Would you be annoyed if someone copied your custom jewelry designs?

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Follow up questions:

- does it matter if its a stranger (e.g. someone seeing something here on PS) or someone you know in real life? Or would both bother you?

- does it matter what the piece is? E.g. if its something really meaningful or emotionally significant, like an e-ring? Or if its a piece you put a lot of effort/moving parts into designing and its truly unique or custom, not something you can find close versions of online?

- does it matter if they ask you for permission beforehand?

- will it change how you see or feel about the piece?

- do you feel more badly if the copy is not done well? Or do you feel more badly if its a better version of yours? (however you want to define "not well" and "better").

- does it bother you if they get a chance to wear it publicly / in front of a wider group of people before you do? E.g. true story from my mom - she custom designed a band (very unusual, with multiple metal colours and multiple sizes of melee in an asymmetric pattern) on behalf of my dad as a birthday present. She gave it to my dad once it was ready and he hung on to it till her birthday. She also sent pics of the completed ring to a "friend" in excitement - the friend got the ring copied for herself and wore it to a party before my dad could give it to my mom. She was super upset!

- or do you not care, choosing to think of it as simply "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery'?

All thoughts welcome!

 

[pearlsngems]

I will only say this, as I don't get jewelry custom-designed: I agree with the apostrophes around your mom's "friend".
She was no friend.

 

[Sparkledrops]

Follow up questions:

- does it matter if its a stranger (e.g. someone seeing something here on PS) or someone you know in real life? Or would both bother you?

- does it matter what the piece is? E.g. if its something really meaningful or emotionally significant, like an e-ring? Or if its a piece you put a lot of effort/moving parts into designing and its truly unique or custom, not something you can find close versions of online?

- does it matter if they ask you for permission beforehand?

- will it change how you see or feel about the piece?

- do you feel more badly if the copy is not done well? Or do you feel more badly if its a better version of yours? (however you want to define "not well" and "better").

- does it bother you if they get a chance to wear it publicly / in front of a wider group of people before you do? E.g. true story from my mom - she custom designed a band (very unusual, with multiple metal colours and multiple sizes of melee in an asymmetric pattern) on behalf of my dad as a birthday present. She gave it to my dad once it was ready and he hung on to it till her birthday. She also sent pics of the completed ring to a "friend" in excitement - the friend got the ring copied for herself and wore it to a party before my dad could give it to my mom. She was super upset!

- or do you not care, choosing to think of it as simply "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery'?

All thoughts welcome!

I think if it were a person that I saw regularly, it might upset me a little if they copied my unique design. But, if it were a fellow pricescoper, I'd be flattered!

 

[MamaBee]

I agree with @Angie3 I wouldn’t mind if it was someone from here…because I don’t see you in person. Your mom’s friend was horrible to copy the design, and wear it before your father could give it to her. I would be mad as heck..That would be enough to cut her out of my life.

 

[yssie]

I don’t care at all, for me. My livelihood isn’t impacted.

I care very very much for my jewellers, however. I take a zero-tolerance stance to both vendors and consumers who choose to steal my vendors’ custom designs, because that’s their livelihoods: I won’t use or recommend those vendors and I hold those consumers in low regard. I think anyone who has ever read any of my posts on this topic knows my views

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I will only say this, as I don't get jewelry custom-designed: I agree with the apostrophes around your mom's "friend".
She was no friend.

I agree with @Angie3 I wouldn’t mind if it was someone from here…because I don’t see you in person. Your mom’s friend was horrible to copy the design, and wear it before your father could give it to her. I would be mad as heck..That would be enough to cut her out of my life.

My mom got over it quicker than I would have for sure! She custom designs pretty much everything she has (I am similar) and she tells me to always take it as a compliment if someone rips off your design, but I tell her she's way more forgiving than I would be, lol.

I actually think she got a unique bit of revenge on that friend which should show you the kind of person she is - she showed that design around to a lot of her friends and acquaintances, telling them it was a birthday present from her husband (but implying it was an old present) and encouraged a bunch of them to get it made for themselves as well. About 4-5 of them took her up on it (wasn't anything hugely expensive, but it was striking). Suddenly there was an influx of that ring in her circle haha and that original "friend" never wore it again, because whenever anyone would ask the 4-5 women where they got it from, they'd always be like, "oh I got the design from AllAboard's mom! Yeah it was a present from her husband from a while back I think but she was super generous in sharing the design around, isn't it cool?"

