Met Julia Kay Taylor

[StonieGrl]

On Saturday my husband and I met up with Julia Kay Taylor to hand over my lavender/blue spinel from Gene/Precision Gem and our Malaya garnet, also from Precision Gem (I like buying from Gene, can you tell?) and talk design elements.

Julia is extremely pleasant, very professional. She inspires your confidence. It was very interesting to hear her discuss tools, jewelry making techniques she uses, and how much she loves and respects colored gemstones.

The spinel is for me, a ring, and it will be sent in Argentium, bezel set of course, with diamonds in the space between the split shanks. It will make a nice ring, hopefully, the spinel is a little over 8.5 mm.

The Malaya garnet is Gene''s Star 80 cut (way cool) and is for a ring for my husband. The main part of the ring will be in Argentium but with 18k celtic knots (the tri knot) on each side of the garnet. That should be smashing. The garnet is a great burnt orange color.

I am trying to get photos of the stones over from my previous computer so that I can show those. Will definitely post pics of finished product when we get them back.

I cannot wait!

 

[Cind11]

Oh, how fun! She has been great to correspond with since I''ve been talking to her about a project. Looking forward to seeing your rings.

 

[AustenNut]

Wow, how great that you were able to meet! I look forward to hearing how the rest of your project goes.

 

[Burberrygirl]

Oh, you''re so lucky! Julia is such a sweetheart! She about to start two projects for me, I really excited to see the finished products. She''s been so accommodating, and extremely pleasant to talk to.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I''m so jealous!

And I can''t wait to see them done!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

I'm so excited to see your projects done! Thanks for the post!!!

I have a question for anyone working with JKT - did she ask for a deposit to schedule your place in line for a ring without giving you an approximate price for the project? I don't want to use her so badly that I'll put down a non-refundable deposit without getting the pricing information first, but she seems to have not quoted me any price at all.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 10/19/2009 8:32:55 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I''m so excited to see your projects done! Thanks for the post!!!


I have a question for anyone working with JKT - did she ask for a deposit to schedule your place in line for a ring without giving you an approximate price for the project? I don''t want to use her so badly that I''ll put down a non-refundable deposit without getting the pricing information first, but she seems to have not quoted me any price at all.

She''s given me approx. quotes on everything I''ve asked her for, without asking me to put down a deposit. She''s been really patient with me and my flip-flopping!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 10/19/2009 8:35:38 PM
Author: Brown.Eyed.Girl

Date: 10/19/2009 8:32:55 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I''m so excited to see your projects done! Thanks for the post!!!


I have a question for anyone working with JKT - did she ask for a deposit to schedule your place in line for a ring without giving you an approximate price for the project? I don''t want to use her so badly that I''ll put down a non-refundable deposit without getting the pricing information first, but she seems to have not quoted me any price at all.

She''s given me approx. quotes on everything I''ve asked her for, without asking me to put down a deposit. She''s been really patient with me and my flip-flopping!

Thanks, BEG. Were your projects in gold or silver? I''m wondering if that has something to do with it . . .

It was also to secure a timeframe for a project that I originally enquired about in early September. As of yet, I''ve seen no sketches, had no approximate quotes, and been delayed from mid-October to about late December. I''m wondering if I should just have my local jeweler do this project instead. Do you guys who have JKTs find them to be worth the wait?

 

[glitterata]

Stonie, you lucky, lucky grl!! I can''t wait to see pictures of what she does with your stones.

Lauren, Julia''s a one-woman show, and since PS discovered her she''s been overwhelmed with work.

I found my ring totally worth the wait. But I didn''t have anyone local I would have trusted with that particular project--to set my 1.45 ct S Infinity in Argentium silver--so I didn''t really have a choice, except to go with a completely different setting and metal. Also, if I''d gone with a local jeweler and had them make a comparable setting out of platinum or gold, I would have had to pay 8 or 10 times as much.

Have you asked her directly for a quote? Have you discussed the refundability of the deposit? I found her easy to talk to and very accommodating. Maybe it''s just a communication issue.

But if you need your piece SOON and you have a local person you trust, maybe you should go local. Julia is so busy you might find it frustrating.

 

[FrekeChild]

Date: 10/19/2009 8:52:54 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier

Date: 10/19/2009 8:35:38 PM
Author: Brown.Eyed.Girl

Date: 10/19/2009 8:32:55 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I''m so excited to see your projects done! Thanks for the post!!!

I have a question for anyone working with JKT - did she ask for a deposit to schedule your place in line for a ring without giving you an approximate price for the project? I don''t want to use her so badly that I''ll put down a non-refundable deposit without getting the pricing information first, but she seems to have not quoted me any price at all.

