"Inspired by": Antique ring mashed with a Mege basket question

[Inked]

The juxtaposition of original post concern and current vendor discussion is both bemusing and ironic. I will presume that if you’ve lurked for nearly a decade you’ll understand my raised eyebrows.

My opinions don’t matter. My suggestions also don’t matter, but I seem compelled to make them anyway: If you do nothing else, do reach out to @mrs-b, who has lots of experience working with David Klass and who has many beautiful pieces to show for her relationship with him and Amy. And have a conversation about what you want with Amy.

They matter to me because someone took the time to reach out to me, and I do want to hear people thoughts, not everyone takes our advice, trust me I belong to other forums and spend time writing out thoughtful responses that I don’t even think the OP even read. That doesn’t make your point invalid or help someone else who may be lurking as I did. It also doesn’t mean you’re not right or didn’t give me things to think about like hand forged vs cast which I didn’t know about!

I HAVE lurked and I do know that some benches will literally do anything, so then it’s on me to make sure I did the right thing. Saying I lurked and saying I read here everyday or follow tons of threads are also vastly different, I am not some kind of expert because I’ve clicked on and read a few posts here and there over the last 8 years. I still have no idea what a pavilion angle is.

My original question was for my conscious. No one here would ever know if I literally copied a designer ring. That won’t stop me from doing the right thing for me.

I do understand that some people don’t like the work of some benches because they don’t feel they did the right thing, but I’m also not going to spend literally three times the amount for no reason as long as I feel I did the right thing.

My original intent was to use my client and they would literally do anything I asked them to do, so it was on me to make sure it was “ok”. My reason for DK was as a long time lurker I know his prices are lower than others, and also if you have a design you want then a designer generally won’t do it, they want to do their design, not my idea.

so, now considering using DK would make my question more relevant, not less, to make sure *I* do the right thing! I don’t care what other people do, that’s not my place to judge others.

 

[yssie]

@Inked, I consider @mrs-b a personal friend. The fact that I met her through PS is entirely ancillary. I’m glad she saw this thread as I truly believe she is the best person to help you navigate working with David Klass successfully. That’s not to say that other people haven’t had successful experiences with him, but no one else on here has the amount or history of success that mrs-b does, and when you’re doing most of the design yourself, as you seem keen to do, it’s easy to lose your way. That’s not a pejorative, and it’s not a statement of your abilities. It’s universal. If I hadn’t felt her input would be valuable I wouldn’t have written her name fifteen times in the last five posts.

You have an opportunity to take advantage of her insight and experience - she’s actively offered it to you. Use it. I say that as someone who has spent tens of thousands of dollars on micromanaging mishaps, and who doesn’t want to see someone else keep going down the same path (which - yes, you’re clearly on, unfortunately).

 

[mrs-b]

@yssie (and with apologies to @Inked) -

Pls make sure you see my reply comment, quoting your post on*this* thread - I think it will make you chuckle. It's not my first post - it's the second one and it's said in the driest of Australian tones, with the warmest of intents.

Is this stud/pendant combination too much for an office setting?

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well today!!! I would really love your input and thoughts on this :) I recently had a career milestone so I finally took the plunge and purchased solitaire studs and a semi-matching pendant. The problem is I started off thinking I wanted a smaller...

www.pricescope.com

 

[Inked]

Hallo - Mrs-B (AKA Frenkenrings-R-Us!) here and reporting for duty!

Firstly, let me say, I think DKJ will be able to work out a design for you. While they might not have the exclusive design point of view of some of the other vendors here, what they *do* have is a massive level of expertise from making thousands of rings, excellent benches, and a can-do attitude that gets most projects over the line. Do they ever miss the mark? Very rarely, yes. Does everyone? Also yes. As far as tweaking designs goes, you can either work with Amy at DKJ, or you can bring your CADs here. One criticism I've NEVER heard about DKJ is that anything they made was structurally unsound, so if you come up with a faulty design, I'm sure they'll tell you.

One caution I'd give re that Leon head is that it looks mightily like his M (ie Mege) design, which I've seen on a couple of his pieces in years gone by. I think I'd be asking for a little modification to the basic shape of it, to be sure to avoid that massive pit fall. Please also make sure you tell whichever vendor you decide to work with, where the inspiration designs came from.