I think if it were a person that I saw regularly, it might upset me a little if they copied my unique design. But, if it were a fellow pricescoper, I'd be flattered!

yeah I agree with you and @MamaBee - I wouldn't care if it was someone I didn't know in real life, but if it was someone in my friend circle, I'd be annoyed.

I don’t care at all, for me. My livelihood isn’t impacted.

I care very very much for my jewellers, however. I take a zero-tolerance stance to both vendors or consumers who choose to steal my vendors’ custom designs. But I think everyone who has ever read any of my posts on this topic knows my views

that's a fair point! I wouldn't care if it was like, 90% of my stuff, but anything that has emotional significance for me - I would be pissed.

 

[winnietucker]

Not that I have anything worth copying, but for my stuff I don’t personally care.

I didn’t know it was considered bad form to copy a style you like until I read another post here on that a bit back. I now make an effort to make changes to things I see and like. I also have asked permission to do a similar design in the past (the kind PS-er gave me permission to do something similar).

I think the average person doesn’t know that it’s not acceptable to do that. And before anyone jumps down my throat about it, I’m not saying it’s okay or not okay because they don’t know. I just don’t think the average person looks at jewelry and jewelry designers the way PS does. At least, not in the group of people I know.

 

[Rfisher]

It is ‘your’ design anymore once the jeweler/designer makes your vision a reality? They may claim it as theirs and they may state they made all the design choices you actually laid out.
Another facet - so to say.

But to answer your original question, no.
I do heavily lean on it needing to be a two way street, tho. Pots/kettles - goose/gander and such. Especially with the asking permission aspect.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Not that I have anything worth copying, but for my stuff I don’t personally care.

I didn’t know it was considered bad form to copy a style you like until I read another post here on that a bit back. I now make an effort to make changes to things I see and like. I also have asked permission to do a similar design in the past (the kind PS-er gave me permission to do something similar).

I think the average person doesn’t know that it’s not acceptable to do that. And before anyone jumps down my throat about it, I’m not saying it’s okay or not okay because they don’t know. I just don’t think the average person looks at jewelry and jewelry designers the way PS does. At least, not in the group of people I know.

I think copying/being inspired by a style is probably a bit different to copying something super unique. I don't know if I'm getting my point across well, but its like, I personally feel like if you see, idk, someone's solitaire setting and you think "this is perfect" and you replicate the small features that make it unique (shank thickness, head height, claw prongs etc). it isn't bad for me, because those things are still normal/common in settings. But lets say they got a custom mount where the basket had little sailboat shapes on the side all around because they were proposed to in a boat, I would be hesitant to replicate that particular detail because it's a) unique and not seen often, and b) special and meaningful to the person. I might still want to do it if I personally am obsessed with boats and it has a personal meaning to me, but I would probably not copy my best friend's ring at that point anyway, without at the least asking her for permission. An internet acquaintance I'll never meet in person? I would be more inclined to doing so.

I do agree though, that its a fair point to consider that the average person might not think its a big deal to do.

It is ‘your’ design anymore once the jeweler/designer makes your vision a reality? They may claim it as theirs and they may state they made all the design choices you actually laid out.
Another facet - so to say.

But to answer your original question, no.
I do heavily lean on it needing to be a two way street, tho. Pots/kettles - goose/gander and such.

I actually totally agree, and wouldn't hold it against a jeweler who sold the design further. But in that case I expect the people buying it to be strangers, and that doesnt bother me. I am not sure why it doesn't, but it doesn't.

 

[yssie]

It is ‘your’ design anymore once the jeweler/designer makes your vision a reality? They may claim it as theirs and they may state they made all the design choices you actually laid out.
Another facet - so to say.

But to answer your original question, no.
I do heavily lean on it needing to be a two way street, tho. Pots/kettles - goose/gander and such.

I contend that unless you did all the design work yourself, down to the minutiae, and your vendor was merely the bench… The incarnation of your idea that your jeweller brought to life belongs to your jeweller first and foremost

For me, if I take an idea to a jeweller, that jeweller is free to remake it as many times as he or she would like. In fact the more he or she can profit from it the happier I am!!

 

[kenny]

Not at all.

 

[dk168]

I would be flattered if someone likes a piece of my jewellery that much to create an exact copy.

