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Question about Custom Setting Cost.

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Tony2jones4

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 11, 2016
Messages
26
Hey there,

I am new to the community and if I am posting this in the wrong form section I am sorry. Please move if needed.

Here it goes, I am planing on proposing in May ( on our dogs birthday).

I have drawn the ring I want to create. I have drawn the setting and i have pretty much every detailed mapped out on paper besides actual measurements of widths and all that fun stuff. Her Grandmother has given me free rain off all of her Diamonds, and she has A TON. They are all minors cuts from the early 1900s but are beautiful. I have some diamonds from my great grandmother and the ring is going to be made up of stones from myn and her family. I will be providing all of the Diamonds and all of the metal ( gold). The gold i want to use is from her great grandmothers wedding band, i want it to get Rhodium plated so it will be "white gold".

The actual ring will be one band that split into 2 bands that meet at the setting. There will be diamonds all up the top half of the actual band. There will be an undercarriage with simple lattes work that i drew out with a diamond in the middle. The undercarriage is there because the center Dimond will be big (about 3.5-4.5 ct.) and it has to be raised. The actual setting is going to be in a radiant setting with the large round diamond in the middle and a bunch of little diamonds (all level with each other) filling in the space to actual make up a radiant shaped setting. (she wanted a radiant diamond when i asked her 2 years ago but her grandma had none and i can't afford them).

I have been saving for the actual setting for about 2 years ( just graduated college and all that fun stuff). I have a huge choice of diamonds to use but not a whole bunch of money for the actually putting together of the ring. The ring is going to be very important to her and our family. It will have pieces from over 150 years of myn and her family in it.

My main question is if I'm providing all the diamonds most of the gold, and I designed it. Around how much should it cost to make the actual clay mold, make the ring, rodium plate, and put it all together? I have a meeting with a guy on Wednesday and wanted to be prepared.

Thank you
 
I would talk to David Klass and get an estimate. He is very busy but he usually gets his estimates out fairly quickly. You will
need to send him your pictures so he knows what you are talking about. Actually I would love to see what you have designed.
PSers have done a lot of custom rings and can spot possible problem areas (and offer suggestions) that may need to be tweaked
before you get started.

I would think it could be done for somewhere in the $1500-$2k range (by DK). I know that's a big range but without seeing the
design it's all just a guesstimate at this point. The price is really going to differ by jeweler also. You need to ask to see work
that the jeweler has already done and make sure that they can implement your design. Not all jewelers can do these things but
they will optimistically tell you they can to get your business. Take a look at David Klass on Pinterest or Facebook.

I hope your dogs birthday is later in May because you are starting late for this process. Also let David Klass (or DK) know what
your timeline is.

BTW...DK usually isnt as expensive as a lot of jewelers but dont just go with your local jeweler because he is "cheaper". You
really need to find someone who can do the work correctly.

Please post your pictures...I would love to see your design. Really makes it special that you are going through all this effort to
make her a ring.

Edit...just ignore my guesstimate. It really all depends on the design and I'm not even sure I could give a good estimate even
after seeing the design. You need CAD designs of this ring so you know that your design ideas are being implemented correctly.
 
Hey thanks for the reply. I was hoping it would cost around 1.5-2k so i hope that is true. David Klass stuff looks amazing i will defiantly follow up with him.

Our dogs birthday is on the 20th of may. I have actually been talking to the jeweler for about 3 months now and he has not been able to give me a number. Im really not a huge fan of his but my girlfriends grandmother found him and thought he was great. He is ver old school so I don't believe he works in CAD, he said they would mail me a clay molding to check the work. That seems very old school to me.

I drew up the picture so it is very basic. All the stones are dimonds but I did some of them in Red to show how high i wanted them to sit in the setting. I attached a picture i hope it works! Thanks again for the help.

complete_view_.jpg
 
It's very pretty...I was afraid that it was something really out there but it's not. My only concern would be to make sure it's
not too high. From your drawings it looks rather tall and tall rings just arent good for everyday wear. We can help you with
that. I have no doubt that David Klass can do this ring and do it well. To get a quote from him you just need to send him
email with your pictures and the detail you have given above. You do need to pick your center stone and get that narrowed
down.

