Help with setting quote change

[newtojewels]

I have been helping someone with their engagement ring selection. I feel some responsibility for the current situation which is why I am posting here on his behalf. On my recommendation, he got quotes to recreate a Brilliant Earth setting from vendors who are well-regarded here on PS:

Here's the email exchange from the initial quote process on May 19, 2025 (everything is direct quotes except removing the specific prices):

Vendor: "Thank you for reaching out. Not a problem setring will be $XXXX made in platinum with natural diaminds E/VS1 ideal cut. How wide of the band dies she want 1.8-2mm?"

Friend: "The band she tried on had a width of 2.3mm. Attached should be some photos of her with it on. I think that is a good width for the main stone size but I am open to suggestions."

Vendor: "I will have to use slightly larger diamonds on the band to accommodate 2.3mm width normally it costs slightly more but i’ll do it for same cost."

The emphasis on the last email is mine. My friend decided to go with that vendor and shipped the diamond off, which was received on June 19. He then received a work order on July 7 with a price $800 higher than the original emailed quote.

Here is the next exchange:

Friend: "Good morning and thank you for forwarding the work order! It looks like there may be a discrepancy between the work order and the original quote from May 19th (Quote at the beginning of this thread)Can you please review when you have a moment?"

Vendor: "I initially quoted $XXXX for thinner band 1.8mm After you told me that ring she tried was 2.3mm I mentioned that price will be slightly higher. I will be using much larger diamonds. Please let me know if this is ok."

Friend: "Thank you, you did mention that the wider band would normally cost more due to the larger diamonds, but that you’d also do it for the same cost as originally quoted.Just asking for clarification, so let me know if I misunderstood anything. I really appreciate your time and consideration on this."

Vendor: "I gave you very low price from the beginning. If you look on the website, I charge $XXXX for solitaire without diamonds. I basically quoted you same cost with diamonds for 1.8mm wide shank and [$XXXX + $800] for 2.3mm wide band. You are getting an excellent price."

My friend has not replied to that second email and asked if I could post here for advice on how he should proceed. The diamond is in-hand with the vendor and it was shipped there using the vendor's label.

I'm hoping some experienced PSers have some advice on next steps. He is anxious about the ring process and is worried about making the vendor upset but is also understandably upset himself with the change. The original quoted price was already a little above my friend's budget so this $800 is a significant increase for him, though I don't think the new work order price is actually unreasonable. Although he is open to using smaller diamonds to help with the price, I am inclined to think that he should get the band width his girlfriend originally wanted which may require switching to the other vendor he received a quote from (which would be in budget but would involve shipping back and forth more).

Any thoughts?

Here is the Brilliant Earth setting he is trying to emulate:

 

[Dreamer_D]

I would send a screen shot of the original exchange and just say “I’m a little puzzled because this is what I was originally quoted”. Just so it’s all in writing, and see why they say. If they still press for the higher price I guess I’d have to weigh the PITA factor of taking the stone back or accepting the up charge. Since it is a reasonable charge I’m not sure I’d fight to the end about it. Was there another vendor who quoted less/the same for the size your friend wanted? I generally have patience about this type of thing when working with boutique makers. They are not all smooth/saavy business people.

 

[tyty333]

Things like this really turn me off, and I would probably tell them to ship my stone back. In effect, I would lose confidence
in the vendor because of what they initially said and the current quote. I would worry about what might happen during the design/
creation phases that I thought "we" understood, and then it comes out different because there is a "misunderstanding."
That's just me. I know others will differ.

 

[Rfisher]

My take.
from what you have shared.


Yes you have that screenshotted statement
But if it isn’t what the vendor meant.
( or there is more than one employee replying)
And they’ve already didn’t have the stance of ‘crap I messed up, we miscommunicated here, you can have it, I’ll honor it this one time’, after being asked once,

Going back a second time to ask for (1) free metal width upgrade, (2) free diamonds (3) free upgraded diamonds size
from a website listed price of the skinnier metal with no diamonds - by showing them the screenshotted convo-

If you get it - there will be hard/ awkward feelings and some other corners may be cut during the process. Tangible or not.
I’d be wary of that.

I wouldn’t want the 1.8 with pave for daily wear.
I wouldn’t want the 2.3 with the smaller diamonds meant for the 1.8 width either, in the pave style shown.

Sometimes custom vendors expect their clients to know stuff by osmosis, that they assume is common knowledge. Or common sense because they deal with it daily.

 

[newtojewels]

@Dreamer_D @tyty333 @Rfisher

Thank you for weighing in so quickly! I have given my friend this link so he can see the replies as they come in. I told him that the most important thing was that he feel as good about this process as possible given the current situation and that will mean different things to different people. I think it will be very helpful for him to see how different people would approach it.

 

[winnietucker]

Why did the jeweler initially decide to quote for a thinner band?

Regardless, I’d probably start new with a new vendor. This happened to me with a beloved PS vendor (except the price just went up and I found out this vendor had done it to someone else too). There’s more backstory but the gist of it is that my piece was beautiful but it kind of put me off to it. I have another piece where I was unhappy with how the vendor acted after the piece was completed and I think it’s why I don’t love it as much as I thought I would. For an important piece, I think it’s best not to have any baggage.

 

[newtojewels]

Why did the jeweler initially decide to quote for a thinner band?

Regardless, I’d probably start new with a new vendor. This happened to me with a beloved PS vendor (except the price just went up and I found out this vendor had done it to someone else too). There’s more backstory but the gist of it is that my piece was beautiful but it kind of put me off to it. I have another piece where I was unhappy with how the vendor acted after the piece was completed and I think it’s why I don’t love it as much as I thought I would. For an important piece, I think it’s best not to have any baggage.

