Has your favourite vendor raised their prices.....

[Niel]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

An opinion isn't a false statement. Even if you disagree


Agree to disagree I guess. I find it highly unprofessional and I can see why SB won't use him again.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

An opinion isn't a false statement. Even if you disagree

No, what I am referring to was not an opinion, it was a statement that was false unless there was proof that it was not.

 

[msop04]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

**Of course, that would not include any slanderous remarks, to which I would think the vendor and/or other posters would need to clarify or set the record straight.

Oh, DS... On what alternate universe could this statement be misunderstood?? Of course I agree with that! As a matter of fact, I was the one who stated it.

 

[msop04]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

An opinion isn't a false statement. Even if you disagree


Agree to disagree I guess. I find it highly unprofessional and I can see why SB won't use him again.

I'm dying over here, Niel!!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

**Of course, that would not include any slanderous remarks, to which I would think the vendor and/or other posters would need to clarify or set the record straight.

Oh, DS... On what alternate universe could this statement be misunderstood?? Of course I agree with that! As a matter of fact, I was the one who stated it.

Slander is false things spoken that can damage a reputation, and libel is the written version. There was a false statement made in the thread. I can understand why it was questioned.

People here surely do jump on bandwagons without knowing all the facts. That is a real shame.

 

[Niel]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

**Of course, that would not include any slanderous remarks, to which I would think the vendor and/or other posters would need to clarify or set the record straight.

Oh, DS... On what alternate universe could this statement be misunderstood?? Of course I agree with that! As a matter of fact, I was the one who stated it.

Slander is false things spoken that can damage a reputation, and libel is the written version. There was a false statement made in the thread. I can understand why it was questioned.

People here surely do jump on bandwagons without knowing all the facts. That is a real shame.

So SB made a libelous remark is what you're saying. Just so I'm clear.

 

[Lula]

Looks like vendors may be reading in Hangout...

When I started this thread I did worry that my favourite vendor would see what I had written and feel like I was being unkind about them. I'm definitely not. I would still work with them if my project was affordable with them.

Do you think VC reads PS? Maybe a customer pointed it out to him.

He reads PS. He has sent me emails before upset with a comment I have made on PS- which has ruined our working relationship and why I don't use him anymore for any projects- that and my personal jewelry style is more in line with other vendors.

That's upsetting. It does bother me when I see stuff like this.
It puts the whole concept of this website in question. Where vendors think they can sway your opinions and posts based on their personal relationship with you.

Agreed. Upsetting but I'm guessing it is more frequent than some of us may realize.

Re the bolded: Yes, unfortunately, I have to agree.
Re the prices: I had hoped that setting prices would come down somewhat this year because gold and platinum prices have stabilized. But that's not been the case. In fact, it sounds like some vendors are charging more for settings! I have a lot of stones to set, so I may just have to bite the bullet.

 

[Niel]

Looks like vendors may be reading in Hangout...

When I started this thread I did worry that my favourite vendor would see what I had written and feel like I was being unkind about them. I'm definitely not. I would still work with them if my project was affordable with them.

Do you think VC reads PS? Maybe a customer pointed it out to him.

He reads PS. He has sent me emails before upset with a comment I have made on PS- which has ruined our working relationship and why I don't use him anymore for any projects- that and my personal jewelry style is more in line with other vendors.

That's upsetting. It does bother me when I see stuff like this.
It puts the whole concept of this website in question. Where vendors think they can sway your opinions and posts based on their personal relationship with you.

Agreed. Upsetting but I'm guessing it is more frequent than some of us may realize.

Yes, unfortunately.

Has this happened to you Lula??

 

[GliderPoss]

In reply to OP's original question - yes I do think prices have gone up, both for gold and for gems but I always guessed that is due to scarcity and usual price of gold/platinum etc...

I certainly wish I had set more of my stones years ago as now I really struggle to even justify simple settings from Etsy vendors. We dont have $$$ to spare and I dont wear silver either. I try to save up and set one thing per year so eventually I'll get there I hope!

 

[Lula]

Looks like vendors may be reading in Hangout...

When I started this thread I did worry that my favourite vendor would see what I had written and feel like I was being unkind about them. I'm definitely not. I would still work with them if my project was affordable with them.

Do you think VC reads PS? Maybe a customer pointed it out to him.

He reads PS. He has sent me emails before upset with a comment I have made on PS- which has ruined our working relationship and why I don't use him anymore for any projects- that and my personal jewelry style is more in line with other vendors.

That's upsetting. It does bother me when I see stuff like this.
It puts the whole concept of this website in question. Where vendors think they can sway your opinions and posts based on their personal relationship with you.

