How did you choose your vendor/ring designer?

[dk168]

At this moment in time, I am 95% certain I am likely to engage the services of ERD when it is time to have my EC re-set in a couple of years' time, as they have two settings that I like the most, and have not come across another vendor that stocks them.

The settings aside, I am getting very good vibes about this company based on what I have read on PS from happy customers that sing their praises.

Just wondering what decision making process did other PSers used (or will use for future projects) in deciding which vendors they would buy from, or designers that they would work with, etc. etc., in order to create their dream ring or other jewellery items.

Many thanks for your input in advance.

DK

 

[Indylady]

Trust, reviews, price..probably a few other factors too.

I prefer to buy only from vendors that I really trust, that have generally solid reviews (there will always be outliers) and lastly, if I can find what I want for the price I want to spend, then I'm set.

 

[packrat]

I went w/Singlestone b/c they created the setting I was modeling mine after. Another vendor could've done it far cheaper I'm sure, but I didn't want to take any chances.

 

[PhillyMcGee]

Reviews (usually on here), price, and at the moment it has been if they even bother to respond to my enquiry! I have had no joy in gaining a response to an enquiry sent to ERD twice. So looks like Steven Kirsch, who has been extremely prompt in replying, will be doing my setting!

 

[Gypsy]

Trail and error here.

Didn't want to use Leon.
Wanted handforged for the halo. No one on the boards new at that time about Steven and Victor and Mike R.
The only alternatives to Leon for that were Maytal and the 'new and upcoming' Ocean Pearlman. Maytal didn't answer ANY of emails.
Love Wink and Ocean was his bench at that time (he's since unaffiliated from her). And her work was in museums.

That didn't work out very well. It didn't meet my appraisers standards first time round. So she redid it. It still didn't match the original sketch but at that point, I was done.

Less than a year later I knew the halo construction was inferior. Museum pieces don't get worn, my ring did and it was NOT standing up to any wear at all. Put it in the box.

Then I heard of Steven and saw his work and I knew he was trained under Leon so, I emailed him and called him. He was SO nice and SO customer service focused. NOTHING like Leon, yet he didn't slam or speak poorly of Leon. In fact he said he learned tons from him. I just had a very good feeling in my gut. He agreed to just re-do the halo at a reasonable cost.

Best decision I've made. Very happy.

 

[mary poppins]

After my DH (boyfriend at the time) found PS while researching diamonds, he convinced me that buying an e-ring online was the best way to go for value. I looked at a lot of rings on PS and at brick and mortar stores to figure out what I liked. Whiteflash, which had a good reputation on PS and good reviews online, had the ring style I liked and DH found they were responsive and easy to work with.

 

[pregcurious]

I choose based on reviews, style, and price, but it is still trial and error. I had a horrible experience with WhiteFlash in terms of both a bad product, and extremely poor customer service. The only good thing about dealing with them was that when I finally found another vendor to try to fix the mistakes they would not admit to, they did pay the fee for the alterations. Still, I could not alter the ring to what I had originally wanted.

I am now working with ERD, based on the style of ring I like, and reviews. (I started the Show me your ERD thread so I could put all the ERD rings in one place for everyone to compare.)

It is still trial and error. Get a bunch of quotes, and see your comfort level with the different vendors. Sometimes you will just click with someone.

 

[Mayk]

My first and second custom settings I picked a vendor not well known here Sareen. Adam did and great job and I was very pleased.

When I had my Transitional diamond set I went with Chris at ERD because of the reviews here, I was not disappointed. He also made my custom sapphire bands.

My EC I went ith DBL's Über Bench, I was not disappointed. The setting was executed perfectly.

I've been lucky, if I could stop changing my mind!

 

[momhappy]

I went with my gut. I communicated with several vendors/jewelers and the best customer service that I received (by far) was ERD. Price was also a consideration, but only in terms of getting the most bang for my buck. I actually had the funds to utilize a more expensive vendor (like VC or SK), but I really felt that I didn't need to spend the extra money to achieve my goals.

 

[chrono]

Reviews and design style is my first consideration. Some vendors do a certain style better than other vendors. Style of communication also comes into play. Some vendors communicate best by email (WF is great at this) and some are better by phone (ERD prefers live communication). My experience with BGD was rocky from the start (no response to emails and calls were not returned) but eventually, I managed to get my quotation. Sadly, I found them rather high and our personalities did not click. Maytal and JbEG responded very promptly but I also find their pricing high when I was shopping around for the right vendor. To be fair, I think Maytal's work is hand forged though so when comparing apples to apples, she's not expensive at all.

 

[yennyfire]

I went w/Singlestone b/c they created the setting I was modeling mine after. Another vendor could've done it far cheaper I'm sure, but I didn't want to take any chances.

This exactly.

 

[PintoBean]

I had seen a BGD halo that I loved. Due to a price hike, their settings were $1,000 over my budget just for the standard setting, so I knew they would be way over budget for a custom job. I soon learned that the particular style of halo I wanted was sold by PS vendors that had good reviews. I narrowed my potential vendors to WF, IDJ, ERD and GOG. GOG offered a setting by Unique Settings of NY. IDJ quoted me a price that was close to GOG, but less. WF was nice - almost went with them. Then on a lark, I contacted ERD - they were last bc I somehow convinced myself that they would be out of my budget, but they were absolutely competitive, they would be creating a CAD specific to my stone (cushion), and they were an hour commute away, so I could drop off my stone and pick up the ring. I would totally have gone with an out of state vendor, but there was something about ERD that clicked for me. Mark promptly responded to my e-mails, even though it was after hours, and then passed me on to Chris. Chris was so nice on the phone, and when we met, I felt so at ease with him. And he's so nice - I mentioned IDJ, GOG, and he said, oh I know them very well from when I worked with Vatche (I think?). He said Yekutiel is a nice guy - and also mentioned a few names from GOG who are great, too. What a stand-up guy!!!

So, it was a combo of reviews, design, customized CAD, and chemistry!

 

[soxfan]

Pricescope. I just fell in love with Frankie's emilya halo. I thought about having my jeweler try to replicate it, but I knew it wouldn't look the same. It was worth every penny.

 

[dk168]

I have found another deciding factor myself, in that if I were to use the current platinum setting for my EC towards the new ring, then I cannot go with a vendor that makes 100% hand-forge rings.

DK

 

[Roxy]

Design style and the fact that they would choose H&A melee to compliment a center stone that I already owned. My stone was "I" color and I wanted to use warmer melee stones in the band (since they were H&A and I knew they'd face up whiter) than was the standard for some other vendors.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

For my reset I used a local jeweler. I initially just found her when I saw her tiny little door, lol, I looked her up online though she didn't have much online presence. But she seemed down to earth and honest as well as skilled so I started bringing her little things to set, then things to fix, then colored stone projects, and for the most part everything went really well. So when time came for this reset, and WF told me they no longer set outside stones, I asked her for a quote, and hers came in basically at half the cost that other vendors were quoting me, with the additional benefit of being nearby so that I could keep an eye on progress and not sweat the shipping. So glad I decided to trust her with it, turned out beautifully and I"ll probably be keeping her busy for years to come!