Speaking of JKT

[FrekeChild]

Problems:

Lumpy (probably rushed) bezels.
Too many jump rings.
Wrong chain length.
Missed deadlines.
Overpriced.
Unreliable.


Timeline of events

First brought up the key to her 7/27/09

Emailed me 8/21/09 in response to my email close to a month earlier; something about not getting my pics to the first email account

Correspondence continued through 09/09; I could not afford said key at the time

My friend gifted the key to me around 11/7/09 which was when JKT emailed me about it

Agreed upon design 11/20/09

Sent stones 11/23/09

Asked for chain length of 18 inches with a jump ring at 16 inches on 12/11/09

12/12/09 she informed me that she was burnt out on keys because she'd been making so many and said that the keys come with a chain adjustable for 20, 18 and 16 inches

I responded and said that I was good with 16 and 18 inches 12/12/09

She agreed on 16 and 18 inches 12/12/09

The first promised deadline of ARRIVING at 12/19/09--the day that I graduated from college-which the gift was intended for

12/21/09 she thanks me for being patient and that she was trying to not rush through things

12/28/09 Email that Julia finished making the bezels
I warned her that we were leaving to get married on January 6th and I wanted it before then

1/1/10 JKT sent me a pic of the key with the stones sitting in the bezels
JKT emailed me that she messed up one of the bezels

1/2/10 key was done

1/4/10 key shipped out

1/5/10 key arrived
JKT sent me a gift cert which expired one year later


But really, most of my disappointment runs with the craftsmanship. Julia does bezels. Some of her work looks excellent--even in macro pics. This is not the case with my key. FAR FROM IT.

There is reason I have never posted macro pics of my key. I can't say much about that, so I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Also, I am short. I am 5'2 and I have DDs. I have minimal space between neck and cleavage. This key is over 3 inches long. There goes my necklace real estate...but not in a good way. I actually made the point to JKT that I don't have a lot of room to play with around my neck and I did NOT want the key dangling in my cleavage.

The picture I will attach of me wearing the necklace was taken with my cell phone this morning. It is on the 16 inch jump ring. Did I mention that the chain length is 20 inches with jump rings at 18 and 16 inches? You will note in the timeline above that I specifically requested an 18 inch chain with a jump ring at 16 inches.

I don't have much else to say besides that a really lovely present has been marred by poor craftsmanship. I've only worn it twice--once for my engagement photoshoot and again on date night...because that was the only time I felt comfortable with a necklace dangling in my cleavage. And I am NOT shy about my chest!

I chose to not use my gift certificate from JKT. $50 off of a $300+ silver project, with potentially shoddy craftsmanship? No thank you.

 

[FrekeChild]

More pics...

 

[FrekeChild]

It is still a wonderful, terribly thoughtful gift from an amazing friend, but I can't help but feel like for the amount of money I'm guessing (no idea on total cost for the key) she paid, I feel like it should have been better. This is not even quality I equate with handmade...This looks like something I could have made with minimal training in bezeling stones.

I still absolutely cherish it because it was a gift from my friend, but I will never be a patron of JKT. Nevermind the astronomical prices or the 6-12 month wait time, but really the risk of the workmanship looking like the pictures I've posted is not worth my money.

 

[arjunajane]

Freke,
I am really very sorry to learn of your disappointment with this clearly sentimental piece. Your macro photos clearly show you have reason to be.
I am glad though that my thread gave you the impetus to vent - ALL reviews should be shared here, regardless of the popularity of the vendor. I understand your hesitation - it took me months to decide to eventually post my story, and the disappointment over my bracelet was one of the reasons I 'dropped away' from PS - but unfortunately, I was left with no other avenue to pursue, so I'm thankful for PS in that sense.

I hope you can somehow make peace with the disappointment over your friends' very generous gift.

 

[ForteKitty]

Oh no, freke, that really sucks. Any way daniel m. can fix up the bezels a bit so you can wear it more?

