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Partita in San Francisco custom design concerns and pave workmanship

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pannini

pannini

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
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382
hi everyone, so i wandered to a B&M to take a look at overall ering widths and to take a look at Michael B rings.

they had some custom design sample rings as well, and i fell in love with one with a U shaped head, meaning the diamond in a profile view is fully exposed and it looks like it is floating while held in 4 single prongs. i was intrigued. anyone see a similar head, and if so, is it secure? feel weird how exposed it is, but it does showcase the ring gorgeously.

also, i am trying to decide going local in San Francisco or just doing the ring design with Leon Mege. is Leon''s pave workmanship really the best? or would you think a local SF custom designer would be just as good? how can you tell if it''s a good pave designer? would i be taking a risk going with a local designer for pave?
 
I''m local! I live near the Castro. But I can''t think of anything off the top of my head. There are a few interesting people in the Shreve building downtown.
 
tacori makes a ton of rings with the U shaped head. it''s secure if made by a competent jeweler.

can''t help you with San Francisco jewelers but I think it would be good to take a look at some local jewelers rings. some things I look for to determine quality is even prongs/beads, nice smooth polish and finish, straight lines and milgrain, no rough edges on the ring, daintiness compared to being clunky or metal heavy etc. I''d probably get a few quotes from locals, from Leon, from Bridget Durnell who is in LA and Maytal Hannah.
 
Oo it''s always nice to find San Franciscans! I''m in Cow Hollow. Have you tried the Jewelry Mart/Gift Center? Tons of jewelers there...I think you''ll find some excellent local designers. If you''re into modern, try Stuart Moore (i''m not sure about their pave workmanship. They''re into very clean lines). Brilliant Earth is great (mostly an online retailer but based in SF and you can make an appointment to see them in person www.brilliantearth.com). David Clay Jewelers does custom work as well and from what I hear they do a very good job. I guess I can''t help much with pave in particular...but I''m sure that Leon Mege is not the only one in the world with good workmanship.
 
thanks innerkitten! hello local girl! lol. i live near Hayes Valley. thanks for the Shreve tip, will check it out.

thanks mrrsalvo, you''re always so helpful, it never goes unnoticed. to be honest, when i see pave IRL it all looks the same up close, mostly because i can''t tell the difference between bad pave work and exceptional pave work.

maybe cause i haven''t seen bad pave yet!?
 
Date: 5/22/2009 2:14:29 PM
Author: MonkeyPants
Oo it''s always nice to find San Franciscans! I''m in Cow Hollow. Have you tried the Jewelry Mart/Gift Center? Tons of jewelers there...I think you''ll find some excellent local designers. If you''re into modern, try Stuart Moore (i''m not sure about their pave workmanship. They''re into very clean lines). Brilliant Earth is great (mostly an online retailer but based in SF and you can make an appointment to see them in person www.brilliantearth.com). David Clay Jewelers does custom work as well and from what I hear they do a very good job. I guess I can''t help much with pave in particular...but I''m sure that Leon Mege is not the only one in the world with good workmanship.
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thanks MonkeyPants, have you ever checked out Partita on Chestnut? they were super helpful and showed me all sorts of pave, but i just couldn''t imagine how it matched up with Leon''s work. this is so hard! i wish i could see Leon''s work IRL. i''ve been to the Jewelry Mart, was a bit overwhelming and i didn''t notice anything great for pave work.....at least nothing stuck out to me. maybe i''ll give it another shot. just sucks that they are open on weekdays only.


i haven''t checked out David Clay, but I plan on it, including Union Street Goldsmith. I don''t know how to compare the pave workmanship, but I''ll be paying attention to Mrrsalvo''s tips.
 
Yeah, it''s really hard to compare pave work especially when you have to keep images from online in your head to compare to something IRL! I''ve window shopped at Partita. Actually, SO really wanted to go in but we were in a hurry to get home. From what I saw they have beautiful jewelry. Hmm..I know this might not be that effective, but have you tried searching YELP for "pave jewelry"? I''ll keep looking and send you updates if I find anything worth noting. Good luck!!
 
a bump for myself to get some pave quality answers local and in general .... if there are any!
 
Hi Pannini, I'm local. I live in the east bay. I do know that Joe Escrobar sent Beacon's setting out to have it done in LA. And that there are quite a few extremely talented jewelers down there. 23rd Street (in So Cal) also sends their work out locally to some places in LA.