Agreed. Upsetting but I'm guessing it is more frequent than some of us may realize.

Yes, unfortunately.

Has this happened to you Lula??

Yes. It's one of the reasons I essentially stopped posting in RT.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

**Of course, that would not include any slanderous remarks, to which I would think the vendor and/or other posters would need to clarify or set the record straight.

Oh, DS... On what alternate universe could this statement be misunderstood?? Of course I agree with that! As a matter of fact, I was the one who stated it.

Slander is false things spoken that can damage a reputation, and libel is the written version. There was a false statement made in the thread. I can understand why it was questioned.

People here surely do jump on bandwagons without knowing all the facts. That is a real shame.

So SB made a libelous remark is what you're saying. Just so I'm clear.

I was correcting msop's terminology.

I said more than once that a false statement was made on the thread (unless there was some information to the contrary) which is why the vendor would have had every reason to question the person who made the statement.

 

[Lula]

In response to the OP's original question:
I had hoped that setting prices would come down somewhat this year because gold and platinum prices have stabilized. But that's not been the case. In fact, it sounds like some vendors are charging more for settings! I have a lot of stones to set, so I may just have to bite the bullet.

 

[Niel]

In the case where a false statement is made, I think a vendor has a right to question the person who said it. You may not agree, that's fine by me.

**Of course, that would not include any slanderous remarks, to which I would think the vendor and/or other posters would need to clarify or set the record straight.

Oh, DS... On what alternate universe could this statement be misunderstood?? Of course I agree with that! As a matter of fact, I was the one who stated it.

Slander is false things spoken that can damage a reputation, and libel is the written version. There was a false statement made in the thread. I can understand why it was questioned.

People here surely do jump on bandwagons without knowing all the facts. That is a real shame.

So SB made a libelous remark is what you're saying. Just so I'm clear.

I was correcting msop's terminology.

I said more than once that a false statement was made on the thread (unless there was some information to the contrary) which is why the vendor would have had every reason to question the person who made the statement.

I am talking about SB and VC. Are you? Because you're saying someone was libelous and also being vague. I'm just wondering as it's a bold claim and I'm reading it as your saying that about SB. So if I'm reading that wrong then please correct me. I'd hate for that statement to be implied if that's not who you meant.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Read my last post, Niel. I have said the same thing a few times now. I have nothing else to add.

 

[Niel]

Read my last post, Niel. I have said the same thing a few times now. I have nothing else to add.

OK. I've read it a few times and still just as vague. I'll just assume you are talking about SB and VC unless you say otherwise. I just think if you're going to make such bold claims you should make them clear so they are not misunderstood.

If that's all you have to say on the matter we can drop it.

I'll never spend that kind of money on a setting. To the OPs original point.
My ritani halo was beautiful and a fraction of the price of the "big three".

Like others have said I guess I'd rather have more stones than setting. In my head I always think " if I wait long enough I can find a used setting ."

 

[arkieb1]

Doesn't Victor have the right to email the person directly if something was said that was generally incorrect? He has always been very kind and a gentleman when I have asked him to do anything for me. He designed an Antique style ring for me from scratch without the stone when pretty well every other bench put it into the "too hard basket" and every person, including a number of high end jewellers in Australia have commented it is one of the best made pieces they have every seen. I have pave Victor pieces that are immaculate, I don't think I have ever seen better pave and I pay attention, and his engraving is stunning as well.

You might all remember Leon by comparison came on here under a couple of fake names to abuse and discredit one of my posts which stated the facts of a negative experience that I had with him.... there is a huge difference between noticing a comment that the vendor feels to be untrue and privately emailing someone and setting up fake accounts simply so that you can have an abusive and very public semi incoherent rant at one of your customers.

Many of the popular vendors put advertising on here, so it seems logical to me that they read the site from time to time. I think Victor generally is passionate about customer service and his reputation, and I for one, don't think without knowing all the facts that it is fair to condemn the guy for that.

A number of you adore David Klass and his work. After the whole Leon drama I have never posted another negative critique but I have pictures of a $7500+ Antique style Israel Rose setting (that I bought preloved) that David absolutely butchered to the point that it was so bad three jewellers here wouldn't touch it after he had done the most hideous job I have every ever seen of extending the prongs.

Moral of the story - irrespective of prices, no vendor is perfect all the time.