For my money, I feel as tho that head and your preferred shank don't flow well together, and I agree with the 'add milgrain!' approach. Would I do more than that to make it run together more smoothly? Probably. Can you share photos of your current engagement ring, the CAD your client did which you didn't like, and a link to the DKJ sapphire ring with the shank you like?

If there's any help I can give, pls let me know. And if you'd rather do this entirely by yourself with whichever vendor you prefer and only share with us when you have your 'taa daaa!' moment - we'll look forward to that, too, and in the meantime wish you well and - happy designing!

HI!! Thank you so much for responding!!

I really truly feel like this really isn’t that complicated. Maybe that’s naive on my part ?? I photoshopped the ring myself and I really liked it, I received some great ideas here and re-did it and sent it to my client, I got a CAD that wasnt half bad from my client, but not entirely what I wanted.

I sent the same frankensketches and photoshop mess to DK asked for a CAD from DK. He seemed to think it was a good idea. I started this thread over a week ago and just wanted a few ideas. I got them, I got great advice, and Im supposed to receive a CAD today. I am definitely more of a "tada" person.... without the "tada" tho... LOL, I'm kind of private, and I am very headstrong, as Im sure you can tell by my unwavering dedication to this frankenring design. I really had a strong vision and just wanted some ideas, when you work with a designer you get one person's ideas, just theirs, so I figured let me ask a whole bunch of people for ideas, and bludiva killed it with the "milgrain" because I was concerned etching that wheat pattern all over the basket might be too busy, and RockySalamander suggesting that EW lotus to tie in the whole thing was amazing!

If I dont love it then i will of course ask for further guidance, but at this time I have a clear vision, I have my sketches and David will send a CAD, I am dying to see it!

You gave me the ULTIMATE comfort, and that is: The ring will be structurally sound. THANK YOU!! That is what I need to know and have confidence in right now. I am so glad you took the time to respond and I thank you for your offer of help, which I may still need, but i haven't even gotten anything back yet, I may just love it right out of the box. At this moment since I already sent DK the idea and the photoshop I don't want to go back to him until I at least see what he sends.


This thread has definitely run its course, Im not sure how to close them (or if you can't?) but I really appreciate EVERYONE'S time and patience and ideas. Thank you all so much. I'm donating a kidney to a friend and will be out of work for 3 weeks and Im not allowed to do anything and not allowed to drive for the first 2 weeks and I'll have nothing to do so this forum will give me a place to spend some time and post and not feel so alone while recuperating!

 

[Inked]

@yssie (and with apologies to @Inked) -

Pls make sure you see my reply comment, quoting your post on*this* thread - I think it will make you chuckle. It's not my first post - it's the second one and it's said in the driest of Australian tones, with the warmest of intents.

Is this stud/pendant combination too much for an office setting?

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well today!!! I would really love your input and thoughts on this :) I recently had a career milestone so I finally took the plunge and purchased solitaire studs and a semi-matching pendant. The problem is I started off thinking I wanted a smaller...

www.pricescope.com

No apologies needed! We should ALL be having fun here. Talk about first world problems we're all having here!

And I 100000% agree with you, NO ONE cares about our jewelry but us.

 

[Inked]

@Inked, I consider @mrs-b a personal friend. The fact that I met her through PS is entirely ancillary. I’m glad she saw this thread as I truly believe she is the best person to help you navigate working with David Klass successfully. That’s not to say that other people haven’t had successful experiences with him, but no one else on here has the amount or history of success that mrs-b does, and when you’re doing most of the design yourself, as you seem keen to do, it’s easy to lose your way. That’s not a pejorative, and it’s not a statement of your abilities. It’s universal. If I hadn’t felt her input would be valuable I wouldn’t have written her name fifteen times in the last five posts.

You have an opportunity to take advantage of her insight and experience - she’s actively offered it to you. Use it. I say that as someone who has spent tens of thousands of dollars on micromanaging mishaps, and who doesn’t want to see someone else keep going down the same path (which - yes, you’re clearly on, unfortunately).

Well, I truly appreciate that you've taken so much time with me, I feel like Im your annoying kid that wont listen!

I feel like you post to me like this

I promise you, I dont take anything that seriously. I am also believe it or not, not that picky. I'm like a crow "OH! LOOK! Something shiny!" LOL