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Favorite lesser-known jewelers for settings

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bonne403

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 26, 2012
Messages
22
I have seen so much incredible work from the Pricescope heavy hitters (SK, LM, Ritani, BGD, etc. etc. ect.). But I've also come across some interesting alternatives that don't get as much publicity on the boards, so to speak. Who are your favorite lesser-known jewelers? Would love to see pictures of their work if you have them! I love to find best-kept secrets and give them my business.
 
Sareen Jewelry did three settings for me. I rally liked working with him. Pinkblue also has a setting from him.
 
There is a new thread to show David Klass settings:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-us-your-david-klass-bling.196654/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-us-your-david-klass-bling.196654/[/URL]

He is supposedly more reasonable than the popular PS ring makers partly because he does cast rather than hand forged. But that is not all bad since many, many brands of settings cast their settings! Anyway, not all of us want to spend $5k every time we get a new setting, so I'd personally be interested in trying DK for a right hand ring. I would recommend him for an engagement ring if the budget was not in the handforged territory.
 
I think ppl like to go online to save money on taxes. But really many of us use local places as well. You just need to hunt around your area and find a jeweler who is actually a bench or has their own bench. Look at their portfilio and compare pricing.

But as far as lesser known on PS:
David Klass as been mentioned a lot lately. Though his pricing used to be cheaper, he is still way under most PS vendors that are recommended.
DanielM on Etsy is really well known and loved on the colored stone forum though he sets diamonds as well. He is very inexpensive and does lots of jewelry in silver to keep pricing down.
LOGR- on ebay. Chinese vendor who used to be dirt cheap and had great settings. Not used so much anymore but still good, though quality has gone down with pricing going up.
 
I think many people are searching for alternate jewelers who are at the level of LM, SK, VC ... but they are far and in between. Single Stone, ERD, BGD, WhiteFlash, JbEG are also very popular. Others that have been mentioned over the years include Maytal Hannah, Ocean Pearlman, Greenwich Jewelers, Sareen Jewelers, McTeigue & McClelland, Mark Broumand, David S Diamonds, 23rd Street Jewelers, SN Queen, Joe Escabor, and a bunch more I can't remember.
 
I really do like Maytal Hannah, too. She made my daughter's diamond wedding band and it is beautifully made. I honestly think I'd choose certain vendors depending on the particular project. Some are better and certain things than others.
 
I would caution regarding David Klass, I have seen some lovely work by him but I have also seen 'replicas' of other designers work and pieces that are just plain horrendous. He's not consistent.
 
I personally love Sally at Hearts of Water on etsy, but you have to ship to Thailand which can be scary and the wait time can be long. But oh my god, the hand made settings are exquisite and delicate like things from a fairytale. :)

My favorite jeweler for most projects these days is actually a local metalsmith, lol. Oh the joys of living in Philadelphia, lots of local talent!
 
Gypsy|1388893273|3586521 said:
I would caution regarding David Klass, I have seen some lovely work by him but I have also seen 'replicas' of other designers work and pieces that are just plain horrendous. He's not consistent.
Click to expand...

I echo Gypsy's caution above regarding his inconsistency - he made a rose gold ring for me along the lines of SandyCheeks' bezel rings and unfortunately there were obvious flaws in the setting... while he refunded in full, there was no explanation provided for the poor workmanship nor the lack of quality control (it shouldn't even have been shipped to me in that condition). I would not utilize his services again nor would I recommend him to anyone, though of course I realize others have had good experiences with his work product.
 
I love Mae Vona. Not sure how "underground" they are, but they are lovely and modern.
 
I would also consider my diamond zone. They are incredibly easy to work with - Ilya is very responsive and a real nice guy. I have a project with them right now which isn't done so I can't judge quality yet.
 
JAmes Breski does some cool vintage rings. I found them at my local jewelers, but Pearlmans also has some of his things, but they are under "pearlman collection" or something. Im not sure what thats about. Both my local place and Pearlmans are in Michigan.

http://breski.com/
 
You might want to clarify your price range, because there are custom ring makers mentioned here that are very inexpensive to extremely expensive! McTeigue and McClelland are higher than VC and SK!
 
diamondseeker2006|1388966569|3587046 said:
You might want to clarify your price range, because there are custom ring makers mentioned here that are very inexpensive to extremely expensive! McTeigue and McClelland are higher than VC and SK!
Click to expand...

Yes this is an important point. McTiegue and Mcl are the most expensive I have worked with. The quality was impeccable but....
 
I found some recently that were even more expensive but the work is oh-so-fab.

I want some more amazing options in the LM/SK/VC price range.
 
Tanagro is impeccable-hand made. Fair prices
 
MakingTheGrade|1388894040|3586528 said:
I personally love Sally at Hearts of Water on etsy, but you have to ship to Thailand which can be scary and the wait time can be long. But oh my god, the hand made settings are exquisite and delicate like things from a fairytale. :)

My favorite jeweler for most projects these days is actually a local metalsmith, lol. Oh the joys of living in Philadelphia, lots of local talent!
Click to expand...

Hi MakingThe Grade!
I also live in the Philadelphia area and I'm curious who your go to jeweler(s) is if you don't mind sharing. My husband purchased my original ER from jewelers row (Sydney Rosen) so other then that I do not have much knowledge of the preferred shops.
Thanks!
 
I recently used Ilya at Diamond Zone. The ring is stunning (see here https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-beauty-in-the-making.195233/) and they were a pleasure to work with. One thing I will say is that I have read people saying the rings his bench makes are lightweight and/or not suitable for everyday wear. All I can say is that the ring he made for me is 100% solid. It's really substantial and I weighed it when I got it. It weighs 6g. Not lightweight by any means.
 
that is beautiful Sparks-I love the details-Ilya seems like a gem!
 
marymm|1388894273|3586529 said:
Gypsy|1388893273|3586521 said:
I would caution regarding David Klass, I have seen some lovely work by him but I have also seen 'replicas' of other designers work and pieces that are just plain horrendous. He's not consistent.
Click to expand...

I echo Gypsy's caution above regarding his inconsistency - he made a rose gold ring for me along the lines of SandyCheeks' bezel rings and unfortunately there were obvious flaws in the setting... while he refunded in full, there was no explanation provided for the poor workmanship nor the lack of quality control (it shouldn't even have been shipped to me in that condition). I would not utilize his services again nor would I recommend him to anyone, though of course I realize others have had good experiences with his work product.
Click to expand...

I would highly recommend David Klass. If you do a search, all of the very popular vendors have had horror stories regarding unhappy clients. The thing to remember is, if they were unhappy, how did the vendor handle the issue. In the very few cases where the client wasn't happy, DK went over and above to rectify the situation. Some well known vendors were awful.
 
MakingTheGrade said:
I personally love Sally at Hearts of Water on etsy, but you have to ship to Thailand which can be scary and the wait time can be long. But oh my god, the hand made settings are exquisite and delicate like things from a fairytale. :)

My favorite jeweler for most projects these days is actually a local metalsmith, lol. Oh the joys of living in Philadelphia, lots of local talent!
Click to expand...

@MakingTheGrade , would you mind recommending a jeweler in Philly?
 
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