Forgive my newness, but I'm trying to learn as much about jewelry and gems as I can so I can start collecting.
Some jewelry stores sell pieces by independent designers. I think they make all the pieces themselves. I'm sure it's not just limited to small, indie designers, but the point is I saw some of their pieces used rough, small, or low quality diamonds, but they dramatically affected the price.
Example, I think they are called stack rings. Multiple thin rings that you can wear one of, or five in a stack and it looks pretty cool. Well, if you bought just a gold band, or a gold band with designs on it, it would be oh, say $150-$200. But once they added diamonds the prices really started to climb. Some of these were tiny, like pinhead sized, I would have to guess, .02-.05 carats a piece and if the ring had six or seven of them it would cost not 150-200, but more like 5-600. Is this normal? They also used some that were rough or not faceted in the traditional manner.
I guess I want to learn, not only diamond pricing, but jewelry pricing as well, so I don't make poor purchases. Each piece I get I would like to be a wise decision, and I don't want to get ripped off as a new guy. I don't expect anything I should get to be an investment. It doesn't seem like things sell for anywhere near what you buy them for, but hey, the better deals I get, the more I can get!
Some jewelry stores sell pieces by independent designers. I think they make all the pieces themselves. I'm sure it's not just limited to small, indie designers, but the point is I saw some of their pieces used rough, small, or low quality diamonds, but they dramatically affected the price.
Example, I think they are called stack rings. Multiple thin rings that you can wear one of, or five in a stack and it looks pretty cool. Well, if you bought just a gold band, or a gold band with designs on it, it would be oh, say $150-$200. But once they added diamonds the prices really started to climb. Some of these were tiny, like pinhead sized, I would have to guess, .02-.05 carats a piece and if the ring had six or seven of them it would cost not 150-200, but more like 5-600. Is this normal? They also used some that were rough or not faceted in the traditional manner.
I guess I want to learn, not only diamond pricing, but jewelry pricing as well, so I don't make poor purchases. Each piece I get I would like to be a wise decision, and I don't want to get ripped off as a new guy. I don't expect anything I should get to be an investment. It doesn't seem like things sell for anywhere near what you buy them for, but hey, the better deals I get, the more I can get!