Torn between DK and CvB for orange sapphire project

[Mjay]

I discussed my stone in another thread a few weeks ago. The stone is currently at GIA and I’m planning on having it set right away. I typically work with DK and have been very happy with his work. The quote I received from him was a hair higher than I initially expected so it prompted me to reach out to a few other designers to compare. I’m now deciding between DK and CvB. I have always wanted to work with CvB but I’m feeling a bit nervous after seeing some negative reviews. The estimate from CvB was only $250 more than the DK quote so now I’m torn. I’ve always wanted to have one of Caysie’s settings but since this is custom and not one of her signature designs Im wondering if I should just go with DK again and work with Caysie on another project in the future. Any advice from those who have worked with Caysie before? I haven’t bothered asking her for a CAD or timeline yet. Her time is valuable and I don’t want to waste it unless I’m all in. I’ll attach my stone and inspiration photos.

 

[elizat]

I have worked with both numerous times. I think that setting is a bit routine, so I would not necessarily go with her, unless you really want super tight tiny prongs. She and her bench do beautiful work. She has a halo style that is very similar to what you are looking at, I think it is the Delilah.

To me, you go with CvB when you want filigree, milgrain, teeny tiny prongs, and lots of little details. The inspiration setting is not really full of those, so I would probably do the savings with DK.

She also takes much longer than he does for the work. I have found that it's easier to work with one of her ready-made designs, versus having her create a custom design.

 

[mustangchi]

I have a purple sapphire with Caysie right now, this will be my 5th purchase and the third of my stones she has set for me, the other two purchases were bands.

I have had all great experiences, turnaround time was always consistent with what she told me upfront, work turned out amazing.

 

[Mjay]

I have worked with both numerous times. I think that setting is a bit routine, so I would not necessarily go with her, unless you really want super tight tiny prongs. She and her bench do beautiful work. She has a halo style that is very similar to what you are looking at, I think it is the Delilah.

To me, you go with CvB when you want filigree, milgrain, teeny tiny prongs, and lots of little details. The inspiration setting is not really full of those, so I would probably do the savings with DK.

She also takes much longer than he does for the work. I have found that it's easier to work with one of her ready-made designs, versus having her create a custom design.

Thank you! I was very excited about the minimal difference in pricing because I’ve always wanted a setting from her but I’m almost wondering if it’s a waste since this is technically a pretty basic setting. I do want claw prongs but they don’t need to be super tiny. DK can execute this setting perfectly. The one major difference though that I forgot to mention and I feel you might be able to weigh in: DK would be using newly cut melee and CvB using genuine antique OEC melee. I don’t know what my preference is on that.

 

[Mjay]

I have a purple sapphire with Caysie right now, this will be my 5th purchase and the third of my stones she has set for me, the other two purchases were bands.

I have had all great experiences, turnaround time was always consistent with what she told me upfront, work turned out amazing.

Thank you for your positive review. This is very helpful

 

[elizat]

Thank you! I was very excited about the minimal difference in pricing because I’ve always wanted a setting from her but I’m almost wondering if it’s a waste since this is technically a pretty basic setting. I do want claw prongs but they don’t need to be super tiny. DK can execute this setting perfectly. The one major difference though that I forgot to mention and I feel you might be able to weigh in: DK would be using newly cut melee and CvB using genuine antique OEC melee. I don’t know what my preference is on that.

I'd go modern round melee on this one. They will be bright, sparkly and I think suit the stone well. Her tiny claws are perfection. But if you don't want a setting with a zillion tiny claws, I think DK makes sense. The Delilah has a ton. It's similar to your inspiration. You could ask DK about lab melee. It may bring cost down.

 

[mustangchi]

Thank you for your positive review. This is very helpful

No problem, I know you and I both have worked with Megan Thorne before, I have found the customer service and communication with Caysie to be as positive as Megan's team. Hope that helps.

 

[mustangchi]

Thank you! I was very excited about the minimal difference in pricing because I’ve always wanted a setting from her but I’m almost wondering if it’s a waste since this is technically a pretty basic setting. I do want claw prongs but they don’t need to be super tiny. DK can execute this setting perfectly. The one major difference though that I forgot to mention and I feel you might be able to weigh in: DK would be using newly cut melee and CvB using genuine antique OEC melee. I don’t know what my preference is on that.