 

[SB621]

Wow I'm sorry this thread has taken a different tone. DS I'm not sure what thread you are referring too, about me making some bold statement that was untrue. Though you are quick to say you don't judge till you know all sides of the story. If I forward you those emails will you blast email everyone privately again too on this vendor though you were not involved? But you already know my thoughts on how shady I thought that was. Regardless this was months ago and I have no bad feelings towards VC as I still recommend him, I just personally won't use him. To me regardless of whatever I said I don't want vendors contacting me privately about my comments on PS when they are my OPINION- This is a prosumer forum after all and I find that to be extremely unprofessional. If something was stated incorrectly on the forum it was never meant with malicious, I think most on here all know that. So until you have read the emails between the vendor and I, please don't make it out to be that I'm some sort of liar. There were no comments in our emails about some great conspiracy against him, he was strictly about design. And on that note I don't feel the need to defend myself anymore on this topic.


EDIT to add:
And someone was kind enough to find the thread and email it to me (actually many of you did so thank you ) [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/victor-canera-custom-setting-opinions.194111/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/victor-canera-custom-setting-opinions.194111/[/URL]

So I'm assuming you are calling me a liar over the ppl who were unhappy with their custom work? They posted about it in detail off PS because they thought it would be a pile on.

 

[SB621]

A number of you adore David Klass and his work. After the whole Leon drama I have never posted another negative critique but I have pictures of a $7500+ Antique style Israel Rose setting (that I bought preloved) that David absolutely butchered to the point that it was so bad three jewellers here wouldn't touch it after he had done the most hideous job I have every ever seen of extending the prongs.

Moral of the story - irrespective of prices, no vendor is perfect all the time.

Oh Arkieb I'm soooooo sorry! My beloved antique Edwardian ring I bought from Grace was also butchered when I replaced the diamond in it by another PS vendor (SHOULD have gone with Grace and Erica but the diamond was someplace else and I didn't want to pay to ship it...stupid stupid stupid), so I understand and I'm SO SO SO sorry!

 

[SB621]

Ooops never mind! Sorry!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

SB, you made a statement on that thread:

" Several people have done custom pieces by him and been less than happy with the outcome."

I know of one person who has posted that they were unhappy, after they posted a glowing happy thread on the receipt of the ring and then asked for adjustments and it didn't work out well. That was Yssie.

Sometime after he made Yssie's ring, Victor changed his policy so that if you tried a new design and didn't like it, he'd give you full credit and would make another ring. So it doesn't stand to reason that there are all these unhappy people lurking and have kept it a secret except to you, but it is fine if there are. I can absolutely understand why a vendor would want to question that and find out who all the unhappy people were if posted on a public forum by someone they had spent time working with previously.

I originally thought it was just a misunderstanding about antique vs straight pave because it didn't make a lot of sense how you kept talking about how you wouldn't choose him for antique or intricate rings when the girl wanted a pave solitaire which he makes all the time. But when I found the thread and reread what you wrote, I realized why he probably would have emailed you. That's all. It may be true, that is not the issue. The issue is that there was nothing wrong with Victor emailing you to question you about the statement, in my opinion.

And while I find this totally irrelevant to this particular thread, yes, I privately sent some "friends" the information about LM holding Arkie's stone hostage to warn them because I certainly wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else and I felt that was pretty bizzarre. At the same time, someone else who did not know of Arkie's situation did tell me that LM was currently holding another customer's stone hostage. It was a stone purchased through Perry that the couple wanted another ringmaker to set and Leon would not release the stone because he wanted to make the setting. He had held it for two weeks at that point!!! So yes, I would absolutely warn friends who were likely to be buying settings in the future to be careful, and I would certainly hope that someone cared about me enough to warn me, too (which Arkie did).

See this works both ways...I will defend a vendor when I think they are in the right, and I voice my concerns when I believe one is in the wrong. You do it, too, and everyone else does as well.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh, Arkie, that is sad that you had a setting ruined! Yes, none of them is 100% perfect, that's for sure. No one is. But it is important for people to know who can repair antique rings well and who cannot. I know Circe had a similar nightmare in NY. That is one reason I am afraid of buying an antique setting that needs work.

I wish I had recalled your antique style ring earlier. You are right that Victor did an outstanding job with that ring...probably the best newly made ring of that style I have ever seen.

 

[arkieb1]

SB - The only thing that was "shady" was that particular vendor's behaviour. I honestly didn't ask for a public trashing nor did I intend to post anything about him on here. I am usually very silent on all of the crappy experiences I have had thusfar and only discuss them in private with my friends. The vendor couldn't get his s@#* together to bother to give me any sort of decent service for well over 6 months so in the end in part due to a personal situation but also in truth because I had really had enough of being ignored I asked for my diamond back. The stone was then held hostage by this vendor unless I either a) sold the stone to him for a price he set or b) paid him an extremely large and unreasonable fee for doing nothing for me.

