thoughts on diamond

[diamondnewbie1991]

thanks! im in the ny area and can go speak to most of these guys live

you previously recommended ERD / Mark Turnowski to another user facing the same issue. would you still recommend them? seems like they can do it for $1,000 - $1,500 cheaper

 

[PintoBean]

thanks! im in the ny area and can go speak to most of these guys live

you previously recommended ERD / Mark Turnowski to another user facing the same issue. would you still recommend them? seems like they can do it for $1,000 - $1,500 cheaper

When you are comparing BE with SK or VC is it an apples to apples comparison? That is, is BE quoting you hand forged or cad/cast?

While I have a BE cad/cast setting, if I were to go the hand forged pave route, I would pick SK or VC in a heartbeat!

 

[diamondnewbie1991]

yes apples to apples:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-do-you-all-think-of-this-stone.219137/page-2#post-3981481#p3981481']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-do-you-all-think-of-this-stone.219137/page-2#post-3981481#p3981481[/URL]

seems like steve kirsch quoted ~6500 for a 2 carat center stone which is above my budget

 

[Gypsy]

Regarding ERD/BE, as I said before you need to do research on any vendor you are considering: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-upsetting-brilliantly-engaged-experience.223639/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-upsetting-brilliantly-engaged-experience.223639/[/URL] This is why I am not recommending BE at the moment.

Futhermore, ERD has two benches. A CAD bench and a Handforged. Their handforged will be less than Steven, but not by much. And CAD isn't the method we recommend as the best for that, though you are right it will be significantly cheaper.

Again, with NO sacrifice at all to the appearance of the stone you can go to a 15000 stone and get the best quality in a hand-forged halo. So I do recommend you do that.

 

[Gypsy]

yes apples to apples:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-do-you-all-think-of-this-stone.219137/page-2#post-3981481#p3981481']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-do-you-all-think-of-this-stone.219137/page-2#post-3981481#p3981481[/URL]

seems like steve kirsch quoted ~6500 for a 2 carat center stone which is above my budget

Yes, that was a 2 carat stone. This is not. It's a 1.7 carat stone. The setting should cost significantly more. PLUS that halo IS NOT the right one. It's a two row halo. You only need a ONE row halo.

Also there are modifications you can make, that can EASILY lower the price without any sacrifice:

1. You do not need a full eternity pave shank. And actually we don't recommend it at all. You can do 2/3rd eternity or 1/2 eternity. Also in the profile do not get any pave in the gallery or on the 'stems'. Okay? That plus the stone size should bring it to 5k. If not, ask Steven what modifications he can do to bring it in budget. He's very easy.

 

[Gypsy]

This is the one you want: http://stevenkirsch.com/gallery/n-one-halo-r-0157/

But with one modification: no pave on the donut or on the stems. Plain gallery not pave.

This one: http://stevenkirsch.com/gallery/promise/ Has all that. But the stems and the gallery are too wide. The other one has a better design in the gallery, it will allow a close fit band.

That design should be 5k. It's NOT the same as the one in the other thread.

 

[Gypsy]

NEVER MIND ABOVE:


THIS IS THE EXACT SETTING YOU WANT:
http://stevenkirsch.com/gallery/ring-n-one-flush-halo-diamonds-platinum/ N one FLUSH.

This one should be 5k. Ask for Steven to work with you on price if the price comes back too high.

If you want to get quotes from BE and Victor, do so, and use them to see if Steven will lower his price if he comes back higher.

 

[diamondnewbie1991]

Thanks - i was going through old posts again, and came across this one:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/comparison-photos-of-my-victor-canera-sk-leon-ring-setting.166496/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/comparison-photos-of-my-victor-canera-sk-leon-ring-setting.166496/[/URL]

It seems like other PSers have a strong preference for VC over SK. Based on the pictures shown in that thread I do think the VC halo looks better.

Do you have any updated thoughts to the posts from 5 years ago?

Thanks!

 

[Gypsy]

There are a lot of updates to that. Steven and Victor both do great work. Many PSers have settings from both of them.

I highly recommend Victor. The only issue is that in another thread (one about a heart diamond) a poster said that Victor is booked for the time being. So I don't know what your timeline is.

Honestly, there is no bad choice. She'll be thrilled and get a quality ring either way.

 

[Gypsy]

Also regarding that post by frankiextah , you can see in that thread my issues with it, I was quite candid in my responses.

 

[diamondnewbie1991]

Ok thanks for the advice. As it relates to Victor, in your experience has he been more flexible on price of settings if you get the diamond from him? I wouldn't mind going that route just given the convenience factor of it along with the potential discount

 

[Gypsy]

I have no experience with that and do not know anything about his pricing as it relates to "whole ring" versus "just the setting" pricing.

I think I have heard that Steven's pricing IS more flexible if you buy the stone from him though. But that was a while ago.