I would go for OEC myself but that's just a matter of preference!

 

[Mjay]

I would go for OEC myself but that's just a matter of preference!

Oops I totally messed that up. I meant DK- newly cut OEC and Caysie- genuine antique OEC. Both OEC just new vs genuine old

 

[Mreader]

I’m just surprised that the price difference is that slight, did DK go up or CvB come down? I’ve not worked with Caysie before but most ppl love her; the most common complaint seems to be that she can be slow.

 

[Kim N]

Oops I totally messed that up. I meant DK- newly cut OEC and Caysie- genuine antique OEC. Both OEC just new vs genuine old

As long as the genuine antiques are well cut, I would always pick genuine antiques if similarly priced.

 

[Mjay]

I’m just surprised that the price difference is that slight, did DK go up or CvB come down? I’ve not worked with Caysie before but most ppl love her; the most common complaint seems to be that she can be slow.

OK so full transparency I was surprised by the David Klass price so that’s why I wanted to compare. I’ve had a really difficult time pricing out the setting because I don’t normally do large halos. There was one time that David quoted me a crazy price on a simple band so that experience made me feel like I needed to make sure that this was an appropriate price. So I decided to reach out to CVB and Debebians . The quote from Debebians was shockingly high. I was much more confident in David’s quote after receiving the Debebians quote. But then after getting Caysie’s I felt like it was a no brainer to go with her. I should note that Caysie hasn’t done a CAD for me yet so there is a chance the price might inch up but then again I was very clear on what I wanted. I should probably ask her to do a CAD. I just don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

 

[Rfisher]

DK and CVB are quoting you the same size/cttw melee?

“The estimate from CvB was only $250 more than the DK quote”

 

[Mjay]

No problem, I know you and I both have worked with Megan Thorne before, I have found the customer service and communication with Caysie to be as positive as Megan's team. Hope that helps.

That does help. I think I will probably be fine working with Caysie since I know what to expect. I have worked with a few designers that had longer timelines with no communication and it was fine. A longer timeline is fine but when someone gives me a timeline I will need it to be very close to accurate.

 

[Mjay]

DK and CVB are quoting you the same size/cttw melee?

“The estimate from CvB was only $250 more than the DK quote”

Yes +|- Caysie has not done a CAD for me yet but her estimate was based off of the inspiration photo I sent. She knows the size of my stone and that it’s a halo of 14 stones. So the question is is my DK quote high or is Caysie undershooting. Honestly after looking at the pricing of settings in Caysie’s Etsy shop I feel like the estimate she gave me is probably pretty accurate. I’m trying to figure out what my move should be here. I didn’t anticipate this predicament. At this point, I’m leaning towards just moving forward with Caysie.

 

[Mjay]

I’ve decided to request a CAD from Caysie

 

[Autumn in New England]

I wish I could assist in your decision, but I've only worked with DK! You've received some great advice from those who have worked with both. Good luck!!

 

[mustangchi]

Also adding that I have also worked with DK and been happy, just didn't mention that in my post as you said you'd already worked with him and been happy, so I have had good experiences with both

 

[Mreader]

OK so full transparency I was surprised by the David Klass price so that’s why I wanted to compare. I’ve had a really difficult time pricing out the setting because I don’t normally do large halos. There was one time that David quoted me a crazy price on a simple band so that experience made me feel like I needed to make sure that this was an appropriate price. So I decided to reach out to CVB and Debebians . The quote from Debebians was shockingly high. I was much more confident in David’s quote after receiving the Debebians quote. But then after getting Caysie’s I felt like it was a no brainer to go with her. I should note that Caysie hasn’t done a CAD for me yet so there is a chance the price might inch up but then again I was very clear on what I wanted. I should probably ask her to do a CAD. I just don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

Interesting that Debebians was crazy high - I’ve worked with them (albeit just once) and he was in line w DK in terms of cost.

 

[Rfisher]

If I wanted an existing design of CVB’s and was getting the same cttw of antique cut melee
For $250 bring the quote difference, apples to apples
I’d pick CVB with what’s you’ve outlined here @Mjay . Production wait times don’t bother me.

If I wanted to really tweak the design/was strong minded how I wanted the design to look
Then I’d lean towards DKJ.