DK

 

[Matata]

I wouldn't get upset. Several years ago we had a post and poster go nuclear when someone copied her ring. I've seen hundreds of thousands of pieces here, on line, in person, from all eras and have yet to see anything unique in total design or particular aspects of design that make a piece so unique/one-of-a-kind it would qualify for a legal dispensation against being copied.

I understand the emotional expenditure of choosing a design customized to one's particular taste but there has yet to be something new under the sun in all the pieces posted here. The only significant differences I have seen are executions of a design in quality and proportions. I have yet to see a total design or design elements that is not the same as or similar to other designs posted here or that exist out in the world on someone else's neck/wrist/finger.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Not in principle, no.
As with most things, everything has already been done, somewhere. No one is reinventing the wheel. Someone did it before you, guaranteed. The only originality is in how you subtly arrange the elements or play with techniques. You're paying for the arrangement, not the idea. Slight variance is fair game.
There was a designer who was quite sensitive to their own propriety, and yet several years later, they have all but taken aspects of another famous designer's work and are calling it an exclusive design. It clearly isn't. It's an extremely close iteration of that designer's variation of a classic design that came before. The only reason I clocked it at all was because of issues they had previously against the obvious inevitable.
That's what design, art and music is, the reshuffling and influence of what has come before.



Now, undermining your friends by showing up with exact copies of their design to steal the thunder of an occasion before it happens is just a sh*tty underhanded and unnecessarily cruel thing to do.

 

[123ducklings]

I wouldn't get upset. Several years ago we had a post and poster go nuclear when someone copied her ring.

That’s the first thing that jumped to mind! Geez, I’ve been reading PS a long time.

More on topic: I’ve actually had this happen. My husband had a signet ring designed custom for me to commemorate a milestone anniversary with specifically meaningful imagery/symbols. The vendor posted images of the final ring on their social media (I think that’s great, more power to them) but the images were taken and now you can buy “that ring” (a sloppy cast costume version) on AliExpress. It’s very weird! The vendor was rightfully annoyed, as was I at first. We were able to laugh it off mostly because the quality of the copies is so poor. There were MANY purchases and even photo reviews left for the AE vendor, so it does feel strange to know that there are random people out in the world wearing a ring that was made with such personal imagery and specific meaning for me. The ring is very “me.” I guess I’m flattered my taste resonated enough to create a knockoff market? The ring is very meaningful to me and I wear it often; I haven’t thought about the copies in a long time so it doesn’t impact my enjoyment at all.

 

[gregchang35]

I don’t have an issue with it. My style is simple and I would like to think classic in some way: it ain’t unique. I have copied a ring, too and added 2 elements specific to me. So I can’t be annoyed that someone copied my design.

Funnily, I saw a couple that had their engagement ring copied. They had worn theirs at an event: it was stunning 3 stone ring. Another couple loved the idea, and at the next event, the 2nd couple had the exact same design. Maybe the size of stones may be a little different.

Was a little odd. The original couple didn’t seem to mind, but I guess it would have been too costly to change! Lol.

But, I felt at that moment, I would have been upset by the exact copy of the engagement ring for the original couple.

Weird how I felt about that and how I feel about my rings.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I wouldn't get upset. Several years ago we had a post and poster go nuclear when someone copied her ring. I've seen hundreds of thousands of pieces here, on line, in person, from all eras and have yet to see anything unique in total design or particular aspects of design that make a piece so unique/one-of-a-kind it would qualify for a legal dispensation against being copied.

I understand the emotional expenditure of choosing a design customized to one's particular taste but there has yet to be something new under the sun in all the pieces posted here. The only significant differences I have seen are executions of a design in quality and proportions. I have yet to see a total design or design elements that is not the same as or similar to other designs posted here or that exist out in the world on someone else's neck/wrist/finger.

Not in principle, no.
As with most things, everything has already been done, somewhere. No one is reinventing the wheel. Someone did it before you, guaranteed. The only originality is in how you subtly arrange the elements or play with techniques. You're paying for the arrangement, not the idea. Slight variance is fair game.
There was a designer who was quite sensitive to their own propriety, and yet several years later, they have all but taken aspects of another famous designer's work and are calling it an exclusive design. It clearly isn't. It's an extremely close iteration of that designer's variation of a classic design that came before. The only reason I clocked it at all was because of issues they had previously against the obvious inevitable.
That's what design, art and music is, the reshuffling and influence of what has come before.



Now, undermining your friends by showing up with exact copies of their design to steal the thunder of an occasion before it happens is just a sh*tty underhanded and unnecessarily cruel thing to do.

