Fair prices for custom ring? (peridot, green tourmaline)

[Sequinhat]

Hello, I am in the process of planning out a ring for my boyfriend. I went to FGS Gems in Philadelphia looking for a green stone. It came down to a green tourmaline and a peridot (pictured below).



I was quoted $587.50 for the green tourmaline (about 3.8 carats?) and $1400 for the 4.31 carat peridot. I was looking around online and the prices seems kind of high? I've never tried making a custom ring before so I don't have any knowledge to go off of. The price for a size 12 (they were saying it would have to be at least 20 pennyweight?) 14k rose gold ring was $1500 (i don't know if that includes the price of labor) that also seems a little pricey. Here is a picture of the ring i want to replicate



The black part would be a black onyx inlay which I might change into black jade or black druze agate.

Any comments or feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Michael_E]

The cost of 14K gold casting grain is around $40 per pennyweight and if this ring weighs 20dwt then the raw material cost is about $800. You can decide if the cost of making a wax model, investing, casting, stone setting and finishing are worth the added money.

As for your choice of stones, I would consider how rough you are on jewelry when deciding on which stone to use. The reason that I say this is because peridot is softer and more brittle than tourmaline and neither is a great choice for an everyday ring, (you'd probably get away with them for occasional use if you can be careful). Here's a good thread devoted to daily wear green gems:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...est-green-gemstones-for-everyday-wear.119883/

Your choice of black jade as a replacement is a great one. Black jade is way tougher than either onyx or druzy agate. Additionally druzy materials tend to be very frail in daily use since those little crystal tips can be broken so easily.

 

[Sequinhat]

@michael_e Thank you very much for your reply! I am now looking into harder alternatives for a green stone. Thank you for your comment about black jade, I'm new in the world of gemstones so I really appreciate the feedback!