Does everyone do custom settings for gemstones?

[frostoria]

I'm looking for a sapphire for my ring (I have another thread with all the ones I'm looking at), and since I want to keep costs low, I'm looking for them online instead of through a local jeweler. However when I talked to local jewelers about setting an outside stone, they either refuse to do so (stating that they would prefer not to set a stone from an unknown source), or said I would need to either find a calibrated stone or pay potentially double the price of a stock setting to get a custom design (which really just means adjusting the prongs to fit the stone). This is so frustrating since it looks like colored gems are rarely cut in calibrated sizes.

Does everyone here who buy gems get them set in custom settings, or do I just have bad luck with the jewlers I went to? Is it possible to find a jeweler who can just adjust the prongs to fit the gem without having to design/make a ring from scratch? Did anyone else have issues with getting a jeweler to set an outside stone?

 

[seaurchin]

I think what you encountered sounds pretty typical and no, everyone doesn't buy custom settings.

Some jewelers don't want to set outside stones. Reasons might vary from their insurance requirements, to them not wanting to take any responsibility for setting a stone when they don't know how stable that stone is, to them just not wanting to bother with pieces they won't make as much profit from when they have higher profit jobs available. (However, other jewelers will set outside stones).

And calibrated stone sizes fit ready made settings, which tend to cost less.

More expensive stones tend to be cut to preserve as much of the raw stone as possible rather than cut to a predetermined (calibrated) size, so they often do require a custom setting, which is of course more costly.

Once you know how it all works you can keep that in mind when choosing what to buy, though. For example, you could stick to purchasing pre-made jewelry only. If you feel like you've gotten in too deep with this setting that needs a stone, another option is to cut your losses by selling the setting, then starting over again.

 

[lilmosun]

What you are hearing is pretty common practice.

I rarely go custom unless it's to accommodate unless I have a combination of colored stones I want set together (i.e. CRD). Your stone doesn't have to be perfectly calibrated depending on the setting style and skill of the bench. If you have a setting in mind, you should talk to your jeweler and see how much variance they can work with.

One other thing to be aware of with colored stones is depth. A lot of colored stones are cut deeper than diamonds which a lot of stock settings are designed for.

fwiw I buy a lot of preloved settings and stock settings for my colored stones. But I am also fortunate enough to have a relationships with a couple of good inexpensive bench jewelers who can usually make things work within reason. Plus I am not a perfectionist or expect every piece to be "ideal"...just want my stones set so I can wear them..

 

[LemonMoonLex]

I'm the opposite of many here in that 95% of the time I'm only having custom pieces made. The other 5% are pre-owned lovelies that are perfect as is or antique pieces.

It's super common for some jeweler's not to want to set outside stones, but a lot do. It just depends on what they're comfortable with. Most don't want the responsibility if the stone were to break during setting because of an unforseen fated inclusion.

Premade settings tend to be much cheaper yet still a beautiful alternative to custom but the thing is, is that your stone must fit into that narrow calibrated size range for the setting. If it doesn't then yes, you will have to go custom. Custom doesn't always have to be expensive though, I've had rings that others have gone crazy over here for that were $190-400. You just have to find a jeweler that does custom where you're comfortable with the quality that you get for your money, and in jewelry most of the time you do get what you pay for.

My $190 custom setting was done by an amateur jeweler and the quality is way way simpler than the quality I get for just double that cost. Just weight the pros and cons!