LOGR Diamond fell out after 6wks! advise please?

[LD]

I have to agree that the settings must be sold virtually at cost - or made in massive bulk (more likely) for LOGR to be able to sell at these price points. Having said that, my local jeweller has made similar rings for me (the less ornate more standard LOGR rings) for a similar price.

 

[Arcadian]

I think there''s a few things that we have to take into account:

Volume. all you have to do is run a search on ebay to see how much is out there.

Overhead. His overhead is probably very very low. Everything ships from China directly to the customer which means he''s not having to pay for storage of hard goods in storage in the US. Also, he probably has an arrangement set up with them that they take care of sizing and custom designs to be shipped to the customer. I''m sure that in their agreement there''s a certain quota he has to sell. Whatever his profit is, it will likely be decent per piece based on volume alone.

Processing. Everything he does is processed through ebay. He''s a power seller, they have a different tier for payment to which they''re kept to than the average bear.

Exchange rate. As with many chinese manufacturing companies, they use the exchange rate to their advantage. It certainly comes into play as you know many manufacturing jobs left the us and went to china, and our stores have a lot of goods from china in them.

The settings I''ve purchased have all checked out to be what they say they are. I''m not going to knock his hussle because he filled a void that was there.

As much as I would LOVE to have a custom setting for all of my rings and to give more business to US sellers, I don''t have a money tree in my yard and as a contractor, I at times have wait to be paid from my client. that can be tough in this economic climate. I have to maximize my gem budget where I can which means, I have to pick and choose which ones to set in custom and which ones I can do cute but cheap setting for.

-A

 

[colormyworld]

Date: 1/6/2010 12:33:39 PM
Author: Michael_E

Date: 1/2/2010 12:39:29 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

My recent seven gram rose gold ring with one carat of SI diamonds was $425

I always wondered why it was IMPOSSIBLE to compete with LOGR. If you break this statement down to costs you have seven grams of 14K gold having a scrap value of around $160 leaving $265 for 1 carat of SI melee, setting and finishing costs and well as shipping. My, and every jeweler in the U.S., costs for this quality melee is more per carat than what you paid for the entire ring. I'm left scratching my head wondering why they would sell something for less than what they could get for it's parts ?

I wonder if that business is subsibized by the govt. of China. It just seems as though thier "profit" margin is a LITTLE to thin. Perhaps they have no labor in thier overhead. Even then it sounds to good to be true. imo

 

[CharmyPoo]

There is no way they are subsidized by the China Government. Physical labour is cheap in China - they have massess and masses of people without stringent labor laws. People there work hard day and night. It''s a very different world from North America.

To the OP, you can''t expect top knotch customer service with LOGR especially for the prices he offers. I find that he is fair in his policies although they suck - his motto is that if you are unhappy, send it back for a full refund. He just doesn''t want to deal with the fine tuning etc. I have never lost a melee in my settings from him and I wear them regurlarly.

 

[colormyworld]

CP, please read what Micheal E said about the price of the diamonds costing more than the purchase price of the the entire ring.

 

[dzop]

Arcadian and Kismet, many thanks for the rec. Went to TC today, the price they quoted me was a -FOURTH- of the next lowest price.

 

[exturkconner]

If you paid with a credit card you might want to check your card policies. You'll find many credit cards insure purchases for you. If that was the case they would either give you a full refund (and take the ring) or they might offer you a partial refund settlement to let you have it fixed.

 

[lovegem]

Date: 1/7/2010 3:34:55 AM
Author: CharmyPoo
Physical labour is cheap in China - they have massess and masses of people without stringent labor laws. People there work hard day and night. It''s a very different world from North America.

Actually it is not entirely true that labors in China is cheap. Skilled labors are not cheap in China. Many years ago factories that makes gold plated fake jeweleries in Canton province (I believe that''s where LOGR''s shop is located) would pay their workers $2000- 3000 RMB, that''s around $300 - 500 USD. In addition, those factories usually provide accommodations and food for their workers. Workers with more experience and higher rank (i.e. supervisors) could get something around $5000 RMB = $750 USD) and their own living quarters. Believe it or not, they do have overtime pay, and the workers love overtimes. Of course, if you compare wages in china to wages in USA, it is still "cheap", but cost of living is also cheaper in China too.

I believe that LOGR couldn''t pay their workers too cheaply to make those rings, unless making diamond rings are not considered skilled works in china.

Believe it or not, skilled workers are highly valued in China just like everywhere. If LOGR doesn''t pay them well, guess what? the other shops will. So I would think that the lower cost of the ring has to come from extremely handy workers (who works very fast) and whole sale diamond price.

 

[PrecisionGem]

The company I worked for opened a fabrication facility in China for heat exchangers. The skilled workers (welding, machining etc) were paid $0.70 per hr. They had one of the higher wages in the area.

 

[BWise]

Sorry for what you have to go through. Let me share some personal experience with you and hope that will help. I have bought 7 LOGR rings in the past 18 months, and had one melee diamond fell out of one of my LOGR rings. The diamond was located on the prong. I contacted LOGR and was told that if I get the diamond replaced at my local store, they will refund me the cost. I stopped by the diamond district in New York and got the melee replaced for $10. LOGR sent me the credit without asking for any proof of payment and that was the end of the story. I was very pleased with this experience and won''t hesitant to buy their rings again. Have you tried to talk to them about replacing the diamond? And don''t forget to ask your jeweler who set the ring to tighten all melees.

 

[CharmyPoo]

Date: 1/9/2010 11:52:43 PM
Author: lovegem

Actually it is not entirely true that labors in China is cheap. Skilled labors are not cheap in China. Many years ago factories that makes gold plated fake jeweleries in Canton province (I believe that's where LOGR's shop is located) would pay their workers $2000- 3000 RMB, that's around $300 - 500 USD. In addition, those factories usually provide accommodations and food for their workers. Workers with more experience and higher rank (i.e. supervisors) could get something around $5000 RMB = $750 USD) and their own living quarters. Believe it or not, they do have overtime pay, and the workers love overtimes. Of course, if you compare wages in china to wages in USA, it is still 'cheap', but cost of living is also cheaper in China too.

I believe that LOGR couldn't pay their workers too cheaply to make those rings, unless making diamond rings are not considered skilled works in china.

Believe it or not, skilled workers are highly valued in China just like everywhere. If LOGR doesn't pay them well, guess what? the other shops will. So I would think that the lower cost of the ring has to come from extremely handy workers (who works very fast) and whole sale diamond price.

Perhaps you are correct but that is not what I have seen in Szenhen and Guangzhou nor heard from my friends who own factories there. However, their skills I guess may be valued less. I know the tailors are paid next to nothing. No agrument that cost of living is much lower there - my money really stretched for the last month I was in Asia.

 

[lavatea]

Sorry for the threadjack - Is there a way to contact a poster off list? I live near the DFW area and was wondering if LaurenThePartier would share her jeweler? And I also wondered what her signature meant.