How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with CvB ID

[drk14]

This is a summary of a 8-month odyssey in search of an engagement ring worthy of the hand of my intended. Surprisingly, finding a beautiful marquise diamond turned out to be the easiest part. The rest of the journey had many twists and turns, and I crossed paths with the following PS vendors in my quest for a custom setting for the stone:

• Victor Canera
• Steven Kirsch
• Singlestone
• CvB Inspired Design

I pursued these four vendors sequentially, one at a time, each time intending to bring the custom project to completion. However, as the title of my post indicates, I struck out three times before finding success.

Each vendor was asked to propose a design that would embody the following vision:

A feminine and delicate yet practical engagement ring with a unique design that showcases and enhances the central marquise diamond, and incorporates a pink feature.

Vendors were also provided a the following picture of a vintage scalloped-halo ring, but were not expected to create a replica:



Some additional requests from me included a preference for fancy intense pink diamonds but a desire to not use any rose gold to amplify the pink color.

Price-wise, all four vendors provided estimates or quotes that were very similar (within plus/minus 10-15% of each other). Price was not a factor in any of my decisions.

My experiences with each vendor, reflecting my subjective impressions and personal opinions, are described below.

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

First Attempt: Victor Canera (VC)
I first chose VC because of his reputation, the quality of his work, and the fact that he had risk-free return policy for custom designs. I had also heard that he would provide drawings of his designs before the work started, although he never did produce one for me.

Vendor's Proposed Design Concept: VC recommended against attempting a scalloped halo for a 1-ct center diamond (whereas the inspiration ring has a center diamond that is approximately 20% larger in its length and width). Instead, he proposed to execute regular (non-scalloped) bright-cut halo, with 4 pink diamonds placed on small pieces of rose gold and placed on the NSEW sides of the marquise. For the shank, VC indicated he would keep it simple but delicate.

Communication and Responsiveness: It took 17 days from initial contact until the above design was proposed. During this time, I sent 9 emails and received 5 emails; the median time between emails from VC was 3.5 days. I also spoke to VC by telephone twice, at the start and end of the 17-day period.

Personality: Victor appeared friendly and laid-back in our two telephone conversations. However, his level of responsiveness gave me the impression that he was either very busy or unenthusiastic about the project, or both.

Reasons for not Continuing Project: I felt that the design could have been more creative/unique, I did not like the proposed use of rose gold, and I had some general concerns about VC's level of responsiveness.

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Second Attempt: Steven Kirsch (SK)
I next contacted SK, because of ubiquitous PS cheerleading and the well-known quality of his workmanship. I had trepidations about SK's custom not to provide design sketches (or refunds) for custom work, but I decided to take the plunge anyway, especially because he indicated early on that he would be able to execute a scalloped halo for my 1-ct marquise.

Vendor's Proposed Design Concept: Scalloped halo of light pink diamonds; cathedral split shank with 6 melee diamonds and one marquise at each side; scroll heart design in gallery.

Communication and Responsiveness: It took 18 days from initial contact until the above design was proposed. During this time, I sent 15 emails and received 10 emails; the median time between emails from SK was 1 day. I also spoke to SK by telephone 3 times during this 18-day period. Most of the email correspondence was on the subject of scheduling time for the telephone conversations.

Personality: UnfortunateIy, I never clicked with Steven's personality; our conversations were cordial and somewhat awkward. I received the impression that it became frustrating for SK to work with me, and as a result, my interactions with him began to assume a distinct walking-on-eggshells quality.

Reasons for not Continuing Project: I felt that the light pink diamonds proposed in the design would not be sufficiently intense to achieve the look I was envisioning, and I was worried that my awkward interactions with SK had the potential to become even more strained if I were to voice any concerns about the design or its execution.

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Third Attempt: Singlestone (SS)
By this point in my quest (now 5 weeks after purchasing the center diamond), I had become more and more drawn to vintage design aesthetics, and because I also had a preference for hand-forged fabrication, it seemed logical to contact Singlestone.

Vendor's Proposed Design Concept: Ari (Madilian, owner and head designer) recommended against attempting a scalloped halo for a 1-ct center diamond, because the width of the metal border surrounding the halo (the bezel) as fabricated by the SS bench would be at least 0.4mm in thickness or even wider, which would swamp the melee diamonds in the halo. SS staff showed me images mostly of existing SS settings that had floating halos with brightcut pave framing center diamonds 2ct-6ct in size. However, ultimately, no design proposal was offered by SS for my custom project (see below).