No matter who does it, please post pics. I'm hoping some other PSers who have done custom work will also see your post and
provide you with some more info.
 
Yes is does look very tall! That was more from my drawing skills then anything else. I have requested his information through his FB page and i will send him and Email as soon as i get it.

I do have choice between two center stones, one is 3.87 ct. and another is 4.52 ct. i am taking apart some old rings and a few old bracelets to get all the stones. I don't necessarily want the bigger center stone, i want it to look as classy and pretty as possible with out being to GODY big.

Thanks again, i will forsure share photos of the process and all the proposal fun.
 
Your stone will likely be between 9.5 and 10.5 mm. in diameter, judging from the carat weights you have stated, already a pretty large stone. Add the square halo you have drawn and it will be much wider than all but the biggest fingers, so might not work unless you scale down the "radiant" shaped surround. What size ring finger does she have? Finger size really enters into proper design, so hopefully you know her size. But I think your idea is lovely and can be made into a gorgeous ring for her.
 
Do you have photos of the stones?

Cool design, I will be following this thread :)
 
Re-using gold is not an inexpensive process: it needs to be refined and that isn't a project all jewellers can or will take on. You'll need to ask DK about this explicitly.

A question - have you gotten the okay from all family members/owners to not just use the diamonds but also repurpose gold, etc.? You will most likely be significantly (possibly irreparably) damaging some very old pieces and you'll want to be completely sure everyone's okay with that.

I would also double-check with her or a close friend/confidante about shape preference. Two years is a long time, her taste for radiants in particular may very well have changed! Another thing to keep in mind - a large round in a square pave halo/basket isn't going to look like a radiant, it's going to look like a large round in a square pave halo/basket. Some women may prefer not to "artificially" change the outline of the centerstone, even if it's different from their first choice of shape.
 
Her Ring Size is 6.5

I don't have pictures of all the stones right now but i will take some on Wednesday when i see them. They are all in safe in a bank.

Yes i do have permission, the only people I'm getting stones from is my mother who owns all the stuff from our side of the family. And My girlfriends grandmother, who owns all of the stuff and has a tons to choose from, she has told me " you pick what ever you want, it will all be amandas one day". My girlfriend is her only granddaughter so yes we i have all the permission needed. Plus her grandma is so excited to be doing this with me, she is going to write us a history on all the stones we use. There are pieces that we are not taking apart for the sake of keeping it intact. But I'm not over exaggerating when i say i have a TON of pieces to choose from. The reason this ring is going to mean so much is because it will have part of each family.

The stone in the undercarrage will be from a broach my greatgrandma bought my grandma when she graduated college.

The stones in the side band will be from my mom.

The main stone will be from her grandmas 1st engagement ring

The stones around the main stone will be from her grandmas aunt who helped raise her grandma.

Along with the band from her side.
 
I am also worried that the stone/ring maybe to big when we are all done. I don't want it to be Gody. She is a very humble person and i would love for all her friends to be dieing of jealousy of how beautiful it turns out. I want her to get compliments at work and at Starbucks ect. So i secretly want it huge lol, but not so big that it looks bad.

Also I'm pretty sure she has the same taste. She told my sister radiant or emerald cut. We have been together for 5 years on may 8th so i know her well. Her taste might have changed but every chance i get i smoothly ask o thats a nice ring and watch for her reaction. We watch the bachelor lol and that always shows a few rings at the end. I have been taking notes so I'm hoping she will love it. And sure she will
 
I'm thinking (hoping?) autocorrect on a new device may be to blame for much of it! I was just commenting in another thread that typing on my phone makes me feel like a baboon when I re-read what I subjected everyone else to ::)

OP, your intentions are sweet ::) but I urge you to investigate both the gold re-use (from a practical perspective - it will be more expensive than simply using "new" gold and you explicitly mention wanting to keep costs down) and the elaborate design (it may or may not be to her tastes, always better to double-check!)
 
Yssie|1457841774|4004267 said:
I'm thinking (hoping?) autocorrect on a new device may be to blame for much of it! I was just commenting in another thread that typing on my phone makes me feel like a baboon when I re-read what I subjected everyone else to ::)

OP, your intentions are sweet ::) but I urge you to investigate both the gold re-use (from a practical perspective - it will be more expensive than simply using "new" gold and you explicitly mention wanting to keep costs down) and the elaborate design (it may or may not be to her tastes, always better to double-check!)
Click to expand...