 

[jstarfireb]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I'm glad that you posted this, because it's important to hear about any experience with vendors, both good and bad. I'm usually a big fan of JKT's work and have 3 custom pieces with no issues at all, so I was surprised to see how shoddy the workmanship is. She had plenty of time to get the work done and was even late in getting it finished, so there's really no excuse. It's a true shame that such a sentimental piece was essentially ruined.

She mentioned burnout in the convos with you, which is not an excuse but possibly an explanation. Perhaps that's why she raised her prices and increased wait times - so she wouldn't have to do so many projects at the same time? At any rate, given her long wait times and sky-high prices, I also doubt I'll be commissioning any more custom pieces from JKT, although "stock" pieces from her Etsy shop aren't off the table.

A little off-topic, but I'm concerned because I've seen Daniel M heading in the same direction, and I hope it doesn't get much worse.

 

[TravelingGal]

Freke, oh no! I remember seeing the glamour shot of your key and thinking it was the prettiest one she made. What a disappointment to see bezels that look like that.

I've never gone to her site...is there a link? I'd be interested in seeing what her good bezels look under macro. I guess "burned out" means work like this. But I agree that it seems very unrefined.

 

[VRBeauty]

Freke - I'm so sorry that your piece - a gift, no less - is basically unusable.

Julia Kay made two custom rings for me. One I'm thrilled with - it's a 5 out of 5. The other was more a 3 or 4 initially, mainly because I got very little design help from Julia -- which was very disappointing since I'm not all that creative -- and the finishing is not as nice as I had hoped. Please don't get me wrong, I do like the ring a great deal and I wear frequently, but it's not one I'd show off to the discerning PS crowd.

I also bought a ready-made ring and pendant from her, both of which were every bit as beautiful as I expected.

I suspect the volume of work she got thanks in large part to PS was ultimately more than she could handle in terms of production and creativity. When she made my rings it involved a quite a few emails back and forth while she was churning out a lot of work. I remember wondering how she could possibly get any fabrication done if each piece involved that much creative input and communication back and forth. The answer to that of course is to take on less work or take on a partner or make changes to the way you collaborate with the customer, not to reduce the quality of the work or communication. As someone else mentioned, maybe that's why she's changed her order and reservation process, and why she's chosen to work mainly in gold.

Overall I'm pleased with my JKT jewelry, but I can certainly understand why you're disappointed with yours. I'll probably look for less expensive and more flexible (time-wise) options if I want custom jewelry in the future. I'll also take your experience, and AJ's, into account before contracting with any jeweler.

ETA For T-Gal:http://www.juliakaytaylor.com/

 

[suchende]

Especially upsetting because those lovely stones ought to see more daylight.

When I was looking for someone to set my Bob Kast tourmaline, JKT was on my short list, but her prices turned me off. If I'd "upgraded" to JKT from Daniel M and gotten that sort of result, I would have been very disappointed.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Boo hiss.

I would be tempted to see if another vendor can fix the bezels for you, too, so that you can fully savour the piece as a thoughtful gift from your friend. It is a lovely design, and with a shorter chain, would perhaps become something you not only cherish but wear regularly.

 

[JewelFreak]

What a shame for you. Your disappointment is sure reasonable, based on your pics -- sad because the stones are so pretty & so is the design, besides the sentimental attachment. I hope you can find someone to tidy up the bezels so you can wear that with the happiness it deserves. Big waste otherwise. It's beautiful in concept.

--- Laurie

 

[iheartscience]

Boo hiss.

I would be tempted to see if another vendor can fix the bezels for you, too, so that you can fully savour the piece as a thoughtful gift from your friend. It is a lovely design, and with a shorter chain, would perhaps become something you not only cherish but wear regularly.

Ditto. I've honestly never been a big fan of JKT stuff, but I didn't realize her work was so shoddy.

I hope you can get someone else to fix the bezels!

 

[Amys Bling]

Sorry to hear you are so unhappy withsuch a sentimental piece

 

[princesss]

Freke! I had no idea the bezels looked like that. I was so excited when you got your key, and thought it was gorgeous, but I have no idea how any craftsperson would let that out of their shop having seen the macro photos. Those bezels are awful!