I think that’s a fair point, that there’s nothing really new under the sun, especially when it comes to ring settings and the like.

I don’t remember seeing a post with someone going nuclear over someone else copying their ring, so this must have been before my time here! Not that I’ve been here super long - I think I joined in 2020.

I do think that some things are “copyrightable” when it comes to design though, aren’t they? Like for example the Cartier Love bracelet - isn’t the screw motif and mechanism a trademark design for them that someone else shouldn’t be able to rip off (not that it stops people)? Not that they’re the first to make a bracelet that has a screw for a closure - Indian jewelry had that feature many centuries ago, though the usage of a screwdriver is unique to them I think.

I suppose that’s a different point and I’m going down a tangent, because a customer who gets a piece made - even one that is genuinely uncommon/unique - is not trademarking the design, so there’s nothing illegal about getting it made for yourself.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

That’s the first thing that jumped to mind! Geez, I’ve been reading PS a long time.

More on topic: I’ve actually had this happen. My husband had a signet ring designed custom for me to commemorate a milestone anniversary with specifically meaningful imagery/symbols. The vendor posted images of the final ring on their social media (I think that’s great, more power to them) but the images were taken and now you can buy “that ring” (a sloppy cast costume version) on AliExpress. It’s very weird! The vendor was rightfully annoyed, as was I at first. We were able to laugh it off mostly because the quality of the copies is so poor. There were MANY purchases and even photo reviews left for the AE vendor, so it does feel strange to know that there are random people out in the world wearing a ring that was made with such personal imagery and specific meaning for me. The ring is very “me.” I guess I’m flattered my taste resonated enough to create a knockoff market? The ring is very meaningful to me and I wear it often; I haven’t thought about the copies in a long time so it doesn’t impact my enjoyment at all.

Do you think you would feel differently if it was friends of yours who copied the ring, and got it made by a vendor who gave them good workmanship, so it’s comparable to yours?

I feel like if I was in your case, I’d feel similarly in that if it was a stranger, or someone who had a clear “knockoff” version of my things, I wouldn’t care. Honestly, since you’ve had a chance to wear it and it’s become a part of your usual aesthetic, if I were you in the hypothetical I posed above, it wouldn’t bother me even if my friends copied it because in my head it would be established as my design. I think the actual fact of the matter that copies exist of my custom designs wouldnt bother me, but I would like to be known as the “originator” of those at least in my own circle.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I don’t have an issue with it. My style is simple and I would like to think classic in some way: it ain’t unique. I have copied a ring, too and added 2 elements specific to me. So I can’t be annoyed that someone copied my design.

Funnily, I saw a couple that had their engagement ring copied. They had worn theirs at an event: it was stunning 3 stone ring. Another couple loved the idea, and at the next event, the 2nd couple had the exact same design. Maybe the size of stones may be a little different.

Was a little odd. The original couple didn’t seem to mind, but I guess it would have been too costly to change! Lol.

But, I felt at that moment, I would have been upset by the exact copy of the engagement ring for the original couple.

Weird how I felt about that and how I feel about my rings.

Imo being inspired and copying are different. If you added two elements specific to you to a ring design - that’s not copying anymore!

Also imo the example you gave of the two couples is actually something that wouldn’t have bothered me if I was the first couple - 3 stone rings have been around forever! That to me is not something a person can “own”.

 

[icy_jade]

I wouldn't get upset. Several years ago we had a post and poster go nuclear when someone copied her ring. I've seen hundreds of thousands of pieces here, on line, in person, from all eras and have yet to see anything unique in total design or particular aspects of design that make a piece so unique/one-of-a-kind it would qualify for a legal dispensation against being copied.

I understand the emotional expenditure of choosing a design customized to one's particular taste but there has yet to be something new under the sun in all the pieces posted here. The only significant differences I have seen are executions of a design in quality and proportions. I have yet to see a total design or design elements that is not the same as or similar to other designs posted here or that exist out in the world on someone else's neck/wrist/finger.

I remember that thread too. And also the vendor that made noise but then I see elements of those vintage touches in truly vintage rings too so…

Imo if it’s out in the public domain which is pretty much what happens once you post on PS or on IG, then it’s out there and anyone can make a copy.

I think best to take it as imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If someone loves the design enough to copy, then they must really really love the ring right?

But if it’s someone I know irl, I think it would be very rude if the person didn’t ask before hand, especially if it’s a really unique design.