I also urge you to reconsider melting down the great-grandmother's wedding band. The bulk of such a custom job will likely be from labor not the gold. As Yssie pointed out you might actually be better off using new white gold rather than trying to repurpose and plate old yellow gold. Also, while it is admirable that you are trying to cut costs and it's wonderful that your families are so supportive you might find that in the long-term a family wedding ring has more sentimental value than its melt value.
 
Thanks for the spell check, I may have a college degree and and currently getting my PHD in physical thearpy but i can't spell better then a 2nd grader lol.
 
Ok thanks for the advice. I probably will not use the wedding band. I did want it there for the sentiment but i also thought it would save money. Im so glad i joined the community and you all have been a great help.

Im still wondering about a quote for the work and the gold. I just wanted and idea of what it would be around. I wanted to know what to say if the guy quoted me 2k or 10k.....
 
Tony2jones4|1457817782|4004090 said:
I am also worried that the stone/ring maybe to big when we are all done. I don't want it to be Gody. She is a very humble person and i would love for all her friends to be dieing of jealousy of how beautiful it turns out. I want her to get compliments at work and at Starbucks ect. So i secretly want it huge lol, but not so big that it looks bad.

Also I'm pretty sure she has the same taste. She told my sister radiant or emerald cut. We have been together for 5 years on may 8th so i know her well. Her taste might have changed but every chance i get i smoothly ask o thats a nice ring and watch for her reaction. We watch the bachelor lol and that always shows a few rings at the end. I have been taking notes so I'm hoping she will love it. And sure she will
Click to expand...

I love admiring big rocks so I can't believe I'm going to say this...
Are you sure she is going to be comfortable with such a large ring? I'm also on the younger side. I'm single, but I have diamonds that are larger than many of my friends and peers. While I appreciate compliments I really only ever wear my studs and that's because people assume they are fake. I don't have a chance to wear much of my favorite jewelry (inherited,gifted, or purchased) because I worry it won't be safe or that it will create resentment among friends or will hinder my career.

The ring you have designed is absolutely lovely and I'm sure the stones are beautiful. I love rings with sentimental value! The ring you have designed is quite large for a person of any age. You mentioned she is humble and that you are recently out of college and short on funds. Since she will be getting all of these stones eventually anyway there will be many opportunities for you to design beautiful pieces together for many years to come. If you have access to smaller family stones you might want to consider them as options. Make sure that whatever you design now is something she will be comfortable wearing right now at this point in your life together.

I'm sure she will love whatever ring you end up with. It seems like you're very thoughtful
 
I agree with some of the comments made on size. I think you should go with the best cut stone, which may be one of the grandma's smaller stones. You want her to have a wearable ering and not something that is so big that she is uncomfortable wearing it everyday.

You also need to take into account the cost of removing the old small pave. Usually small pave gets scrapped. It's not worth the cost of the labor to remove it. I know yours has sentimental value but have you checked on the cost yet?

What size is your GF's finger?

I think your design is lovely but I have concerns about why your GF would ask for an emerald or radiant when she knows her grandmother has lots of round stones you can use? Doesn't make sense to me.
 
I'm going to throw this out there. ..have you considered picking the best stone grandma has and putting it in a simple 6 prong setting ($200-$300) and proposing with that? Then you can show her your design and ideas and move forward from there. That way she gets to have her input and hopefully gets a ring that she is thrilled to wear. Designing an ering together is usually a very gratifying experience because both of you get to have your input and she gets something she is thrilled to wear when it's done. Plus you are running behind in the custom design process (I know you've probably been busy with school).

Just something to consider...it will help take the pressure off.
 
Her Ring size in a 6.5

I will be happy to look at the smaller stones. I actually had a center one picked out that i liked that was 1.2 ct but her mom said that she thinks the bigger is better. Im the type of person who thinks bigger is better but i did not think about the comfort. So that is something i will for sure have to talk over with the jeweler and make sure it is not going to be way to big.

I don't think how big it is will change anything with friends or work for her.