I'm so sorry such a sentimental gift is basically unwearable, especially when it has such gorgeous stones in it.

Honestly, JKT had been on my short list of vendors I wanted to buy from, but between this thread and AJ's, I'm thinking she's just not somebody I want to work with. She's definitely not somebody I'll be suggesting to my friends.

 

[Aoife]

I've had a couple of pieces made by JKT, and been very happy with the workmanship and process, but I would not have been happy with what you received, either. I'm so sorry that a gift that should have been so meaningful for you has been tainted in this way. Have you asked any other jewelers if the bezels are repairable?

 

[packrat]

Holy moly. I knew there were problems w/it but..yikes. So disappointing. When I talked to her about the three stone I wanted to do, the communication was slow, I figured b/c she was so busy, and she said she had a design she'd already drawn up for something else and would send it to see if it was similar to what I had in mind. I didn't hear back for quite a while and when I checked back w/her she said she was too busy but if I wanted to pay a deposit to get in line that was fine. I didn't know who I wanted to have do the ring, and I wanted a little idea before paying a deposit on what the design might be.

 

[Laila619]

Aw, I'm sorry, Freke. What a disappointment!

Just curiously, why didn't you return it back to her, and ask her to fix or redo it? Does she have a bad return policy?

 

[y2kitty]

If people start to notice a vendor going downhill, they should speak up. B/c it seems as if JKT got really popular, couldn't handle it, and quality went down. So if more people spoke up, vendors might not get as busy and quality might not suffer.

I'm sorry about your key Freke. Those are some lovely stones to be sitting in something you are not happy with.

 

[TravelingGal]

Thanks VR for posting the link. I had no idea she was in AZ. I thought she was in Thailand or something!

Her stuff looks nice...hard to tell from her site how well she can actually do the bezels, but plenty of PSers have her work enough to know what she is capable of. Freke's key looks really rough!

 

[Aerix]

I posted in the other thread, but it still saddens me to hear about your key Freke. The bezel of the middle stone looks especially bad... As other people have said, I wonder if you could get the bezels repaired by someone like DanielM or a local jeweler you trust? While reading Packrat's post, I was also reminded that I find it odd that she takes deposits for just slots of her time. I, like a few others here, had been looking forward to working with her one day but hearing about how she's missed deadlines, overprices, seems quite disorganized and both yours and Arjuna's experiences makes me highly doubtful of working with her now. I can understand paying a deposit when a piece has been discussed at length, a design is settled on and the vendor is about to begin work (and sometimes purchase supplies for the project), but I don't like the idea of paying a deposit just to lock in a time period of a person's work time-because, what if they fall behind? Then your project can be pushed back and deadlines will be missed...

 

[MonkeyPie]

If people start to notice a vendor going downhill, they should speak up. B/c it seems as if JKT got really popular, couldn't handle it, and quality went down. So if more people spoke up, vendors might not get as busy and quality might not suffer.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Being "discovered" on PS can be both a godsend and hell. I imagine Daniel M is starting to get overwhelmed, too. Look how JKT's prices shot up when she realized how many of us were coming to chat with her - it doesn't surprise me one bit.

That said, she should have hired someone to help her, or taken on less work, rather than send out p.o.s. pieces like Freke's key and arjunajane's bracelet. How she thinks that she would have happy customers with such terrible work boggles me.

Freke, I saw this in person and to my (untrained) eye it didn't look this bad. I remember thinking it was lovely. But I didn't look at it terribly close, and I am so sorry it looks so bad.

 

[Circe]

I posted in the other thread, but it still saddens me to hear about your key Freke. The bezel of the middle stone looks especially bad... As other people have said, I wonder if you could get the bezels repaired by someone like DanielM or a local jeweler you trust? While reading Packrat's post, I was also reminded that I find it odd that she takes deposits for just slots of her time. I, like a few others here, had been looking forward to working with her one day but hearing about how she's missed deadlines, overprices, seems quite disorganized and both yours and Arjuna's experiences makes me highly doubtful of working with her now. I can understand paying a deposit when a piece has been discussed at length, a design is settled on and the vendor is about to begin work (and sometimes purchase supplies for the project), but I don't like the idea of paying a deposit just to lock in a time period of a person's work time-because, what if they fall behind? Then your project can be pushed back and deadlines will be missed...

