How many oz is the typical engagement ring?

[tosti]

Trying to get a feel for cost V. markup on engagement rings. How many oz is the typical engagement ring, such as http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-engagement-ring-setting-platinum_7836?

The current spot price for Platinum is USD $1646/oz. Since this ring costs $1230, the most it can have is about 0.75oz, but is the ring more like 0.7oz or 0.2oz ? Another way of asking the question is, is markup above material cost 10% or 90%?

 

[ksinger]

Trying to get a feel for cost V. markup on engagement rings. How many oz is the typical engagement ring, such as http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-engagement-ring-setting-platinum_7836?

The current spot price for Platinum is USD $1646/oz. Since this ring costs $1230, the most it can have is about 0.75oz, but is the ring more like 0.7oz or 0.2oz ? Another way of asking the question is, is markup above material cost 10% or 90%?

.75 oz would probably make you eventually need wrist surgery.

A troy oz is 31 grams (approx), and a platinum ring will be anywhere from say...4 to 9 grams. (I'm going by a plat ring I have that as I recall is about 5 grams - it's not small and it's not massive, so we'll call that average)

The markup is not based on materials so much, although the rising cost IS eating into the profit I suspect. The cost is for the design and the execution. Working in any metal requires a long period of learning, and platinum is harder to work than gold, so the skill level is probably a bit higher, and the price will be higher if it's custom, or cast, or name brand/designer ... you get the idea. Oh, and unless they jeweler does only casting from grain, they are buying stock, which also carries an additional cost to THEM, - like, platinum wire will cost more than grain, because of the costs of making the wire. So while I can't tell you the markup, I can tell you that a bunch of human skill and hand labor, goes into most engagement rings, or any jewelry for that matter. So don't expect your ring to be just the cost of the metal plus a bit of markup on that spot price. Not happenin'.

I'm currently learning silversmithing, and I can tell you, anyone who can work metal is worthy of admiration AND decent pay. (And no, I'm not even NEAR there yet!)

 

[TheDoctor]

Yes, funny how people try to look at the alloyed metal as a cost item, completely forgetting about labour. Try buying a car by the pound...after all, the steel and aluminum can't account for more than a couple of thousand dollars...yet the BMW that weighs the same as a the LeMans costs 3 times as much, in the 40-60 grand range.
In the time it takes a true craftsman/woman to learn their trade as a journeyman jeweller, they could have become a brain surgeon. 15 years before they are ready to produce credible work without supervision. Same manual skills apply in both disciplines.
The difference comes in remuneration. The brain surgeon own a yacht, the benchie owns this weeks groceries.