Price for a Custom Platinum Ring

[jones47]

Anyone who has done custom work care to guess how much I should expect to pay for a bezel setting (princess diamond) and simple band with sapphires? The princess diamond 1.44 carats and about 6mm wide.

I imagine it will look something like the attached picture, but with a bezel setting and sapphires (on the light blue side) instead of diamonds. Also, I would have a solid band, slightly thinner, with no gap underneath the diamond.

GOG, from whom I am buying the diamond, quoted me $2800, but local B&Ms have quoted me around $1800. Pretty big difference. Any reason I shouldn''t go with one of the B&Ms?

Thanks for the input.

 

[jones47]

Darn! forgot the picture. Here it is. Also, I would probably just use three sapphires on each side. Not four.

 

[jones47]

Here is another picture similar to what I was thinking:

 

[MissAva]

Email your vendor and ask them...it is the only way to know.

 

[mrssalvo]

that''s quite a big price difference. I would double check and make sure they are both quoting you for the exact same setting, the lowers estimate runs more in line with a quote for White gold vs. plat. which sounds like it''d be closer to the $2800.

 

[laine]

I don''t have any input on the price (sorry), but could you tell me where those pictures are from? I like the first one! Thanks!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/12/2006 6:30:45 PM
Author: mrssalvo
that''s quite a big price difference. I would double check and make sure they are both quoting you for the exact same setting, the lowers estimate runs more in line with a quote for White gold vs. plat. which sounds like it''d be closer to the $2800.

Exactly what I was thinking. Sounds like the higher quote is for platinum. Call and ask.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 4/12/2006 9:49:57 PM
Author: laine
I don''t have any input on the price (sorry), but could you tell me where those pictures are from? I like the first one! Thanks!

I don''t know where he got the pics..but when I saw the first one it reminded me of this scott kay ring from
Pearlmans deals section

 

[tiger007g]

In going the custom route, have you compared the quality of workmanship of the two vendors? What about the quality of the sidestones? Just something to take into account when comparing prices for a custom job. Make sure you''re comparing apples to apples!

Even so, that''s a pretty big price difference...

 

[jones47]

Thanks for the replies. The quotes are all for platinum rings. I was very specific about that, and one of the B&M jewelers only does custom work in platinum.

There may be a difference in workmanship or quality of the sapphires, I''m not sure. How do I determine this? (side note: I''m actually looking for, what I guess are slightly lesser quality sapphires, because a lighter blue color is important to me. I don''t want the really dark blue sapphire, just an even light blue).

The pictures I posted are both Jeff Cooper designs (I''m pretty sure).


So anyone who has had custom work done have any ideas on how to guage workmanship?

 

[icekid]

hmm, my rather ornate platinum pave setting is about 2k, so I don''t think that $1800 w/ a few sapphires is ridiculously cheap at all... so I''d say GOG is on the high side, from my experience.

 

[tiger007g]

The B&M have an advantage in that they are close to you, so that you can be there in person to work with them to design the specifics of the ring. A lot of people find the face-to-face interaction preferable, and the jeweler is right there if you need to have any sizing or repairs made to the ring.

As you can probably tell from the many posts on this site, P''scopers have great reviews of the quality of work and customer service provided by GOG.

I would think that a 6mm platinum ring should be quite heavy. Maybe you can find out how many grams of platinum each vendor was using as an estimate. If those numbers are different, that might account for some of the price differential in the quotes.

I would ask to see examples of the jeweler''s work - do you like the general style of what they do? Are you confident that the jeweler can interpret your idea and the ring will end up looking the way you want it to? Here''s just one an example of a custom job gone wrong... link

Regarding workmanship, here''s a thread about what to look for in evaluating the setting - the same should apply to both custom and mass produced settings Link (There''s some stuff about choosing design elements, but there are some good pictures and advice about what to look for).

 

[icekid]

Date: 4/13/2006 2:35:54 PM
Author: tiger007g

I would think that a 6mm platinum ring should be quite heavy. Maybe you can find out how many grams of platinum each vendor was using as an estimate. If those numbers are different, that might account for some of the price differential in the quotes.

ohhh crap, I somehow missed that your band is to be 6 mm! That is a lot of platinum- mine is only about 2 mm. So the other estimates DO seem on the low side then.

 

[jones47]

The band is NOT 6mm -- the diamond is about 6 mm.

I don't anticipate the band being more than 3-4mm tops.

Thanks for the links, tiger. I'll check those out.

 

[jones47]

Whiteflash just quoted me $1500! that''s nearly half the price of the highest bid.

I think given how much everyone here loves WF''s custom work, I''ll probably end up going with them. I''m really surprised how much these estimates vary, though.