fierypyropixy
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2009
- Messages
- 600
Hi everyone . . .
My Christmas this year was heavily PS-influenced.
BUT, before we get to that, I have to say that I am about to give up hope in regards to the jeweler situation. I don''t know what to blame, perhaps pheromones? An undetected forcefield? LOL
First, there was the dearth of local jewelers except for the one who crazily expected $150/carat for simple prong settings. You may remember that thread. SO, I decided a few months ago to just wait until I went to my (previous, ahem) jeweler at home for the holidays. Gathered up all the pretties, took them home with clear plans of what I wanted to do for them . . . all I''d need to do was locate it in the jeweler''s catalog. Easy, right? This was top of my list of things I was looking to do while home (ok, maybe that sounds sad . . . ).
Well, BIG let-down. It''s a no-frills store that''s pretty stuck in the 80''s, v. "down-home" (we''re Southern, I''m no stranger to that), and he caters to mostly older people with v.low modest budgets who have limited jewelry needs. Think gold crosses and engagement rings under half a carat. It works to my advantage b/c he doesn''t have gloss or finesse, but he''s done v.reliable work in uncomplicated settings . . . and really cheap compared to $150/carat fees! I brought along my cheap Tripps sterling mock setting for my citrine acorn (to see if it was do-able), but other than that was going for simple (cheap!) four prong Tiffany solitaire settings.
BUT . . . just ugh. He employs family members and the woman I got was the worst of them . . . v.unfinished, v.tacky, v.redneck. There''s just no other way to say it! I accidentally left the acorn setting in my suitcase, but figured I''d go in and get prices for all the others since we were in that area shopping anyway -- plus, I had to wait for Christmas to receive my new gems to bring in as well. Figured I''d bring the acorn setting back then and make one big order. I pulled out just a few to start -- 8mm topaz asscher, the little 6mm spess asscher, and the 11mm citrine acorn. Granted, not more "normal" small stones except for the spess, but the woman huffed and puffed and threw up her hands and declared "goodlordhavemercy, I don''t know WHO would cut these suckers so deep" and THEN "I don''t know WHY people buy this CRUISE SHIP CRAP" (!!!!!) as she flew from the counter to the back to consult with one of the benchmen a few times.
Oh my. You can probably imagine what was going through my head. After the "CRUISE SHIP CRAP" comment, I couldn''t refrain from pointedly responding "no, ACTUALLY I COMMISSIONED this cut from a well-regarded precision lapidary" and started to gather up the babies back into their cases. It was obvious at that point that I did not want this crass woman with no manners or customer service skills to have anything to do with my lovely gems, even if they were "only" topaz and citrine. In the midst of her flailing and wild declarations, she had no idea what an asscher even WAS. I think to me that might have been the ULTIMATE sin! WHEW.
So, you see . . . I''m starting to feel a bit desperate. But getting a little humorous mileage out of my failure with jewelers lately!
On to the Asschers . . .
My Christmas this year was heavily PS-influenced.
First, there was the dearth of local jewelers except for the one who crazily expected $150/carat for simple prong settings. You may remember that thread. SO, I decided a few months ago to just wait until I went to my (previous, ahem) jeweler at home for the holidays. Gathered up all the pretties, took them home with clear plans of what I wanted to do for them . . . all I''d need to do was locate it in the jeweler''s catalog. Easy, right? This was top of my list of things I was looking to do while home (ok, maybe that sounds sad . . . ).
Well, BIG let-down. It''s a no-frills store that''s pretty stuck in the 80''s, v. "down-home" (we''re Southern, I''m no stranger to that), and he caters to mostly older people with v.low modest budgets who have limited jewelry needs. Think gold crosses and engagement rings under half a carat. It works to my advantage b/c he doesn''t have gloss or finesse, but he''s done v.reliable work in uncomplicated settings . . . and really cheap compared to $150/carat fees! I brought along my cheap Tripps sterling mock setting for my citrine acorn (to see if it was do-able), but other than that was going for simple (cheap!) four prong Tiffany solitaire settings.
BUT . . . just ugh. He employs family members and the woman I got was the worst of them . . . v.unfinished, v.tacky, v.redneck. There''s just no other way to say it! I accidentally left the acorn setting in my suitcase, but figured I''d go in and get prices for all the others since we were in that area shopping anyway -- plus, I had to wait for Christmas to receive my new gems to bring in as well. Figured I''d bring the acorn setting back then and make one big order. I pulled out just a few to start -- 8mm topaz asscher, the little 6mm spess asscher, and the 11mm citrine acorn. Granted, not more "normal" small stones except for the spess, but the woman huffed and puffed and threw up her hands and declared "goodlordhavemercy, I don''t know WHO would cut these suckers so deep" and THEN "I don''t know WHY people buy this CRUISE SHIP CRAP" (!!!!!) as she flew from the counter to the back to consult with one of the benchmen a few times.
Oh my. You can probably imagine what was going through my head. After the "CRUISE SHIP CRAP" comment, I couldn''t refrain from pointedly responding "no, ACTUALLY I COMMISSIONED this cut from a well-regarded precision lapidary" and started to gather up the babies back into their cases. It was obvious at that point that I did not want this crass woman with no manners or customer service skills to have anything to do with my lovely gems, even if they were "only" topaz and citrine. In the midst of her flailing and wild declarations, she had no idea what an asscher even WAS. I think to me that might have been the ULTIMATE sin! WHEW.
So, you see . . . I''m starting to feel a bit desperate. But getting a little humorous mileage out of my failure with jewelers lately!
On to the Asschers . . .
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