If you’re like most people, you probably don’t have a lot of experience with getting jewellery hand made.
The good news is its not hard and there are plenty of quality jewellers out there to choose from. Just go the Yellow Pages and look under Manufacturing Jewellers and you'll find plenty to work with. We also offer the services of our Master Jewellers (Michael or Phil) should you wish us to make your ring for you.
The other bit of good news is that for rings that retail for more than, say, $3,000 to $5,000, it will almost certainly cost less to have a comparable one hand made than to buy the same thing off the shelf (unless the ring has been heavily discounted). The more costly the ring in a retail outlet, the greater the savings to you when buying from a reputable online merchant or a local manufacturing jeweller.
And, there's more …
Rings hand-crafted by quality bespoke jewellers generally value-up higher than similar off-the-shelf items.
Plus, hand made rings are truly unique. You might see similar ones if you go for a popular design, but hand making means no two rings are ever the same.
There are four things that impact on the cost of having a ring made up:
Generally, a simple solitaire ring will be less expensive than a complicated, multi-stone ring — regardless of the size of the diamond or gemstone.
As a very rough guide the following may help.
For a simple men's wedding band, 18 carat gold, handmade, nice and weighty (10 - 12 grams) allow around $900 - $1,300 for a simple ring. The same ring in platinum would be much heavier and cost around $1,800 - $2,400. Women's wedding bands generally require less metal and unless gemset or ornate should cost a little less.
For an engagement ring. A simple claw setting in 18 carat gold would be around $1300 - $1500, in platinum, $2,000 - $2,400. These prices include the gold and manufacturing, but exclude diamonds or gemstones.
Jeweller's hourly rates vary a lot — usually somewhere between $60/hr and $120/hr — and this can be a function of their operating costs rather than necessarily their skill (but not always, a Master Jeweller is someone with exceptional skills and long experience and will charge accordingly). We use the services of two jewellers, both of whom charge their time at $88 an hour (GST included).
You may well be better off all round finding yourself a good suburban jeweller or a ‘trade' jeweller who works from home, rather than going to one of the big retailers in the city. (Most 'big' jewellery retailers outsource their hand-makes to trade jewellers and take their cut of the final price — so going direct to the jeweller is well worth it.)
GIA certified, round brilliant, G Si 1 colour/clarity= nice white stone with no eye visible inclusions. Very popular choice. |
Price per stone - subject to variation. Current as at December 1st, 2009 |
| 25 to 30 points (4.1 - 4.2mm diameter) | $500 - $1,205 |
| 35 to 40 points (4.5 4.8mm) | $845 - $1,266 |
| 50 points (5.2mm) | $1,875 - $2,255 |
| 60 - 70 points (5.4 - 5.8mm) |
$1,981 - $3,985 |
| 75 points (6.0mm) | $4,125 - $5,087 |
| 80 - 90 points (6.1 - 6.3mm) | $4,345 - $6,850 |
| 91 - 99 points (6.3 - 6.5mm) | $5689 - $8647 |
| 1 carat (6.6mm) | $5863 - $11146 |
| 1.5 carats (7.4mm) | $16637 - $22,352 |
| 2 carats (8.0mm) | $33,556 - $40,662 |
| 3 carats (9.4mm) | $61,154 - $74,342 |
Importantly, the cost of having a ring made really doesn't change that much regardless of the value of the finished ring. (One thing however, that might make a noticeable difference is if your partner wants a ring with a lot of stones. Setting costs can vary from $10 - $15 each for tiny stones to $50 - $80 for large singles — so making a ring with 40 or 50 tiny diamonds might cost $400 to $500 more than setting one big stone.)
Generally if you allow up to $1,600 for a gold ring and $2,500 for platinum, you'll be fairly safe.
When it comes to the ‘raw materials', really it comes down to whatever's left in your budget after allowing for the make.
Diamonds are typically the most expensive ring component (apart from some very rare and unique coloured gems).
A bit of comparison-shopping.
Let's consider a popular ring style, the half carat six claw solitaire in 18 carat yellow gold.
Purchased from a high-end retailer (not a mass market, made offshore chain store) it would set you back anywhere from $4,000 to $9,500, depending on the diamond quality.
If you instead chose from our selection, you could purchase a top of the range G Si1 half-carat diamond for around $2,000, a bar of 18 carat yellow gold for $540 and pay a jeweller around $1,000 to make it.
That would give you the same ring for $3,500 or so. Spend less than an extra thousand and have it in platinum! You could even go for a higher grade stone, say E VS for around $4,000 - $5,000 and still have a less expensive ring than our off the shelf example, even a D colour diamond would not be as pricey as the top of the line from a high end retailer.
How long it takes to make a ring depends mainly on two things — how complicated the ring is and how busy your jeweller is.
Complicated rings — with many set stones and perhaps different coloured metals – take longer for a jeweller to make than a simple ring — but more importantly, many jewellers outsource certain parts of the process.
Jewellers will typically send rings away to specialised gem setters and engravers, so not only does the make-time depend on how busy your jeweller is, but also how busy these third parties are. Valuations and rhodium plating also add a time cost.
As far as our in house manufacturing is concerned, we work with two jewellers - one who sets and one who doesn't.
There are also seasonal influences. Most jewellers tend to be busier in Spring and Summer — during the wedding season and leading up to Christmas. (Often jeweller's workload is heavier at this time because manufacturing jewellers also get trade work from retail jewellery shops that outsource makes, repairs and resizing.)
For a simple ring in a quiet time — allow around two to three weeks. For a complicated ring in a busy time — allow up to six weeks. (If your ring is an expensive one or you're a repeat customer, you might get priority, so these times could be shorter.)