Communication and Responsiveness: Communications with SS occurred on two separate days. An initial email inquiry garnered a response from Ari within an hour, followed by a telephone conversation that lasted 1-2 hours (during which a few images were emailed back and forth). Two days later, an SS staff member followed up, and we had an email exchange during which I received 3 emails from SS and sent 2 email replies with follow-up questions; the median time between emails from SS was 3 hours (!) during this consultation period.

Personality: Ari was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and generous with his time. He also has strongly held views about aesthetic authenticity in the design of vintage-style jewelry (which I consider to be a positive trait). The staffer to whom I was handed over was initially helpful, but was unwilling to answer some of my questions about the images she had sent.

Reasons for not Continuing Project: After my second email with questions for the SS staff member, I was informed that to proceed further, I would be require to pay Singlestone's infamous non-refundable 50% deposit -- which effectively terminated our discussion about design options for my custom project. Based on my reading of PS forums, I am of the opinion that this may be a selectively enforced policy that is used in part to ward off customers who are perceived to be troublesome. So regrettably, this told me that SS and I were not a good fit either, at least for this project...

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Final Attempt and Success: CvB Inspired Design (CvB ID)
So after the disappointing experiences with VC, SK, and SS, I had lost 6 weeks of precious time. I had three strikes -- but I wasn't out! I contacted Caysie van Bebber based on the sheer beauty of her vintage-inspired designs, and because she was known to provide her clients with design sketches; moreover, I had read that her bench is able to do both handforged and cast work. This turned out to be the right fit for me, and a beautiful engagement ring was ultimately made.

Vendor's Proposed Design Concept: A double-halo design as shown in Caysie's drawing below, with an inner pink diamond halo surrounded by an outer scalloped halo of white melee; flared cathedral shoulders incorporating additional melee and a cut-out design; a delicate filigree gallery. Furthermore, CvB's bench would be able to create metal bezels as thin as 0.2mm in thickness to border the halos, so the final ring was expected to look as delicate as in the drawing.


Communication and Responsiveness: Caysie called me immediately after receiving my initial email inquiry. After paying her (refundable) design/CAD fee deposit, we communicated again by telephone and email until she had fleshed out the design concept 3 days later. During this period, I sent 10 emails to CvB, and received 11 emails from her; the median time between emails from CvB was 2.5 hours during this time. The time from initial contact until delivery of the finished ring did end up taking approximately 4.5 months (due in part to delays caused circumstances beyond her or my control), during which time I sent 120 emails to CvB, received over 100 emails from her, and had regular telephone conversations on an almost weekly basis. Nonetheless, communications did slow down significantly during the production phase, as evident in the timeline graph shown below.

Personality: As many other CvB clients have previously noted, Caysie is a delight to work with. She is genuine, friendly, and caring. She is also a talented artist, and has a deep understanding of how to design 3-dimensional jewelry that will look beautiful when viewed from any perspective. Another thing that set CvB apart from the other vendors I interacted with was the fact that she took the time to find out as much as possible about the ring's intended recipient (my now fiancee) in order to customize a design that would be tailored to her personality, tastes and lifestyle.

Reasons for Hiring: Beyond Caysie's extremely responsive communication, her ability to listen to her clients, and her easy-going personality, I loved the design concept that she proposed (as shown in the sketch above). I was also very moved by the fact that she was the only vendor who showed any interest in learning about the woman for whom this ring was being created. I did initially have a preference for hand-forged fabrication, but my concerns about cast metal were soon allayed (CvB casts jewelry in multiple pieces, allowing polishing of interior surfaces prior to assembly by hand; moreover, she uses a casting house that is known for its expertise in preventing porosity). Finally, it was important to me to be able to work closely with someone who has a point of view as an artist, yet was willing to approach the project as a collaboration with the client. After all of the disappointments with the previous vendors, CvB was truly a breath of fresh air, and I was excited to move forward with her and her team at CvB Inspired Design.

The Experience:
Commissioning a custom piece of jewelry is not for the faint of heart! It can be an exciting and rewarding process, but there is always a real risk of unexpected problems and delays. Thus, it is very important to confirm that the designer and you have compatible personalities, to serve as a basis for establishing a relationship of mutual respect and trust. I felt completely confident in Caysie throughout the project. However, at the outset, I had decided that I would not let the experience of creating my future fiancee's engagement ring to be marred by unnecessary stress or other negative energy, and therefore I went into this project with a deliberate "zen" mindset...