She actually picked radiant or emerald cut almost 2 years ago when we were on vacation and my sister and her went to a few shops and tried stuff on all of her favorites were one of the two style cut stones. She has no idea I'm making her a ring or designing it ( I'm sure she is expecting something soon). She does not know that her grandma and mom are helping me or that we are using her grandmas stones.

I will former think about something smaller, it is true that we will have plenty of time to design new pieces. The reason i would be against proposing with a simple setting is because i have spent so much time and clever ploys over two years getting ideas on what she likes and does not like. I have had help from friends, family, co workers. Im pretty sure that what i have designed she will love. What i drew does not do the details justice. The only thing I'm concerned about now is the size of the center stone and cost of over all setting. If i have to i will get some help on the cost i just want to make sure I'm not getting ripped off on pricing.
 
I understand that you want to design it...especially if since you have made quite an effort so far. Any stones in the 2-2.5 range?
3-4 carats down to 1.2 is a big drop.
 
yes there probably is a stone 2-2.5 size. i will have to look at them again. I will give some updates on Wednesday.
 
tyty333|1457880141|4004443 said:
I'm going to throw this out there. ..have you considered picking the best stone grandma has and putting it in a simple 6 prong setting ($200-$300) and proposing with that? Then you can show her your design and ideas and move forward from there. That way she gets to have her input and hopefully gets a ring that she is thrilled to wear. Designing an ering together is usually a very gratifying experience because both of you get to have your input and she gets something she is thrilled to wear when it's done. Plus you are running behind in the custom design process (I know you've probably been busy with school).

Just something to consider...it will help take the pressure off.
Click to expand...


I've been reading this thread and agree with TyTy333.

Your ring design is really beautiful. I love it. But I'm not sure you realize the scale of using a 3-4 carat old mine cut diamond, or even a 2 carat, with this design. They are generally very tall and chunky. If it is an old European cut the scale will be larger diameter lower crown, but still enormous. Seriously, you will not have room to create a radiant shaped center stone using more diamonds. You are using a lot of diamonds, and both the height of ring and the size of the center diamond are going to be very prominent. Is she ready for that? I'm not sure this ring should be executed without her 100 percent participation.

You have been recommended David Klass. I agree, he will be able to make this ring.

There's a lot going on here so I'm going to give you advice based on my own journey with engagement rings, old cut stones, and family heirlooms.

It sounds like your girlfriend and you are incredibly sentimental and you have a wonderful family history in jewelry to tap into. With this in mind, does your girlfriend know you want to deconstruct family heirlooms for their stones? Do you absolutely know she would rather have one modern piece, rather than have access the old rings and bracelets that her family wore in their lifetimes? These pieces could be shared with your children some day. In one ring that might be more difficult. Antique jewelry tells a story with the setting and the stones, you can tell which era or country they were made in, they often have important dates, initials etc. If your relatives have numerous old stones, they likely have culturally interesting and historical pieces. Do you really want to deconstruct it without consulting your future wife?

Old cut stones are actually a complex bag. Old miner cuts tend to have high crowns with smaller diameters, OLd European Cuts are wider and have more circular diameters, with tall crowns. American cuts have lower crowns and larger diameter still. In one ring, I personally wouldn't mix cut styles too much.

Last, a radiant or emerald cut is a very different look than a round stone. An old mine cut is about the opposite of an emerald. Your girlfriend might be responding to the clean lines and streamlined look of an emerald or radiant. Does your family have an emerald or Asscher cut available? I truly believe that if your girlfriend has expressed a preference for an emerald or radiant, she should get what she wants.

If you actually don't know what she wants, I would consult her, or her sister, cousin or friend (someone who can find out) rather than guess.

All this is to say, tyty333's idea of picking the nicest old cut stone from your collection and mounting it in a simple affordable six prong classic solitaire setting might be your best bet for a proposal. Then you two can create the ring of your dreams together.

There are many old cut experts and many antique jewelry fans on Pricescope. We would be overjoyed to help you identify the cut type and determine which stone you might want to use for the center stone. You could remove it gently from a setting so that it can be remounted if desired. In any case, PS can help you understand what you've got before you deconstruct it.