I think this is why they say success kills: if she worked in platinum and charged 3K a piece, she could afford to chat with customers and assume that sooner or later one would pay and cover the rest. Charging $300 for silver, and getting popular enough to get a lot of inquiries, she has to make the time she spends with each prospective customer pay. It's not a very good business model: hopefully, if she catches wind of this, it'll be the motivation she needs to reconsider her approach, and either start working in costlier metals, offer less custom contact, or find part-time help to handle the business-end while she concentrates on the design and fabrication.

... Being "discovered" on PS can be both a godsend and hell. I imagine Daniel M is starting to get overwhelmed, too. Look how JKT's prices shot up when she realized how many of us were coming to chat with her - it doesn't surprise me one bit.

That said, she should have hired someone to help her, or taken on less work, rather than send out p.o.s. pieces like Freke's key and arjunajane's bracelet. How she thinks that she would have happy customers with such terrible work boggles me.

Freke, I saw this in person and to my (untrained) eye it didn't look this bad. I remember thinking it was lovely. But I didn't look at it terribly close, and I am so sorry it looks so bad.

Big ditto to this - Freke, it's awful to have a piece that's emotionally important that you love for what it means ... but that doesn't quite make it up to our high standards. If JKT can't or won't fix it, I definitely think you should see if another local jeweler might. The irony is that cleaning up bezels isn't even particularly hard! Just kind of time-consuming.

 

[iota15]

I remember thinking the key was gorgeous from your initial photos. I still think it's lovely, despite the lumpiness and hope that maybe you can find an appropriate chain length so you can put those stones to better use. I'm sorry you're disappointed. I would be too.

I hope more people speak up when appropriate against bad workmanship, time delays, poor service, etc. There's no reason any of us should hold our mouths or noses closed because it's a "popular" vendor. In fact, I reeaally believe people should speak out more Because it's a popular vendor. PS is really powerful in this way - and it really diminishes the credibility of all the vendors, and of us prosumers, if, as a group, we don't recognize and speak out about a downsliding vendor and push for change. One poor review is not a bad thing - it is what it is. Vendors who would like to keep us happy should rectify the specific problem immediately, and rectify any flaws in their system immediately.

 

[Loves Vintage]

I'm not understanding the chain length issue. If there's a jump at 16 and 18 inches, and it's still too long at 16 inches, then the chain length never would have been correct, right? Is it the length of the key that is at issue then? Was it not made to agreed upon specifications? I do get that F asked for an 18 inch chain, and therefore, there's too much length at the end of the chain perhaps at the 16 inch jump, but what does this have to do with the length of the necklace itself.

As far as pricing, people in this thread (and the other thread) are saying JKT is overpriced. I think that's the law of supply and demand, no? If people don't want to pay her prices, they don't have to, right? I don't think, as was implied in the other thread, that Etsy sellers should continue to sell their pieces at pre-"discovered-by-PS" prices if the market demands otherwise, simply because they were "discovered-by-PS."

Many apologies if the second paragraph is a T/J. Perahps I should start a new thread because I am genuinely curious as to why anyone would think that sellers are somehow beholden to members of this forum simply because they were "discovered" here. If prices are too high, either don't buy it or go elsewhere.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Like others have said, maybe find someone to smooth out the bezels. Local jeweler at that, so you're face-to-face with the person.

As also was mentioned above, is the length of the key part of the issue, too? 16" chain should work fine if that is proportionate to the pendant.

ETA - at any rate, sorry your pendant/work with JKT hasn't been pleasurable. I have to admit, I've never looked at her work! Guess I should go check out her site!