What he did was illegal in your country, we are not talking about some email with an off the cuff remark here, we are talking blackmail. At the same time he was holding a young couples diamond which had been paid for in full refusing to release it as well, they purchased the stone from him but wanted to have a setting made elsewhere, so he decided to attempt to blackmail and extort them as well.

Diamondseeker became involved because the other poor people didn't know what to do. I told her about what happened to me, and ironically we discovered the vendor was pulling the same trick simultaneously on someone else.... I was then called a liar and every name under the sun on here by the vendor (who used fake usernames) and on another site where you rate vendors simply for attempting to stick up for everyone's rights. I allowed a few members to see some of the email exchanges which verified exactly what I had written and also the sarcasm of the vendor.

I also seem to remember at the time you seem to be annoyed thinking that I was asking more than I paid for the diamond (which was curious because I honestly don't think anyone other than Erica & Grace knew what I paid for the diamond, I think you might have been confusing what Amethyst paid for the stone, not what I actually shelled out for it). I was attempting to recover what I paid for the stone, which given the fact I owned it for a fair amount of time (almost a year as I recall) then I don't think that was an unreasonable expectation.

If I wasn't forced into a situation by the vendor to have to rescue the stone and forced to have my husband have to contact lawyers, I can say very honestly that I would have gotten much higher than what I ultimately received for the stone. So yes I have a somewhat bitter take on what went on. If you would like to see the original invoice from JBEG of what I paid versus what I was asking for it which was around the same amount, and what I ultimately received for the stone, I am more than happy to see if I can find them and email them to you.

I know for a fact that if that stone had of been sent to a different vendor from the outset, I would be sitting here quite happily wearing that diamond right now. I am not going to lie, when I think about it, it is pretty difficult not to be annoyed about that.

Anyway, we are here to discuss vendor pricing, not who did what to whom. I am sorry you have had bad experiences, so have I.... As I stated above I don't think any vendor is perfect but I will say there are some that are a lot more genuine and honourable in their attitude and their behaviour than others.

 

[pyramid]

It is very clear what Diamonseeker2006 is saying:

SB said he didn't make as good antique rings

He never made an antique ring but a contemporary

So the vendor contacted her to correct this statement about the
wrong type of ring.


Someone says a jeweller sells blue topaz

He doesn't, he sells amethyst

So he contacts the person claiming he does to set them straight.


The bit I find here is where someone said about a vendor using your personal relationship, I buy from a jeweller but
never have a personal relationship with them, it is a professional relationship.

Oh and I think some people are just making a fool out of Diamondseeker2006 because they can't stand to be corrected, this
is common in the world today. I notice it in everyday life. You learn from mistakes remember.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I feel like I need to provide a different perspective on this situation (not the increase in prices, the other one we're talking about).

In December I set out to have my forever setting made for my new asscher. I contacted 8 vendors during this search. And while some were very prompt, pleasant, and informative (Leon, Victor, SK, specifically), there were others (and big names around here, too) who I still haven't heard from. So I came on PS and posted a soft vent about the lack of response to my legitimate quote requests. While in my heart I knew I wanted a HF ring, but before making the final decision I wanted a full picture of the cost as both hand forged vs CAD/cast. I stated clearly in my post that when working with vendors of this caliber, on important (and expensive!) projects like this, I expect a prompt response.

Within several hours I received a lovely email from Victor, following up on his earlier email and we started the project. That responsiveness and effort is ultimately what won him my business. He definitely wasn't the least expensive, but his price was fair and inline with the other estimates for HF. Working with Victor was a great experience. That attentiveness followed through to the end.

I work in sales and marketing, so perhaps I have a different view on the situation, but in today's social media and online world, for a business person to NOT use a forum like PS (or any other instance where their name has come up online) as a way to make a better connection with their existing and potential customers, is foolish IMO. Why wouldn't you keep track of your name (and reputation) online and do what you can to enhance your customer relations or glean lessons learned from the feedback provided?

I don't agree with people being attacked for posting their opinions or experiences online, but I don't blame a vendor for reaching out for clarification on a negative review or because they felt they were being slandered or libeled online. And while I don't support using PS as a way to drum up cold leads (I recall someone once posting about a potential project they wanted to do and a vendor randomly emailing them about it) or to poach customers from other vendors, but if there's already an existing relationship there, or an inquiry was made by the customer prior to the post online, then there's nothing wrong with the vendor using that post to enhance the relationship or experience.

Now, I don't know how many people have had a negative experience with Victor, but from what I've seen here on PS, the positive experiences far outnumber the negatives and even then, the negative experiences are far less than those with other popular vendors.