 

[seaurchin]

To me, it just depends. I doubt I'd even recognize it if someone did copy one of my "designs" because so far they've been pretty basic and based on pieces I've seen many times before myself.

However, if someone did like something I had made enough to ask if they could copy it, I'd be flattered and happy to provide the specs.

But all that is not the same as someone you know IRL snitching an idea that's special to you and presenting it as their own. Imo that has a nasty, competitive vibe to it that would not be there if they just asked first and acknowledged where they got the idea.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I remember that thread too. And also the vendor that made noise but then I see elements of those vintage touches in truly vintage rings too so…

Imo if it’s out in the public domain which is pretty much what happens once you post on PS or on IG, then it’s out there and anyone can make a copy.

I think best to take it as imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If someone loves the design enough to copy, then they must really really love the ring right?

But if it’s someone I know irl, I think it would be very rude if the person didn’t ask before hand, especially if it’s a really unique design.

Agreed with everything you said!

To me, it just depends. I doubt I'd even recognize it if someone did copy one of my "designs" because so far they've been pretty basic and based on pieces I've seen many times before myself.

However, if someone did like something I had made enough to ask if they could copy it, I'd be flattered and happy to provide the specs.

But all that is not the same as someone you know IRL snitching an idea that's special to you and presenting it as their own. Imo that has a nasty, competitive vibe to it that would not be there if they just asked first and acknowledged where they got the idea.

I think you put a finger on why it annoys me when people do this kind of shit irl - because it comes across as nastily competitive. My mom’s “friend” who stole her ring design was an a-hole for doing it the way she did. But she played herself over an inexpensive ring design - because my mom didn’t trust her with anything again.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

well everyone relax
even if i won lotto
my phone has died and ive lost all my PS inspiration photos

 

[Calliecake]

I wouldn’t care at all.

@AllAboardTheBlingTrain, i think what your mom’s friend did was wrong. I wouldn’t have minded that she had a ring made but it was wrong of her to wear it before your mom wore her ring.

 

[LilAlex]

I read the title and thought "I would not care at all." Then I read the specific instance and thought that particular copier must be a complete sociopath. I mean there is "Ooh, I like what you did there" and then there is deliberately upstaging someone and stealing their joy...

I had a brush with this a few days ago. Our handful of things are vintage with a few custom-made. All the custom has been super-simple but with clean lines and made to a high standard. There are plenty of "similar" rings out there but few I'd trade for. My one exception to keep-it-simple is the carved dragonfly ring that I posted here last week. I feel it's unique; at least I've never seen anything like it. I put a lot of thought into it even though the metalsmith did all the "actual" work and the final product is much more his vision than mine. I loved his IG posts featuring the ring in progress (felt like a celebrity!) but a handful of the comments were "Make me one just like it!" Not 100% sure how I feel about that (looking for a straight-mouth emoji here but coming up empty). Certainly no one I would ever bump into IRL would have anything similar, even if there were a hundred of them out there. As much as I agree with @yssie above, and as pleased as I was that others might want to copy it, a selfish part of me was thinking, "Come on, can't you make yours with puppies or bats or something??"

We were solidly middle class but my Mom had great taste in design and decorating and got a lot of mileage out of the little she "invested" in decor. She didn't fuss around a lot -- she did things to her understated taste and then left it alone, classic and timeless. There was a neighbor down the street who (unabashedly) copied every single idea Mom used. The woman was a close family friend and a lovely person. She freely admitted that she liked Mom's taste and so she copied it whenever she could -- like how you might be inclined toward the same car that your crazy-car-savvy neighbor just bought. I kinda get it. But it sure drove Mom nuts.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Has anyone here paid a jeweler not to replicate their design for another customer and not to publish photos?

The tattoo industry has developed a professional standard whereby a tattooer who makes direct copies would be excluded from the ranks of elite tattooers. But the same thing might not happen in the jewelry industry because there is so much more money needed for customers to be able to design a remarkably unique piece, or for jewelers to resist copying it.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I read the title and thought "I would not care at all." Then I read the specific instance and thought that particular copier must be a complete sociopath. I mean there is "Ooh, I like what you did there" and then there is deliberately upstaging someone and stealing their joy...