The vendor typically does thinner bands so I think they just assumed, my friend had sent the link to the original (wider) ring when asking for the quote but there was no previous discussion about the width.

I'm really sorry that happened with your pieces

 

[newtojewels]

WHOOPS, I lied. This was actually the first email from my friend:

I'm looking for a quote for a setting. My girlfriend fell in love with this exact setting from Brilliant Earth (see attached images, heres the link as well: Sienna Three-Quarter Coverage Diamond Ring in 18K White Gold | Brilliant Earth) but we want higher quality. I am in the process of purchasing a ~1.5 carat round and she is a size 6. What would your price be to make a setting like this in platinum with natural diamonds in the pave (2.3mm), 2/3 coverage?

So it was actually 2.3mm right from the beginning.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Well, then the vendor made an erroneous assumption. I know it stinks on the vendor’s end, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet and honor what you said. What if your friend re-forwarded that email and offered to split the difference? Not the way it should be but if he has the diamond returned, they will probably charge him for the shipping both ways. A bit of a pickle and really unfortunate. He could always say his budget won’t stretch that far and see what solution they can offer him.

 

[luckygreen317]

Well, then the vendor made an erroneous assumption. I know it stinks on the vendor’s end, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet and honor what you said. What if your friend re-forwarded that email and offered to split the difference? Not the way it should be but if he has the diamond returned, they will probably charge him for the shipping both ways. A bit of a pickle and really unfortunate. He could always say his budget won’t stretch that far and see what solution they can offer him.

Clear communication and complete design details are critical in custom. What’s concerning are the discrepancies in the design quote versus the price now. If there is miscommunication this early in the process, I would be considering other options. If you have a good working relationship with this vendor, perhaps it can be worked through. I hope it all works out and your friend is lucky to have your help.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I would consider an increased price unacceptable at this stage. I think your friend was as clear as he could reasonably have been and it’s on the vendor to make it right. If it was like $50-80 more that’s one thing, but $800?? Maybe it’s because I’m coming from the non-US perspective where ring settings aren’t inherently expensive but $800 would be a whole ass new ring here.

I would send the vendor the screenshot of their original email, point out that the width of 2.3mm is what was always requested; and tell the vendor that this is already out of budget before the extra $800. If the vendor won’t honour their own original agreement, then they should return the diamond.

Side note - even if it was an employee making a claim that the owner wouldn’t want to honour, that’s on the vendor. Once a commitment has been made it needs to be honoured. They can take it up with the employee behind doors. It’s not the customer’s job to verify that emails sent from the official vendor ID have the consensus of the entire team behind them.

 

[Mreader]

I would be really put off by that last email from the vendor after your friend reminded them that they said they would do it for the original quote. He or she sidesteps what your friend is saying and just basically says it’s a great price - and it is said with attitude. I honestly would want my diamond back and go with somebody else.

 

[freddyboston]

hard to really say without knowing the before/after prices...
was the orig estimate maybe too good and the work order while higher is still a fair price for the job ?

could also be a situation where orig estimate was low special deal for a "client on a budget" and then the diamond shows up and it's $$

 

[Mreader]

I would consider an increased price unacceptable at this stage. I think your friend was as clear as he could reasonably have been and it’s on the vendor to make it right. If it was like $50-80 more that’s one thing, but $800?? Maybe it’s because I’m coming from the non-US perspective where ring settings aren’t inherently expensive but $800 would be a whole ass new ring here.

I would send the vendor the screenshot of their original email, point out that the width of 2.3mm is what was always requested; and tell the vendor that this is already out of budget before the extra $800. If the vendor won’t honour their own original agreement, then they should return the diamond.

Side note - even if it was an employee making a claim that the owner wouldn’t want to honour, that’s on the vendor. Once a commitment has been made it needs to be honoured. They can take it up with the employee behind doors. It’s not the customer’s job to verify that emails sent from the official vendor ID have the consensus of the entire team behind them.

1000%

 

[Dreamer_D]

This is all good advice. I suppose it also depends on the vendors track record and others experiences with them.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Don’t know who the vendor is and what their work has looked like in the past. Hopefully, since they already have the diamond, something can be worked out on price.

 

[newtojewels]

This is a vendor that other PSers have used but I have no personal experience with.

After one more round of back-and-forth, the plan is that my friend and the vendor will be splitting the difference on price. He's a little disappointed in the change but still wanted to use the vendor and didn't want to do the full PITA factor of switching. I'm very confident it'll be a beautiful ring in the end. The diamond is a ~1.6 carat colorless/VS natural round with nice proportions (58% table/34.5% CA/40.8% PA) and optical symmetry. I'm sure the vendor will do a great job with the setting, so it'll be a very well-executed, classic ring.

I'll keep everyone posted! Thank you all so much for weighing in, I know he found it very helpful.

 

[Dreamer_D]

This is a good resolution. I totally understand people wanting to pull the plug. I would do that too with a larger scale company where I expect, and sought, a high degree of customer service above all else. As I said above, I hold more grace for small artisans. Most are creators first and business people second. I think of it as supporting the arts to grant some more leeway, especially for operations that don’t have support employees. I’m just assuming from the text exchange that this is the latter business.

I hope it all turns out beautifully for your friend!!

 

[MissGotRocks]

Splitting the difference is a semi-good resolution. It would cost money to have the diamond shipped back, and the vendor might have wanted the first shipping to him reimbursed. That is just money down the drain. I understand the dilemma on your friend’s end, but the truth is you can’t eat principle (and asking for the diamond back would have been on principle) and he still wouldn’t have had a ring. He likes the design and while it cost him a bit more, he is getting the width and diamond sizes that he wanted. Can’t wait to see the finished ring!