The timeline below summarizes progress on the project, with the stacked bars indicating the number of emails that I sent to and received from CvB each week. Although CvB normally estimates an 8-week lead time for custom projects, in this case the project took 21 weeks from inception to completion, which was due in part to some extraordinary circumstances (as explained below).



In the above graph, the time periods that are shaded green (Weeks 2, 3, 9, and 15-16) represent unforeseen delays caused by serious family/personal emergencies that separatly befell Caysie (blue arrow in the graph) and her CAD artist (red arrow in the graph) during the fall of 2014, as well as the industry holidays surrounding New Years. Additional delays resulted from the fact that the gallery design turned out to be unexpectedly challenging. The original gallery concept that Caysie had sketched out in the first few days of the project could not be satisfactorily implemented in a 3D model (as per Caysie's opinion). This ultimately resulted in 5 weeks' worth of work in which we jointly explored a dozen or so design ideas (3 of which were modeled in CAD) before a winner was found. Finally, I believe that the production time may have been lengthened by a few weeks because CvB's bench was swamped with work in December. All-in-all, I believe that my project timeline was atypical for CvB Inspired Design, but I hope that the data presented here are interesting nonetheless. In the end, the wait was worth it.

My only criticism was that I wish the level of communication (which was excellent during the design phase of the project) had not dropped off so drastically during the production phase. As a result, there were a few decisions that were made during production that might have been modified had I been more aware of issues that were encountered during this phase. However, ultimately this did not matter much, as the final product did turn out to be spectacular. When I get a chance, I will post in SMTB (in the meantime, some pictures are available on Facebook).

The bottom line: My fiancee absolutely adores the ring that was created for her by CvB ID, which is the most important thing.

Thus, I can highly recommend CvB, and I would not hesitate to work with her again. Reflecting on the factors that brought me to Caysie, I can say that if you want a one-of-a-kind work of art but do not feel that you have the experience or artistic chops to design your own ring, then Caysie is an artist who can figure out what is right for you (and/or the intended recipient) and deliver a romantic, vintage-inspired piece of jewelry that has been hand-made with impeccable workmanship.

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Epilogue
On PS, there is a tendency to elevate certain preferred vendors to near god-like status. It is perhaps a natural tendency for customers to emphasize the positive and ignore any imperfections when recommending vendors they like. However, I think newcomers to these forums are better served by more balanced reviews. This is why I have tried to be factual, objective, and fair in all I have written above. No one is perfect. That doesn't mean I would dissuade anyone from seeking the services of any of the vendors I have named in this thread. In my situation, CvB turned out to be the best fit.

If you are new to the world of custom jewelry design, my take-home message for you is that you will be well served by investing a significant amount of time in getting to know any prospective vendor (by having several in-depth conversations with the designer, if possible) before deciding whom to hire, and trust your gut instinct about how well the two of you click.

Good luck!

 

[Niel]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Drk!

So glad to see you back. I was hoping you'd return.

Very thought out and thorough. Can't wait for photos.

 

[LoversKites]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

This is a really cool thread, I'm sure it will help some people going down the custom route.

 

[missy]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Thank you so much for sharing your experience here and I am looking forward to pics of your ring. I agree with many of your points and yes PSers do have the tendency to recommend the same vendors over and over due to their positive experiences with said vendors. Of course as with everything in life YMMV and I appreciate you sharing your experience with each of the vendors you dealt with during this process in this thread. Please post lots of pics!

ETA: Just checked out your FB pics and OMG beautiful ring.
Congratulations to you and your FI and may she enjoy her new bling in the best of health and happiness and best wishes to you both.

 

[mochiko42]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

What a beautiful ring. Congratulations on your engagement!!

Thank you for this comprehensive analysis of these popular vendors. It was interesting and helpful to read such a balanced and detailed review!! I particularly appreciate the information about the customer service aspect of the various vendors.

 

[quaddio]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

What a helpful review. Thank you for taking time to give back to the community. Your end result is stunning and demonstrates your attention to quality and detail. Lucky lady!

 

[artdecolover71]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

That is quite a thorough review! wow. love it. The attention to detail of CVB is absolutely fantastic!!