She''s given me approx. quotes on everything I''ve asked her for, without asking me to put down a deposit. She''s been really patient with me and my flip-flopping!

Thanks, BEG. Were your projects in gold or silver? I''m wondering if that has something to do with it . . .

It was also to secure a timeframe for a project that I originally enquired about in early September. As of yet, I''ve seen no sketches, had no approximate quotes, and been delayed from mid-October to about late December. I''m wondering if I should just have my local jeweler do this project instead. Do you guys who have JKTs find them to be worth the wait?

LTP, I think she''s just doing that because she''s been inundated with orders for Christmas, and her time is so limited. She''s requiring a deposit from everyone that requires a custom designed project because she''s so booked. Stock items aren''t requiring a deposit.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 10/19/2009 9:08:55 PM
Author: glitterata
Stonie, you lucky, lucky grl!! I can''t wait to see pictures of what she does with your stones.

Lauren, Julia''s a one-woman show, and since PS discovered her she''s been overwhelmed with work.

I found my ring totally worth the wait. But I didn''t have anyone local I would have trusted with that particular project--to set my 1.45 ct S Infinity in Argentium silver--so I didn''t really have a choice, except to go with a completely different setting and metal. Also, if I''d gone with a local jeweler and had them make a comparable setting out of platinum or gold, I would have had to pay 8 or 10 times as much.

Have you asked her directly for a quote? Have you discussed the refundability of the deposit? I found her easy to talk to and very accommodating. Maybe it''s just a communication issue.

But if you need your piece SOON and you have a local person you trust, maybe you should go local. Julia is so busy you might find it frustrating.

Yep,
ditto everything glitterata said - Julia''s volume of orders from PSers alone is getting to crazy level!

You will have to wait a number of months if you''re going custom, that''s just how busy she is. If you want your project now, I would say to go local instead.

I understand she is taking deposits for people to reserve custom time slots in upcoming months, but I''m not sure about the sketch/quote thing.
I agree it would be best to know approx what you''re up for at least before you put down a deposit.

Deposits for custom work are non-refundable, however I''m not sure if that includes deposits for "saving" a time slot.

Best just to ask her to clarify, LTP.

To answer your other question - well, luckily I got my pieces before the PS rush.

However I would be happy to wait for them if I had to do it again.

 

[GoodSoul]

When I inquire about a custom project, she explained her custom volume backlog and that she can only start to work on the design in early November/December. As I had a certain specific design in mind and asked for an estimated cost, she did give a ball park figure (for argentium silver) and stated that it may be more, dependent the complexity of design and setting technique required.

A non-refundable deposit is required to reserve the "time" spot to work on design and will be credited to the balance. She has been very communicative (although response can be a day or two late due to work volume) so far.

Hope it helps.

 

[Arcadian]

Lauren, I started my convo with Julia about my project mid August, we chatted about designs and such until around the end of August. Thats when I got my price quote. She had just started getting busy by that time.

She''s super accomodating, so I would just ask her how much she thinks it will cost.


-A

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 10/19/2009 9:33:07 PM
Author: FrekeChild

Date: 10/19/2009 8:52:54 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier

Date: 10/19/2009 8:35:38 PM
Author: Brown.Eyed.Girl

Date: 10/19/2009 8:32:55 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I''m so excited to see your projects done! Thanks for the post!!!

I have a question for anyone working with JKT - did she ask for a deposit to schedule your place in line for a ring without giving you an approximate price for the project? I don''t want to use her so badly that I''ll put down a non-refundable deposit without getting the pricing information first, but she seems to have not quoted me any price at all.

She''s given me approx. quotes on everything I''ve asked her for, without asking me to put down a deposit. She''s been really patient with me and my flip-flopping!

Thanks, BEG. Were your projects in gold or silver? I''m wondering if that has something to do with it . . .

It was also to secure a timeframe for a project that I originally enquired about in early September. As of yet, I''ve seen no sketches, had no approximate quotes, and been delayed from mid-October to about late December. I''m wondering if I should just have my local jeweler do this project instead. Do you guys who have JKTs find them to be worth the wait?

LTP, I think she''s just doing that because she''s been inundated with orders for Christmas, and her time is so limited. She''s requiring a deposit from everyone that requires a custom designed project because she''s so booked. Stock items aren''t requiring a deposit.

Thanks, Liz and everyone else! The reasoning makes sense, and I had originally asked in September if it could be done by Christmas. At the time, she wasn''t so busy, but somehow from the last time we spoke, she has just gotten slammed with work.