You've got a literal goldmine in family heirlooms to tap into. I'm sure the end result is going to be fantastic.
 
tyty333|1457880141|4004443 said:
I'm going to throw this out there. ..have you considered picking the best stone grandma has and putting it in a simple 6 prong setting ($200-$300) and proposing with that? Then you can show her your design and ideas and move forward from there. That way she gets to have her input and hopefully gets a ring that she is thrilled to wear. Designing an ering together is usually a very gratifying experience because both of you get to have your input and she gets something she is thrilled to wear when it's done. Plus you are running behind in the custom design process (I know you've probably been busy with school).

Just something to consider...it will help take the pressure off.
Click to expand...

YES. please please please do this. Your current design is going to be a gigantic cocktail ring.

Put the nicest stone in a temp solitaire setting and let her help pick what she wants. If she really wants a rectangular stone, your best bet may be to sell one or more of the old stones and purchase an emerald cut together.

But a giant old cut in a solitaire will be GORGEOUS, under budget, and impressive to others, if that's what's important.
 
LightBright brings up an excellent point I would like to echo. I think it might be wise to have your future wife's consent before permanently deconstructing family heirlooms. Even if I received a beautiful ring, I would be devastated if it came at the cost of my family heirlooms without consulting me. I would love for someone to propose to me with a family piece, but I would want that to be preserved in original state so that I could pass it down to future generations.

Something around 1.2ct - 2ct in your beautiful design is going to be stunning and very substantial. I would not further deconstruct bracelets and other heirlooms for the melee, but would instead use the best matching/cost effective melee your jeweler advises. That way you won't destroy family pieces and you will end up with the best looking ring... it might also end up saving you money. Carefully unsetting one stone for the center stone is much more reasonable.
 
And trust your gut about working with the local jeweler. Cut your losses now, even if that means pushing back the proposal.
 
FightGravity|1457989090|4005246 said:
And trust your gut about working with the local jeweler. Cut your losses now, even if that means pushing back the proposal.
Click to expand...

Yes, agreed. By jeweler I mean David Klass or someone else well qualified to do such delicate work.
 
FightGravity|1457988943|4005244 said:
tyty333|1457880141|4004443 said:
I'm going to throw this out there. ..have you considered picking the best stone grandma has and putting it in a simple 6 prong setting ($200-$300) and proposing with that? Then you can show her your design and ideas and move forward from there. That way she gets to have her input and hopefully gets a ring that she is thrilled to wear. Designing an ering together is usually a very gratifying experience because both of you get to have your input and she gets something she is thrilled to wear when it's done. Plus you are running behind in the custom design process (I know you've probably been busy with school).

Just something to consider...it will help take the pressure off.
Click to expand...

YES. please please please do this. Your current design is going to be a gigantic cocktail ring.

Put the nicest stone in a temp solitaire setting and let her help pick what she wants. If she really wants a rectangular stone, your best bet may be to sell one or more of the old stones and purchase an emerald cut together.

But a giant old cut in a solitaire will be GORGEOUS, under budget, and impressive to others, if that's what's important.
Click to expand...
A million times this. Making a ring together will be a lot more sentimental in later telling too. Plus it shows that you respect her opinion and feelings instead of assuming you know what she likes.

If you still think she likes radiants, you could put your round into a squared off fishtail prong setting, say like this example or this one. I have an OEC in a setting very like the first one and the first shape I see when I look at my ring is a square shape.
 
Just throwing this out there, but if you have an overall budget in mind perhaps PriceScopers can help you find a lovely emerald or radiant cut stone. You won't have to spend so much money on detailed custom work trying to make an older round stone give the impression of a modern rectangular stone. I'm sure you have a lot to think about, but know that there are people here to help.
 
Here's an old thread with some design ideas which might help you.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/round-in-an-octagon-halo.199339/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/round-in-an-octagon-halo.199339/[/URL]

After you have had a look at the stones, you may find that the best course of action is to send one for a recut, so that's something to consider.

If the ring were for me, I'd prefer for as few pieces to be destroyed in the making of the engagement ring as possible. If you go with a simple, classic setting now, she can always change the setting if she likes. A halo on a 3-4 carat stone will appear very large on a size 4.5 finger.

Personally, I'm of the school of thought that there's no such thing as a diamond that's too big, :naughty: just consider whether she would be comfortable with it.

What other jewellery does she wear?

Does she wear yellow gold?

This sounds like an exciting project, I look forward to the outcome
 
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