james allen custom

[sean_morrison44]

has anyone here ever had james allen custom make a ring?
I''ve been lookin around extremely hard for about a month for a ring mount i like that i found online (thou that website only offered $3500 diamonds to go with it and thats way over my budget, as well as james allen''s mount for it being much less) . they say they can make it *exactly* the same, james allen estimated price seems to be even less then people who offered a few differences in the ring mount so that they wouldnt have to custom build it to save money, and even went from 1000 to almost 2000 dollars difference in price from a few places who were talking about making it the same.

so basically i was just wondering if other people who experienced them doing that came out how they expected it.
thanks for you help.
Sean Morrison

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome Sean.

The ring that comes to mind for me is KristyDarlings, when she had it set first JA did a custom job for her and it was gorgeous! She has since had it reset by Leon Mege to a 3 stone, but from what I recall she was very happy with the workmanship and service she received. If she sees this thread she may chime in.

Here is the thread for you about Kristy's ring.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-james-allen-custom-solitaire-is-here.35528/

 

[sean_morrison44]

arlight thanks for the help
this is a pic of the ring i was hoping for him to make

 

[Lorelei]

It's lovely! I think that would be no problem for Jim at all. I would place my trust in him no problem and definitely purchase from James Allen, they have a great rep here.

 

[sean_morrison44]

alright. i''ve pretty much decided between them (which was natural sapphires heat treatment but they dont know the source of them)
and millers jewelry
http://www.millersjewelry-mt.com/
(a local store that i found a pic online and saw this ring in person. they offered to remake the mount in 14k white gold for 850. the sapphires are yoga sapphire (from montana-where we''re living) and natural and no heat treatment done to them.
james allen offered a center stone warranty, while millers doesnt. i was still unsure too about having a 1 carot white sapphire put in for a center stone, or a 1/2 carot diamond.
millers sapphires are 1 less on each side and not graduating.

 

[Lorelei]

I would prefer the smaller diamond to a white sapphire, but what do you think your GF would rather? I don''t know about this jewellers, JA have a great rep like I said and will find you a beautiful cut diamond to fit your budget, plus with the centre diamond warranty. Also they will do a great job with the setting and make sure you are completely happy with it.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I really don''t see any purpose in a center diamond warranty. If you get a diamond ring, you insure it, and that covers you if the stone is lost or damaged.

That setting is very pretty and I''d probably go for the Montana sapphires since that has meaning for you. I will say, though, that a half carat princess stone will look smaller than the equivalent weight round, so you may find a half carat princess a little small for that setting, although the band may be smaller than it appears.

 

[KristyDarling]

Thanks Lorelei.

Yup, I was very happy with the service I received from Jim and was thrilled with the solitaire he made for me (it was a copy of the Lockes'' signature solitaire). If you work with him, be very detailed about exactly what you want...put it down in writing. I dealt with both Jim and the jeweler directly and sometimes that "triangle" of communication got a little confusing...which was why the shank on my ring ended up being 2.75mm wide instead of 2.5mm as we had agreed. And the prongs were set 90-degrees in the wrong direction even tho I had asked the jeweler to set them N-S-E-W. Still, the ring turned out beautifully and I loved it so much that I didn''t complain.

As it turns out, I shoulda listened to Mara and put my stone in a 6-prong setting.

I wore the ring for 5 months and the stone came loose several times (the prongs were too delicate to hold my large stone), so I had to tearfully say goodbye to my ring and re-set the diamond.

I''m a big fan of Jim''s and he''s a good guy, great to work with. Good luck!

 

[sean_morrison44]

ok thanks for the input.
for the warranty issue.........the girls mom got an engagement ring with rubbies around a diamond..and it had no warranty, and the stones have fellen out several times so they''ve had to pay for it each time it does...thus she seems to be more persistant about wanting a warranty


diamond seeker..were you saying to go with james allen and see if he could get a montana sapphire..or to buy from local store?

the local store just got a 1 carot white sapphire princess cut in for us to see, so i''m gonna head in with the girl today and hopefully i''ll be able to compare them next to diamonds and see which one she''d prefer more

as for the middle size fitting..this is some conversation i''ve had with james allen about it.
(a while back)
james allen:
I don''t think
the design could accomodate .88 carat in sapphires unless the center diamond
was one carat or larger, so reducing the size of the center diamond should
also reduce the side gemstones.
(recently)
me:
initially, you were saying that if the middle diamond wasnt as big, the
>sapphires wouldnt fit the ring so they''d have to be smaller.
>if i were to get a diamond around .5 carots..what size would the blue
>sapphires turn to?
>james allen:
It''s tough to say without mocking everything up. You also have to remember
>that sapphires weigh different than diamonds, so a 1/10th of a carat
>sapphire is probably bigger than a 1/10th of a carat diamond. Make sense?
>
>The important thing is that the scale of the side diamonds will be inline
>with the size of the center diamond...

thanks for everyones help,
and please keep the input coming