I''m really not in a rush, but I am price sensitive on this particular project and I know what my local jeweler will charge as we''re mostly basing it on my scapolite bezel setting in yellow gold. I did hear back from Julia again, but still no pricing information. I threw out the quote my local jeweler gave me, and if she can meet it or come close, I''ll likely wait for her. Fingers crossed!

 

[Stone Hunter]

WOW SG those projects sound great. Love the idea of your ring...can''t wait to see the pictures of that one. I might even want to copy it. It just sounds so good. TFS!

 

[Fly Girl]

Just a caution about waiting for setting projects. The price of gold has been going up and from what I read there will continued upward pressure on gold prices. I''m thinking of accelerating some of my setting projects for this reason.

 

[loriken214]

Date: 10/19/2009 7:05:40 PM
Author:StonieGrl
On Saturday my husband and I met up with Julia Kay Taylor to hand over my lavender/blue spinel from Gene/Precision Gem and our Malaya garnet, also from Precision Gem (I like buying from Gene, can you tell?) and talk design elements.

Julia is extremely pleasant, very professional. She inspires your confidence. It was very interesting to hear her discuss tools, jewelry making techniques she uses, and how much she loves and respects colored gemstones.

The spinel is for me, a ring, and it will be sent in Argentium, bezel set of course, with diamonds in the space between the split shanks. It will make a nice ring, hopefully, the spinel is a little over 8.5 mm.

The Malaya garnet is Gene''s Star 80 cut (way cool) and is for a ring for my husband. The main part of the ring will be in Argentium but with 18k celtic knots (the tri knot) on each side of the garnet. That should be smashing. The garnet is a great burnt orange color.

I am trying to get photos of the stones over from my previous computer so that I can show those. Will definitely post pics of finished product when we get them back.

I cannot wait!

HOW EXCITING....to have met Julia in person and the projects you have going!!!!

Lori

 

[loriken214]

Date: 10/19/2009 8:32:55 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I''m so excited to see your projects done! Thanks for the post!!!

I have a question for anyone working with JKT - did she ask for a deposit to schedule your place in line for a ring without giving you an approximate price for the project? I don''t want to use her so badly that I''ll put down a non-refundable deposit without getting the pricing information first, but she seems to have not quoted me any price at all.

Hi Lauren!

Julia is super busy and I trust her completely! I''ve already booked two spots with her for design time in November since she is totally swamped with work. She puts her heart into every piece she creates and I''m willing to pay a deposit for her time slot. The deposit goes toward the price of the piece and I''m looking at it as a WIN/WIN for both of us....I''ve got a spot of her time and part of my piece is already paid for.

Lori

 

[StonieGrl]

Hi LTP:

My impression from our meeting was that Julia is slammed with business, a good thing really, for her custom work.

She gave me the details on the lifecycle of a custom ring (since we were ordering rings). One of the reasons your gem stones are ''safe'' in her hands (absent cutting flaws or unknowable flaw in stone) is that she absolutely postively does not rush when setting the stone. She is also meticulous about quality and knows the hustling along equals errors and uneven work.

Seeing her work, I believe she is worth a wait. You could not have a more ethical jeweler to work with and also a more talented one.

---Stonie

 

[StonieGrl]

I did not speak to the deposit/design query.

Freke and Gliterrata have that correctly.

 

[FrekeChild]

Stonie! Can we see some pictures of your gemstones that you''re going to set soon? Have you posted Gene''s pictures anywhere?

 

[StonieGrl]

Hi Freke:

I am hounding my husband to get those gem stone pics moved from the old computer over to my present computer

The lavender spinel is no longer on Gene''s site but the Malaya Garnet Star 80 cut is still showing on his site. I will try to figure out how to move that pic over to this thread. Will be back shortly!

 

[StonieGrl]

Here is the garnet pic, this will be in my husband''s ring---Argentium with 18k celtic knots flanking on the side.

 

[StonieGrl]

Did not come through as planned. Will have to investigate existing threads on posting pics. Back to ya.

 

[brandy_z28]

I second everything you said about Julia, Stonie - you lucky lady! She is a great person all around.

I can hardly wait to see your finished rings. I have no doubt they''ll be gorgeous!

I''ve got two slots of her time filled for the upcoming Christmas rush and neither is for me!

 

[StonieGrl]

Brandie, that is the kind of self-sacrifice that can only be assuaged by gemstones buys and subsequent settings for YOU!

You''ll have to keep us posted on those projects AND your future projects with Julia!