As for the original post about prices increasing, as I stated, Victor's price was reasonable and in line with the going rate for my ring. He wasn't the most expensive and he wasn't the least expensive. The quality and experience was absolutely worth the $4k+ I paid for my setting. These are high quality artisan pieces, I'd go so far as to say their heirloom-quality. IMO they demand a higher price, and if the demand is high it means the demand for the artisan's time is high. That time, attention, and skill costs money. And the prices for everything, artisan or not is going up. These are business people, why wouldn't they raise their prices if the market supports it? And we should be proud of supporting these vendors and making them a success through our business and posts here on Pricescope. I'm sure they're all very appreciative of it, regardless of the occasional negative post.

We're a blessed group here. We have access to well known and not so well known, high quality craftsman. It's unfortunate when we get priced out of projects, but IMO that's a first world problem that none of us should really be complaining about. Do some digging, take a risk, and uncover new talent on your own.

 

[ame]

I'm not certain how prices are determined, but I do sometimes wonder what the effect is on the designer when a ring becomes sought after and copies start popping up. The first designer to introduce - or in many cases re-introduce - and help popularize a setting lose out to the mid-priced makers who copy the design.
I think the posts on the other forum regarding what constitutes a knock-off and how the designer responded to a customer definitely had me thinking about the designer's role as creator and PR front person.

Can you give me a clue to find this thread you speak of?

It's titled 'Anita Ko is....' Or something to that effect in the jewelry section of TPF.
I think the Instagram rant was deleted, but you'll get the gist if you find the thread.

I regularly hang out over there, and I didn't click on it til the other day when I had time (I was out of town til last night.) My mind...blown. Talk about seriously undoing any goodwill your business had!

 

[Niel]

I'm not certain how prices are determined, but I do sometimes wonder what the effect is on the designer when a ring becomes sought after and copies start popping up. The first designer to introduce - or in many cases re-introduce - and help popularize a setting lose out to the mid-priced makers who copy the design.
I think the posts on the other forum regarding what constitutes a knock-off and how the designer responded to a customer definitely had me thinking about the designer's role as creator and PR front person.

Can you give me a clue to find this thread you speak of?

It's titled 'Anita Ko is....' Or something to that effect in the jewelry section of TPF.
I think the Instagram rant was deleted, but you'll get the gist if you find the thread.

I regularly hang out over there, and I didn't click on it til the other day when I had time (I was out of town til last night.) My mind...blown. Talk about seriously undoing any goodwill your business had!

Right! I'd never even heard of that company until this thread. And its a shame because those arrow earrings are cool.

 

[Harpertoo]

I'm not certain how prices are determined, but I do sometimes wonder what the effect is on the designer when a ring becomes sought after and copies start popping up. The first designer to introduce - or in many cases re-introduce - and help popularize a setting lose out to the mid-priced makers who copy the design.
I think the posts on the other forum regarding what constitutes a knock-off and how the designer responded to a customer definitely had me thinking about the designer's role as creator and PR front person.

Can you give me a clue to find this thread you speak of?

It's titled 'Anita Ko is....' Or something to that effect in the jewelry section of TPF.
I think the Instagram rant was deleted, but you'll get the gist if you find the thread.

I regularly hang out over there, and I didn't click on it til the other day when I had time (I was out of town til last night.) My mind...blown. Talk about seriously undoing any goodwill your business had!

Right! I'd never even heard of that company until this thread. And its a shame because those arrow earrings are cool.

that was just a train-wreck PR-wise. It should be a case study in what-not-to-do in business school.
I was even sad to see Single Stone is hosting an event with that designer....I was just a by-stander and I'm holding a grudge.

 

[NonieMarie]

I'm not certain how prices are determined, but I do sometimes wonder what the effect is on the designer when a ring becomes sought after and copies start popping up. The first designer to introduce - or in many cases re-introduce - and help popularize a setting lose out to the mid-priced makers who copy the design.
I think the posts on the other forum regarding what constitutes a knock-off and how the designer responded to a customer definitely had me thinking about the designer's role as creator and PR front person.

Can you give me a clue to find this thread you speak of?

It's titled 'Anita Ko is....' Or something to that effect in the jewelry section of TPF.
I think the Instagram rant was deleted, but you'll get the gist if you find the thread.

What is TPF?

 

[Maisie]

The purse forum. Am I even allowed to name it?

 

[ame]

The worst part, yknow, besides the PR nightmare she created for herself, is that if you look at her stuff, it sure seems that not much of her "original work" she's so upset about being copied looks particularly original. Earcuffs are not original to her. "Her" panther ring isn't exactly hers either since Cartier has been doing it a while longer. But the apology that she retracts...good luck spinning that in your favor!