I’ve done a few with both, and are happy with both. Both have had instances of issues/roadblocks, but both have been extremely accommodating and fair in the end.

 

[Mjay]

All right, so I’ve got some useful information for anyone who has not worked with a CvB before. She laid out everything perfectly as far as how the process goes. She is amazingly flexible with payments. For custom designs she requires a nonrefundable $750 deposit to create a CAD (to be absorbed towards project) Time is money so totally makes sense and totally worth it if we are on the same page. At this point, I was very blunt with her and gave her the exact millimeter range that I’m expecting for the melee and the exact shank thickness range that I am expecting. I don’t want to pay a $750 nonrefundable fee and then this end up being a lot crazier than what I expected timewise and pricewise and then be out the $. I don’t mind forking out good money for a quality setting, but when the setting becomes more expensive than the actual stone, I start feeling a bit hesitant. As others have said, I think you have to be really set on her as a designer or go with one of her original designs. I think her work is stunning and I know I will be thrilled with it if I proceed but I also know that DK will do an amazing job and already has the CAD nailed. I have at this point found Caysie to be perfectly responsive. If this is not the right project for us I have many stones in line that would fit perfectly in her preexisting designs. If I don’t catch her on this one I’ll catch her next time.

 

[Mreader]

@Mjay when you said DK had the CAD nailed do you mean he already made one?

 

[Mjay]

@Mjay when you said DK had the CAD nailed do you mean he already made one?

Yes! In typical DK fashion, I reached out for a quote and he replied with a quote and a finished CAD. I’ll bump up the shank width a hair but other than that it was perfect. The only thing that gave me hesitation was the price.

 

[Mjay]

Interesting that Debebians was crazy high - I’ve worked with them (albeit just once) and he was in line w DK in terms of cost.

I have not worked with them before but have heard great things. I was shocked at their quote. Significantly higher than both DK and CvB. This stone is very very large (almost 14cts) but I got an incredible deal on it. Another pricescoper brought up that I might be getting the “she can afford it” markup from vendors based on my stone size. The debebians quote was literally more than what I paid for the stone.

 

[Mjay]

I wasn’t sure that I was going to revive this thread with this information. I always seem to shy away from saying anything negative but I shouldn’t feel the need to sensor myself for the sake of being polite. Anyways, I asked Caysie if she could give me a definitive melee size for the halo before I proceeded with the deposit. She totally ghosted me and stopped responding to my texts. This is incredibly rude and unprofessional, and I totally feel like I dodged a bullet. I was leaning towards DK for this one anyways. I have always received above and beyond excellent customer service and quality work from David Klass so I will be having him create by setting.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I wasn’t sure that I was going to revive this thread with this information. I always seem to shy away from saying anything negative but I shouldn’t feel the need to sensor myself for the sake of being polite. Anyways, I asked Caysie if she could give me a definitive melee size for the halo before I proceeded with the deposit. She totally ghosted me and stopped responding to my texts. This is incredibly rude and unprofessional, and I totally feel like I dodged a bullet. I was leaning towards DK for this one anyways. I have always received above and beyond excellent customer service and quality work from David Klass so I will be having him create by setting.

Oh that's too bad... I've never worked with her, but agree that communication is key in any project. David is so busy, but it amazes me that he never turns anyone away or fails to respond.

 

[Mjay]

Oh that's too bad... I've never worked with her, but agree that communication is key in any project. David is so busy, but it amazes me that he never turns anyone away or fails to respond.

The man is a wizard! He is so quick to respond. He’s sending me two molds. One larger 14 stone halo and a smaller 16 stone halo. I’m so excited!

 

[Niel]

Can I see the cads?

 

[elizat]

That's disappointing. Her bench does great work and she has some lovely designs in her portfolio. When I was considering something bespoke and new, my experience was the same, fwiw. When I have used an existing design, it was not that way and things were fine, with the normal slower speed expected. I'm sorry you were disappointed. DK will make a very nice piece. I would consider the weight projected. I have a ring that's a about 20 grams all in and it's very solid, but it's heavy.

 

[Autumn in New England]

The man is a wizard! He is so quick to respond. He’s sending me two molds. One larger 14 stone halo and a smaller 16 stone halo. I’m so excited!

I'm excited for you!!