Beyond that... I just found a place local to me that seems like it may be worth a look and the guarantee their work for life, but they didn't have enough examples of pave for me to form and opinion, and I think they do mostly CAD work, not handmade. And handmade is my preference for Pave.

If you are looking for antique styles you can beat Van Craynest in SF, they do everything by hand and are craftsman not just jewelers and their work is impeccible, including their pave. But they do have a very antique look to their pieces.

What are you looking for? And are you set on Custom, cause if you post what you want we may be able to let you know if we've something similar by a designer.
 
I''ve already suggested this, but I''d check out Mar-Chet Jewelers in San Anselmo. They specialize in handmade (not cast) jewelry and all the work is done on site.
 
Thanks Gypsy and Kennedy, actually, I would like to link everyone who followed this thread with our conclusion today!

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/brick-and-mortar-experiences.116007/

I think it was a great decision, in the end. I think we may be paying more than we anticipated, but with the local appeal, and the security of knowing we can always go within minutes to see our jeweler with questions or cleaning, it will be worth it!

MonkeyPants, the bf and I are in love with David Clay''s Jewelers! Thanks for the tip.
 
hello panini, i am considering david clay jewelers as well, Did you get to negotiate with the price for custom work?
 
Date: 5/24/2009 12:05:10 AM
Author: liaali78
hello panini, i am considering david clay jewelers as well, Did you get to negotiate with the price for custom work?
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I am trying to figure out how to negotiate with B&Ms, Do you have experience doing that? I''d love to know cause it was right outside of our budget but we loved the setting a bunch....

Anyone got tips?
 
Negotiating with BMs is no different than negotiating with anyone else. You best bet is to go in educated about what your custom design would cost at other, similar quality, places then see what your job should cost. Then you just talk to them about the design and then ask them what their quote would be... then negotiate like you would with anything else. They say 3000, you want 2500... you tell them you were thinking closer to 2000. Then you come up, they come down. Kind of. It's really hard to teach someone to negotiate on a message board
3.gif
. Ask them to break their quote out to labor (and their hourly rate) then materials (metals and diamonds)... and make sure you get the details on the materials if you are going to compare quotes. Even if you know who you are going with, it's usually a good idea to get a couple of quotes to benchmark.

If they have the price stated for you and you don't want to haggle... just tell them it's high for you and ask them if they can do it for $X out the door. The answer will be either yes or no.
 
I''d like to post the stock image of their design if you don''t mind, and I can tell everyone what we asked them to change about it....

Perhaps someone can recommend another place of comparable or exceeding quality! Or if there''s something you see here that I can leverage for negotiation that would help too.

Here it goes. What you will see is their channel bead pave which is what we want changed.

We asked for:
shared prong
2.0mm (they say it is slightly graduated so the width may get wider towards the top by say .2 mm?)
it will accommodate a 1.30 ct RB
aquamarine peekaboo diamond on each side (my birthstone!)

Of course, the peekaboo thing isn''t something I have to have, but since they carry that design they offered it.

l_111-10-168&29-26-2.jpg
 
Picture2

davidclay2.png
 
another thing, they quoted about 4200 for this wax cast ring, which is RIDICULOUS. please tell me how this is arguable for negotiation. should we just go with Leon? is handmade pave work worth more?
 
Date: 5/25/2009 12:50:03 AM
Author: pannini
another thing, they quoted about 4200 for this wax cast ring, which is RIDICULOUS. please tell me how this is arguable for negotiation. should we just go with Leon? is handmade pave work worth more?
Click to expand...

I personally think handmade is worth more and since you know Leon makes the style you want, I''d probably just go with him.
 
Date: 5/25/2009 12:50:03 AM
Author: pannini
another thing, they quoted about 4200 for this wax cast ring, which is RIDICULOUS. please tell me how this is arguable for negotiation. should we just go with Leon? is handmade pave work worth more?
Click to expand...
4200? Are they high? No way. Sorry, not for a cast setting. Call Leon for a qoute since he has what you want.

If you want a wax and cast, BGD could do that for you, you''d be assured of the quality, the service and they stand behind their products. No hassle, no fuss. No way I''d go local at those prices.
 
Okidoke, so Leon emailed us the quote and his will be around 3200! I am going to start a poll I think just to get an idea. Will link it if I end up doing the poll.
 
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