 

[TravelingGal]

I'm not understanding the chain length issue. If there's a jump at 16 and 18 inches, and it's still too long at 16 inches, then the chain length never would have been correct, right? Is it the length of the key that is at issue then? Was it not made to agreed upon specifications? I do get that F asked for an 18 inch chain, and therefore, there's too much length at the end of the chain perhaps at the 16 inch jump, but what does this have to do with the length of the necklace itself.

As far as pricing, people in this thread (and the other thread) are saying JKT is overpriced. I think that's the law of supply and demand, no? If people don't want to pay her prices, they don't have to, right? I don't think, as was implied in the other thread, that Etsy sellers should continue to sell their pieces at pre-"discovered-by-PS" prices if the market demands otherwise, simply because they were "discovered-by-PS."

Many apologies if the second paragraph is a T/J. Perahps I should start a new thread because I am genuinely curious as to why anyone would think that sellers are somehow beholden to members of this forum simply because they were "discovered" here. If prices are too high, either don't buy it or go elsewhere.

That seems like it would be true...except that it'd also be a lot of extra chain Freke didn't want.

And I do agree that etsy sellers should sell at whatever they want...it's silly to think that they owe being discovered on PS. Not sure anyone is REALLY saying that. But it also means that business will die down eventually, because PSers are all about a good bargain.

 

[Circe]

I'm not understanding the chain length issue. If there's a jump at 16 and 18 inches, and it's still too long at 16 inches, then the chain length never would have been correct, right? Is it the length of the key that is at issue then? Was it not made to agreed upon specifications? I do get that F asked for an 18 inch chain, and therefore, there's too much length at the end of the chain perhaps at the 16 inch jump, but what does this have to do with the length of the necklace itself.

As far as pricing, people in this thread (and the other thread) are saying JKT is overpriced. I think that's the law of supply and demand, no? If people don't want to pay her prices, they don't have to, right? I don't think, as was implied in the other thread, that Etsy sellers should continue to sell their pieces at pre-"discovered-by-PS" prices if the market demands otherwise, simply because they were "discovered-by-PS."

Many apologies if the second paragraph is a T/J. Perahps I should start a new thread because I am genuinely curious as to why anyone would think that sellers are somehow beholden to members of this forum simply because they were "discovered" here. If prices are too high, either don't buy it or go elsewhere.

That seems like it would be true...except that it'd also be a lot of extra chain Freke didn't want.

And I do agree that etsy sellers should sell at whatever they want...it's silly to think that they owe being discovered on PS. Not sure anyone is REALLY saying that. But it also means that business will die down eventually, because PSers are all about a good bargain.

On the underlined ... if that's the problem, you can just snip the extra chain off. Nail clippers are tough enough to do it, with sterling.

And on the issue of pricing and selling ... well, that's definitely the case, but if the jeweler can make more money with less stress selling one thousand dollar piece as opposed to ten hundred dollar pieces, it's worth the power-up boost the attention has given them!

 

[TravelingGal]

I'm not understanding the chain length issue. If there's a jump at 16 and 18 inches, and it's still too long at 16 inches, then the chain length never would have been correct, right? Is it the length of the key that is at issue then? Was it not made to agreed upon specifications? I do get that F asked for an 18 inch chain, and therefore, there's too much length at the end of the chain perhaps at the 16 inch jump, but what does this have to do with the length of the necklace itself.

As far as pricing, people in this thread (and the other thread) are saying JKT is overpriced. I think that's the law of supply and demand, no? If people don't want to pay her prices, they don't have to, right? I don't think, as was implied in the other thread, that Etsy sellers should continue to sell their pieces at pre-"discovered-by-PS" prices if the market demands otherwise, simply because they were "discovered-by-PS."

Many apologies if the second paragraph is a T/J. Perahps I should start a new thread because I am genuinely curious as to why anyone would think that sellers are somehow beholden to members of this forum simply because they were "discovered" here. If prices are too high, either don't buy it or go elsewhere.

That seems like it would be true...except that it'd also be a lot of extra chain Freke didn't want.