I had a brush with this a few days ago. Our handful of things are vintage with a few custom-made. All the custom has been super-simple but with clean lines and made to a high standard. There are plenty of "similar" rings out there but few I'd trade for. My one exception to keep-it-simple is the carved dragonfly ring that I posted here last week. I feel it's unique; at least I've never seen anything like it. I put a lot of thought into it even though the metalsmith did all the "actual" work and the final product is much more his vision than mine. I loved his IG posts featuring the ring in progress (felt like a celebrity!) but a handful of the comments were "Make me one just like it!" Not 100% sure how I feel about that (looking for a straight-mouth emoji here but coming up empty). Certainly no one I would ever bump into IRL would have anything similar, even if there were a hundred of them out there. As much as I agree with @yssie above, and as pleased as I was that others might want to copy it, a selfish part of me was thinking, "Come on, can't you make yours with puppies or bats or something??"

We were solidly middle class but my Mom had great taste in design and decorating and got a lot of mileage out of the little she "invested" in decor. She didn't fuss around a lot -- she did things to her understated taste and then left it alone, classic and timeless. There was a neighbor down the street who (unabashedly) copied every single idea Mom used. The woman was a close family friend and a lovely person. She freely admitted that she liked Mom's taste and so she copied it whenever she could -- like how you might be inclined toward the same car that your crazy-car-savvy neighbor just bought. I kinda get it. But it sure drove Mom nuts.

I don’t think it’s selfish at all to be like “can’t you make yours with puppies or bats” haha. It’s not like you’d rip it off the hands of someone who wore it and you’ll likely still love your ring, but it’s human to feel a twinge.

I think what annoys me is that people might think that I’m the one who copied the other person! It wouldn’t matter if it just something random but if it’s something really meaningful I want to feel like everyone knows the design is mine. That makes me sound batty, I know!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Has anyone here paid a jeweler not to replicate their design for another customer and not to publish photos?

The tattoo industry has developed a professional standard whereby a tattooer who makes direct copies would be excluded from the ranks of elite tattooers. But the same thing might not happen in the jewelry industry because there is so much more money needed for customers to be able to design a remarkably unique piece, or for jewelers to resist copying it.

I think you probably could pay a jeweler not to replicate a design, but it would be really expensive to do so, and it doesn’t stop other people taking pics of your design and going to a different jeweler to get it copied, or asking your jeweler to make it with just a little tweak.

 

[dk168]

A design could be copied in its entirety; however, the finished piece would not have the original thoughts and sentiments attached to it.

DK

 

[missy]

I read the title and thought "I would not care at all." Then I read the specific instance and thought that particular copier must be a complete sociopath. I mean there is "Ooh, I like what you did there" and then there is deliberately upstaging someone and stealing their joy...

Same.

No I wouldn't mind if someone copied my design.
But in the case of the above situation that was a lousy thing for her to do to her "friend" and I would question if that person was truly my friend. My conclusion would be no.

But moving forward...no I wouldn't mind at all. As others have pointed out there is very little that is original and unique. However it isn't OK to steal a designer's creation and copy it exactly without their permission IMO. There is an artist I am thinking of who a PSer used and then someone else had it copied and it caused a brouhaha. And I remember thinking it wasn't OK. As @yssie points out it is their livelihood. But IIRC the copy wasn't good. Don;t ask me for details as I don't remember them anyway.

Personally I believe (in many cases not all) "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".
I had friends copy my style in the past and it never bothered me.
In college I dyed part of my hair blue. A friend did the same. It didn't bother me.
If I had friends who decided they wanted to start wearing antique old cut jewelry it wouldn't bother me.
If I had a friend who decided she wanted to copy the exact ring setting I have it wouldn't bother me.

But then again I really don't have anything unique or original in my wardrobe including jewelry.
So I guess I really cannot put myself in their shoes.
I *think* I wouldn't mind at all.
That's the best I can say at this time.

That it wouldn't change how I feel about the piece.
It wouldn't matter to me if it was a bad copy. I might feel sorry for my friend but if they loved it I wouldn't want to spoil their joy.

And to answer your question about if the piece meant something significant to you...that's a hard one for me because I don't really attach significance to jewelry or things. I mean I do think I have a few special pieces that mean something to me but in the end, the truth is they are just things. To me. So while at this time I say oh this piece is special to me it is still just a piece and I don't really attach emotional significance to any thing. But that is me and I totally get why others feel differently. 100% understand. Just sharing my thoughts.



In the case of @AllAboardTheBlingTrain 's mom. I wouldn't be OK with that. Why did she go behind her back? Why didn't she ask your mom hey I love this can I copy it? So yeah not cool.