About how $ much for a 1.45 ct pendant mounting & to set it?

[beaujolais]

About how $ much for a 1.45 ct pendant mounting & to set it?

I just started to get prices on mountings for this spinel. Oh dear, expensive.

How much do you roughly guess a simple white gold mounting & to set it should cost? Thanks.

 

[enbcfsobe]

the price depends on how much (and what type of) metal is involved. all of the metals are extremely expensive right now. it also depends on how much the jeweler marks it up and whether it includes a chain.

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks for the reply.

Oh, I'm sorry, 14 K white gold.

Maybe I should wait till gold prices go down ? ?

 

[enbcfsobe]

you could be very very old by then. if you want it in the next few years, i would buy asap. have you taken a look online at what similar settings are selling for? if you are looking for a basic basket or bezel setting you should be able to find some examples. if the prices you are getting are way out of line with that, i would try negotiating or looking into whether an online vendor could set your stone. sometimes the fee they charge to do the setting with an outside stone negates price other differences, unfortunately. is there something specific you are looking for or considering? i would think that since spinel is fairly durable and you are doing a pendant, not a ring, you could do something fairly lightweight. its still not going to be terribly cheap, but the lighter the setting the less expensive it should be. doing a stock setting that your jeweler can order from stuller or another similar company will also help -- anything handmade is gonig to be more.
if you don''t already have a wg chain, try buying one from a jeweler that''s had them in the store hanging around for a while -- they may tend to be cheaper if the jeweler purchased them when gold was lower.

 

[cinnamon013]

Call Jim Schultz at Jim Allen. He is working on a quote for me for a pendant and so for things have been very reasonable.

 

[desertgem]

Hi,

Spinels are such interesting gems. Your spinel size [ 6.2mm x 7.3mm] from your previous thread is probably going to need a custom setting as it is not real close to a calibrated size and cushions seem to be less represented than squares or emerald shape. Some jewelers use a gold channel they can form around almost any shape and size pendant, solder, attach a bail and you have an easy solution, but maybe too plain.



Jim

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks all. I sent an e-mail to James Allen, with the dimensions.

Also, thanks Jim and thanks for even looking up the dimensions of it on my previous post. A plain mounting would be fine. Thanks for telling me how they could do that. Is Desert Gems your company? I'm intrigued.

Am also taking it to a (great) local jeweler this afternoon to discuss.

Prices have been ranging from $400 - $800.

I'm new to this and didn't realize that setting & mounting this pretty little not-to-expensive stone would be more expensive than the stone itself.

 

[Pandora II]

Sadly so - it''s one of the reasons that I tend to save up and buy really good stones.

I don''t like paying $400 to set a $50 stone.

Gold was $970 an ounce at 9am today.

 

[desertgem]

Thanks for telling me how they could do that. Is Desert Gems your company? I''m intrigued.

Hi Sonoma,

Well, sometimes

. I am retired and more a faceter than a bench jeweler. My biggest problem is I don''t really want to sell what I make, and sometimes I get involved in my art classes I take, that I don''t facet for days, but of course being bitten by the "sparklies" bug I can''t shake gems and browse the sources everyday.....much to the pity of my bank account, but probably most on the forum have a similar problem

Jim

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 3/5/2008 8:19:10 AM
Author: sonomacounty

Prices have been ranging from $400 - $800.


I''m new to this and didn''t realize that setting & mounting this pretty little not-to-expensive stone would be more expensive than the stone itself.

Those prices seem high to me unless the setting is elaborate and heavy. Do your numbers include the cost of a chain? That could make sense because chains are expensive.

What shape is the stone (round, oval, triangular, etc.?) Sometimes standard settings can be adapted to non-calibrated stones very nicely.

Richard M.

 

[beaujolais]

Ah, Desert, that explains it.

Richard - it is a cushion.

James Allen did send quotes with decent prices (much better than the $400 mentioned above) on nice mountings. I would have gone with them but Good Old Gold gave me a better price today and they are local, so they are doing it.

The $400 - $800 quotes did not include chains. The $400 quotes were (two different) simple prong settings

, the $800 was a setting with diamonds around it.

Large variations in price out there it seems. But, I looked around a bit and made it work.

Thanks for your help.