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Quality of custom settings with Kay jewelers

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garek007

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
211
Hi,

Anyone ever had Kay jewelers do a custom setting? It's not exactly custom, it's one of the designs they carry, but I am considering bringing a stone to them to set. They are a "mall jeweler", so I'm concerned about the quality. Anyone have any experience with this?
 
Please don't be offended but I would never ever go to a chain store especially Ky jeweler for anything at all much less a custom setting. They are cookie cutter and wouldn't know the first thing about making a quality custom setting. Sorry.
 
I haven't personally bought a setting from them, but know a few people that have. I happened to see someone last week (newlywed) and she told me she lost her center diamond. Apparently she had her ring for less than 10 days and the center stone came out. She didn't knock it or anything. When she brought it to their attention they said sometimes the metal prongs become brittle when sitting in their warehouse for long periods of time? :confused: Another person I know kept losing diamonds from the halo/pave of her ring repeatedly.

I agree with heididdi and would avoid them especially for a custom setting. Also, just a thought but why not post photos here of the setting you like. PSers are great about helping to find similar settings and it couldn't hurt to see what else is out there. You may even find a better deal! :naughty:
 
I think you should check into the jeweler who would be setting the stone - Some of my previous jewelry store people have moved to mall stores - for the set hours and benefits.

As far as the quality of the setting - I would purchase their insurance, based on the quality issues people have mentioned!
 
After reading PS for over 10 years I wouldn't give Kay Jewelers one penny, ever, for anything.

Do searches for customer complaints here and on google.
 
Personally, I prefer to have chevron or V prongs for a princess cut to protect the pointy corners. Secondly, I don't like the fact that the diamonds in the halo are SI2-I1 quality.
 
Maybe try getting an estimate for a custom ring from David Klass? Is your budget around $1500? I know custom is often more expensive but I have read some threads that David can be budget friendly. Worth a shot.
 
For that matter you could also try brilliantly engaged...could be out of budget but maybe not with rose gold.
 
See the prongs below.

_31250.jpg
 
Oh I see now, do they even make those for princess cut halos? I've not seen anything like that in a halo setting yet...
 
I have no idea whether these are custom or off the shelf.

knife_edge_princess.jpg

princess_halo_2.jpg

double_halo_princess.jpg
 
tweeter8177|1434732574|3891364 said:
Maybe try getting an estimate for a custom ring from David Klass? Is your budget around $1500? I know custom is often more expensive but I have read some threads that David can be budget friendly. Worth a shot.
Click to expand...

I heeded this advice earlier this week and David's quote was very reasonable. Shoot him an email!
 
Hi garek007

I was looking at the specs of the Kay's ring and they're really very bad. Those stones are not GIA graded, so you can assume that their grading from Kay's is probably very kind to what's actually in the ring. Even so - SI2 / I1 is going to look very grubby and if, as I assume, the grading is more like I2 or lower and the color rather below the H/I they've stated, there will be very little sparkle and minimal light return.

I've spent some considerable time in various Kay jewelers, and their pre-made settings are pretty universally horrible. Their melee is gray and lifeless, and a halo setting such as this with a lot of melee - especially set in rose gold - is going to be very drab. PLEASE don't be misled by the way the rings look in the store. Their lighting is beyond 'forgiving' and the ring will NOT look like that once you've walked out the door. My experience also is that - even in the store - the rings look poorly made and the stones very low quality.

To that end, I found *this* diamond:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.45-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-sku-547139

It's whiter, a lot cleaner, larger, and very pretty. David Klass could probably make you a setting with far better quality melee and give you a much nicer ring for a similar price. Please consider going this route; it's just nutty to spend $2299 on something that you could buy from one of the big Ebay dealers (such as Lord of Gem Rings) for less than $500, plus center diamond. A center diamond of the size and quality in the Kay's ring could easily be bought on somewhere like Blue Nile (where it would actually be GIA certified) for $400 - meaning you could do the whole ring for substantially less than a thousand bucks.
 
mrs blop, thanks for the assist. That is a nice looking stone, but it looks like there is an inclusion on the surface? Also, how do I get in touch with David Klass? Ok, you guys and Google have convinced me (oh, and diamonds.pro.com). Also, what's melee?
 
also, that third halo is really nice.
 
Melee are the little diamonds in the halo and shank. :D
 
OP, since you are asking PSers, I would recommend you stick with their suggestions. Hope David Klass works out for you. I just went into some random jewelry stores in the neighboring towns today, and I am flabbergasted at how bulky, unrefined and poorly made some of the items are. Yet these stores stay in business, which means SOMEONE is buying SOMETHING from these places, which reinforces for me how generally ignorant the public is of the options that are out there. People just go some jewelry store close to them, and just assume that "this is how jewelry is made", and don't see what the possibilities are. It is SUCH a shame. I see prongs that are huge that cover up a large percentage of the diamond. I see channel setting where there is much more metal than diamond. Metal soldered together where you can see the connections. One chunk of metal sitting on top of another, no transition at all. Ok, I'll stop ranting. Trust the PSers. There is so much more and better available!
 
A single diamond which is less than 19 points is the term for melee. So a diamond starts at 20 points or 1 fifth of a carat.
 
garek007|1434746795|3891457 said:
mrs blop, thanks for the assist. That is a nice looking stone, but it looks like there is an inclusion on the surface? Also, how do I get in touch with David Klass? Ok, you guys and Google have convinced me (oh, and diamonds.pro.com). Also, what's melee?
Click to expand...

garek - all diamonds should of flawless have inclusions - it's just a case of magnifiying them enough to see them. The stone I linked to is a VS2 stone, and I'm sure you'll be unable to see any inclusions with your naked eye. You'll see them if you magnify the stone - sure. But that's th case for any stone.

Either way, it's monumentally cleaner than the Kay stones, which are multiple grades lower in clarity.
 
Thanks all, great advice and you have convinced me NOT to buy from Kay. I just need to know how to get in touch with David Klass. Does he have a website?
 
A word of warning based on my experience with David Klass. Do not count on working with him unless you are extremely tolerant of communication delays. It was taking at least a week for him to respond to my emails, and considering that designing a ring takes a lot of back and forth discussion and collaboration, had I continued the process with him, it would likely have been many months before we even had a finalized design. My last email to him was actually never even answered, and I didn't follow up as by then I was already completely fed up.

So if youre a patient person with no time restrictions, I've heard great things about his work, but I just didn't have the time or patience to deal.
 
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