And I do agree that etsy sellers should sell at whatever they want...it's silly to think that they owe being discovered on PS. Not sure anyone is REALLY saying that. But it also means that business will die down eventually, because PSers are all about a good bargain.

On the underlined ... if that's the problem, you can just snip the extra chain off. Nail clippers are tough enough to do it, with sterling.

And on the issue of pricing and selling ... well, that's definitely the case, but if the jeweler can make more money with less stress selling one thousand dollar piece as opposed to ten hundred dollar pieces, it's worth the power-up boost the attention has given them!

I think Freke's point is that Julia said she would deliver one thing, but did another.

 

[Loves Vintage]

I'm not understanding the chain length issue. If there's a jump at 16 and 18 inches, and it's still too long at 16 inches, then the chain length never would have been correct, right? Is it the length of the key that is at issue then? Was it not made to agreed upon specifications? I do get that F asked for an 18 inch chain, and therefore, there's too much length at the end of the chain perhaps at the 16 inch jump, but what does this have to do with the length of the necklace itself.

As far as pricing, people in this thread (and the other thread) are saying JKT is overpriced. I think that's the law of supply and demand, no? If people don't want to pay her prices, they don't have to, right? I don't think, as was implied in the other thread, that Etsy sellers should continue to sell their pieces at pre-"discovered-by-PS" prices if the market demands otherwise, simply because they were "discovered-by-PS."

Many apologies if the second paragraph is a T/J. Perahps I should start a new thread because I am genuinely curious as to why anyone would think that sellers are somehow beholden to members of this forum simply because they were "discovered" here. If prices are too high, either don't buy it or go elsewhere.

That seems like it would be true...except that it'd also be a lot of extra chain Freke didn't want.

And I do agree that etsy sellers should sell at whatever they want...it's silly to think that they owe being discovered on PS. Not sure anyone is REALLY saying that. But it also means that business will die down eventually, because PSers are all about a good bargain.

On the underlined ... if that's the problem, you can just snip the extra chain off. Nail clippers are tough enough to do it, with sterling.

And on the issue of pricing and selling ... well, that's definitely the case, but if the jeweler can make more money with less stress selling one thousand dollar piece as opposed to ten hundred dollar pieces, it's worth the power-up boost the attention has given them!

I think Freke's point is that Julia said she would deliver one thing, but did another.

Yes, I undersood that part, but wasn't understanding the wearability issue. If, when worn at 16 inches of length, it is still tooo loooooooong to be wearable, then that's an entirely different issue in and of itself. Even if JKT did deliver an 18 inch with a 16 inch jump, it still wouldn't be wearable. So, does the chain need to be 15 inches? Or does the key need to be smaller? And, if the key needs to be smaller, then what'd they agree to with respect to the size of the key?

 

[Circe]

I'm not understanding the chain length issue. If there's a jump at 16 and 18 inches, and it's still too long at 16 inches, then the chain length never would have been correct, right? ....

That seems like it would be true...except that it'd also be a lot of extra chain Freke didn't want.

And I do agree that etsy sellers should sell at whatever they want...it's silly to think that they owe being discovered on PS. Not sure anyone is REALLY saying that. But it also means that business will die down eventually, because PSers are all about a good bargain.

On the underlined ... if that's the problem, you can just snip the extra chain off. Nail clippers are tough enough to do it, with sterling.

And on the issue of pricing and selling ... well, that's definitely the case, but if the jeweler can make more money with less stress selling one thousand dollar piece as opposed to ten hundred dollar pieces, it's worth the power-up boost the attention has given them!

I think Freke's point is that Julia said she would deliver one thing, but did another.

Oh, I get it - but this is a problem that's easily remedied, is all. If that's part of what's keeping Freke from being able to wear it, a solution is just a second away. It'd be nice if jewelers didn't screw up at all, of course, but when they do, better it's, a) in the customer's favor, and, b) that all life's problems were so easily fixed. Sadly, the bezels won't be - those, I'd be ticked off about, too.