new head for my diamon

[bogus]

I have been wanting to change out the head on my ring and was wondering if
$200 seems to be the going rate for a platinum head. I have a 1.18 round
diamond and I am looking at a 8 prong head? Thanx for your input.

 

[strmrdr]

sounds way high to me:
http://www.alonifindings.com/Platinum_4_6Prong.htm

 

[pearcrazy]

Does that price include the labor to remove the old head and replace it with the new? If so then I'd say that may be the going rate. I paid $65 dollars for my new larger diamond six prong head to be replaced on my old engagement mount. It was white gold and included the jeweler's labor. I think that he told me the price for the mount alone was $35. He quoted me $95 dollars if I wanted a platinum head (not including labor) Perhaps one of the vendors here could give you a better idea of the going rate.

 

[bogus]

yes that includes labor. I didnt go to a mall jewler I went to a independent
jewler. I dont know if that makes any difference. thanx for your response.

 

[bogus]

thanx for the website however I didnt see what I was looking for. do you
know of any other websites that sell just the head? thanx

 

[bogus]

I forgot to mention I am in California not sure if that makes much
difference on price. Anyway no he is not the original jeweler. I purchased
my ring from Sams club so I needed to find my own jeweler which I have done
business with in the past and was pleased and I trust he has had his business for about 30 years. The receipt ( they havent started work not until next week when they get the head in) says that they will repair or
replace any article that is lost,stolen or damaged due to their negligence not to exceed the value declared on the receipt.
Although I only paid $5100 they valued my ring at $12,000.
How does it sound now? Should I keep looking around? Thanx soo much for all your help.

 

[strmrdr]

----------------
On 9/4/2004 3:40:23 PM Feydakin wrote:

Everything sounds way to expensive to strmrdr

Several issues.. Who takes responsibliity if your diamond gets chipped in the resetting process?? You or the jeweler?? This alone will make a HUGE difference on how much you are charged..


Did you originally purchase the ring from this jeweler??


Steve

----------------

True nuff but...
Well it cost me $20 to cut the head off one ring and mount it on another and reset the stone.
Plat would likely be higher but $100 ?

That said if you trust the people and they are taking responsibility for the stone I don’t think your getting ripped off that badly.

 

[bogus]

ok, I am still not sure of what to do. The reason I want to change the
head is because the one I have is to pointy and scratches me. should I just
have the tips redone or can that even be done? I would look on line for
some heads but I dont know what sites to look at. Is there someone who can
give me some ideas of what I can do or where I can look? Is it common that
the diamond can be damaged when putting in a new head or setting?
Thanx

 

[denverappraiser]

Veronica,

I'll try to answer some of your quesitons.

You said:
" The receipt ( they havent started work not until next week when they get the head in) says that they will repair or
replace any article that is lost,stolen or damaged due to their negligence not to exceed the value declared on the receipt.
Although I only paid $5100 they valued my ring at $12,000 "

This means:
a) the value declared of $12,000 on the receipt is the maximum that they will pay, not the minimum or even the expected amount. They are obligating themselves to repair or replace not to pay you for the cash value declared. They could say $50,000 here and it wouldn't make any difference.
b) This condition only comes into play if they are negligent. If you lose it, if your stone falls out because you broke prongs or otherwise failed to maintain it, or if the ring (which they didn't supply) has a material defect, they will not be expected to pay under the clause you are quoting.

My observations don't mean that these are bad terms or that this is a bad jeweler but I don't think this guarantee is anywhere near as valuable as you are imagining. This is a statement that they stand behind the quality of their work, which is good. It's not much of an insurance policy.

The prongs should not be scratching and snagging anyyway. It's quite possible that a good bench jeweler can fix this for a whole lot less than your proposed budget. Ask them what they think the problem is and what they suggest as a solution. It may not be necessary to replace the head at all.

It is quite uncommon to damage stones while setting. The problem is that a $10,000 stone and a $40 setting charge is a huge risk for the jeweler. Even a 0.5% chance of damage is more than the value of the setting fee! Most stores are willing to accept it on most stones but it's an important issue that it's worth asking them about it.

There is very little to be saved in buying your head yourself and taking it to the jeweler. Most of the money is labor charges anyway. Also, it's quite a bit more difficult to select the correct head than people seem to think. There are literally hundreds of different types that have rather small variations between them. You stand to save $20 on a $200 deal by doing this and you will lose their expert opinion on selecting exactly the right head for your application. I pretty strongly recommend buying the head from the same people who will be supplying the labor.

In answer to your question of what to do: Go to this jeweler that you trust, ask the shop manager or a bench jeweler there for an opinion of what is causing the problem and for their recommendation for a solution.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[bogus]

Thank you Thank you for your reply. That really helped. I will call them
on Tuesday and ask them a few questions before they get started. I did start calling around to different jewlers and they are all about the same
price so I think I will just stick with this jeweler since I trust them.
Actually I did ask them if it was better to replace or repair and they
suggested replace. I actually like the new head ALOT more so I really dont
mind paying I just didnt want to over over pay. Thank you again for your
reply I am not so scared to have the work done and I know what to ask
before they begin the work.

 

[yowahking]

Just to give you piece of mind, many jewelers (local and internet) don't know how to work on platinum. They often solder in a head with white gold solder. Sounds silly but we see it often. Some setters should be flipping burgers instead of setting diamonds. Any city with a cheap labor force from the Orient, Mexico, Bulgaria etc. will have people who will do anything cheaper than the next guy. Maybe good, maybe not. I don't think your diamond is worth worrying about possibly overpaying $50 or so. If they do good work, that is not overcharging. My store is on the lower end of prices in our city. We charge $140 for your size plat head. Stores near me go from $160 to $300. If the setting has side diamonds, a laser sometimes has to be used or the heat to weld a plat head into a ring will damage the side diamonds. Partly why jewelers cheat and use white gold solder. My wife says that is like using Miracle whip instead of Mayo. If you feel comfortable with the jeweler, use them. At least you can talk to them if you feel the job looks sloppy or stone is not evenly set, or prongs are rough.