( My only comment was during my recent journey, Singlestone was substantially higher than the other vendors I contacted so I am envious your quote was reasonable lol!)

In the end, I am SO glad your betrothed loves her ring-it is breathtaking. I love working with Caysie too btw

 

[Maisie]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

I really enjoyed reading your review. Thank you for posting it

 

[SeeingSunshine]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Gorgeous ring! I love the pink!

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Drk!

So glad to see you back. I was hoping you'd return.

Very thought out and thorough. Can't wait for photos.

Thank you, Niel... great to see you again, too!

Here is my SMTB thread:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/marquise-masterpiece-for-m-created-by-cvb-id.211019/

I am in the process of uploading more pictures and adding new posts to the SMTB thread, so keep checking back.



P.S. And allow me to belatedly congratulate you on your well-deserved holiday giveaway prize, and your beautiful new marquise solitaire!

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

( My only comment was during my recent journey, Singlestone was substantially higher than the other vendors I contacted so I am envious your quote was reasonable lol!)

Artdecolover71,
I should clarify that because of the high cost of pink melee, and the enormous variations in price depending on color intensity (e.g., light pink vs. medium pink vs. intense pink), the magnitude of the cost estimates or quotes provided by the various vendors was very sensitive to the total weight and color intensity of pink diamonds that the vendor's design would incorporate. Therefore, one can probably not infer much from the fact that the estimates were similar in my case. For example, CvB's price would probably have been one of the lower quotes if the setting was using only white melee -- however, her design used 26 pink diamonds (whereas VC proposed using only 4 pink diamonds, for instance).

So the YMMV disclaimer will apply, for sure.

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

And thank you to everybody for your kind words about my review (and about the ring)!

Definitely I wanted to post this to help newcomers (or any oldtimers who are considering trying a new vendor). I remember how confused I was when I started, lol! And I did have unrealistically high expectations of all PS recommended vendors based on the way they are typically written about here, so I set myself up for some disappointments as a result. In no way do I want to say that any PS recommended vendor is unworthy of the high esteem in which they are held here. However, vendors (and customers) are human after all, and so I think it's good to be aware that every transaction will not be perfect.

Most of all I learned that interpersonal interactions are very important in this type of business, and as a result not every client and vendor will be mutually compatible. It hasn't escaped me that the fact that I struck out with 3 PS vendors may say something about me! I can get really intense when working on something that as important as this project, so that may have contributed to some of what happened.

That's why the take-home message of my post was the importance of taking the time to get to know a prospective designer, to develop a sense of how well the two of you mesh.



If I find the time, I will also try to summarize some of my experiences during the diamond-shopping phase of my journey (with JA and GOG) -- probably not as in-depth as the above, but hopefully still useful to somebody. So look out for another thread at some point (probably not until after I have updated my SMTB thread).

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

One of the best reviews I have ever read! Thank you! I will agree that working with Caysie is a delightful experience! She is immensely talented and brings much passion to her work! Your ring is exquisite and I will comment on your SMTB thread!

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Diamondseeker2006, missy, artdecolover71, Maisie: -- thanks for your nice words here and on SMTB!

Niel -- And congratulations on your new baby, too, how could I have missed that! Lots happened while I was gone! Glad you're still finding time to participate on PS.

LoversKites, quaddio, mochiko42, SeeingSunshine: Thank you for all of your kind compliments! If you haven't already seen my SMTB thread, head on over to see more pictures!

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/marquise-masterpiece-for-m-created-by-cvb-id.211019/

 

[emmebee]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

This is an amazing review.. thank you so much for taking the time to write out your various experiences. I think it will be immensely helpful as people embark on the terrifying (yet beautifully satisfying, as your end product shows) journey of custom design. PS - the chart is amazing!

 

[Unobuck19]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

Thank you so much for the reviews! I am looking for a vendor to do a project for me and have considered similar vendors.
Your review has helped me to further narrow down my list- I am so excited to get started!
Beautiful ring = congrats!

 

[drk14]

Re: How I Struck Out with 3 PS Vendors and Found Joy with Cv

emmebee -- you're very welcome, I'm glad you liked it.

Unobuck19 -- Thank you! I wish you the best of luck on your journey, and I'm glad if my reviews have been helpful to you. Enjoy your experience, and please post pictures in the SMTB forum when your project is done (and a review, too, if you're so inclined)!