. You’ll pay more trying to “fix” your ring if you try and force yourself to compromise more than you’re willing to, so the necessary first step (in my opinion anyway) is to go through each jeweler’s work (independent of the quote) and narrow down which jewelers can provide the quality you’re looking for. Then break down the quotes the way I suggested.

 

[monipod]

I have an amazing jeweller here in Perth who is more than happy to work with supplied stones (and gold). Others prefer to use diamonds they source themselves as the overall ring is going to reflect their company, and to be honest, I don't doubt that there are some diamonds they'd rather not have people think that they sourced.

 

[123ducklings]

@Eeveepenny is the diamond you reference in this thread MMD? If it’s mined, please show the cert.

 

[BlingObsession]

I have an amazing jeweller here in Perth who is more than happy to work with supplied stones (and gold). Others prefer to use diamonds they source themselves as the overall ring is going to reflect their company, and to be honest, I don't doubt that there are some diamonds they'd rather not have people think that they sourced.

Would you mind sharing the details if your jeweller in Perth - I haven’t been able to find one since we moved back here .... thank you.

 

[monipod]

Would you mind sharing the details if your jeweller in Perth - I haven’t been able to find one since we moved back here .... thank you.

Absolutely. Ask for either Luke or Riki at Jackson and Tate and tell them Monica recommended them. They are getting close to cut-off for any new makes needing to be done before Christmas but can probably still do repairs etc. They are south of the river though.

 

[BlingObsession]

Absolutely. Ask for either Luke or Riki at Jackson and Tate and tell them Monica recommended them. They are getting close to cut-off for any new makes needing to be done before Christmas but can probably still do repairs etc. They are south of the river though.

Thank you so much. Won’t be getting anything done before Christmas. All bling funds redirected to house renovations

 

[xxxxxx]

@Eeveepenny is the diamond you reference in this thread MMD? If it’s mined, please show the cert.

Are you the mined diamond police? (:

 

[123ducklings]

Are you the mined diamond police? (:

I can see how these posts come off! This is a follow up from another thread on the MMD forum, and I tagged @Eeveepenny as a courtesy carry over from that thread. She has thanked me and from my perspective the issue is closed.