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Thank you for your honesty, yennyfire...I appreciate it!
 
yennyfire said:
Thank you for the apology, I appreciate it. I think my project was underway before yours (went to production May 16th) and therefore, I didn't benefit from the contract you created. I understood why you referenced my project, which is why I came forward. I didn't want you to get roasted for not being able to reference a specific thread. The truth is, it DID happen and people have a right to know. For the sake of complete transparency, I had sent Caysie photos of two rings with engraving which I loved. Caysie happens to use the same engraver who did one of the rings and we agreed that we would go with something similar to that ring, which has engraving called "Papillion". I didn't ask for a sketch of the proposed engraving, as Caysie said that the engraver would come up with something spectacular and she recommended that we give him some freedom. Knowing that he had created the "Papillion" and that I loved it and wanted something similar, I agreed to let the engraver do his thing. However, what I received bears no resemblance to either photo that I had sent to Caysie. I've decided to live with it because I can't decide if I don't love it because it's not what I've been envisioning all of these months or if it's because I just don't love it and wouldn't have loved it had it been what was suggested in the first place....kwim?

The problem with vendor feedback here (imho) is that it IS one sided and every situation is a little bit different. I do think that the concerns you have are not unique to you and this specific vendor. There is a pattern here. Now, would this pattern deter me from working with Caysie again? I don't know. Her work is truly exquisite and for the price, I can't get anything close elsewhere. If I were to do another custom project, I think I'd be MUCH more specific and outline those details via email (or even better, a contract). All of that said, I do hope that you are blown away and can just wear your rings with pleasure for many, many years to come.
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:wavey: Yenny, I know Caysie would want you to be happy, and I think if you want that engraving redone, you just need to tell her asap! Don't wait and then be sorry you didn't ask soon enough to get it done. Be sure you are happy with it or contact her right away.
 
@ILikeShiny at the end of the day, this is what I hope for you-- that you have a beautiful ring that blows you away.

My ring is phenomenal... so perfectly executed. I stare at it all day. I take pics of it in the grocery store lol. I look at it while driving because it catches the light so well. (I live on a 1 mile long private drive). I wish this for you.

You have a beautiful asscher stone. Your design is gorgeous. I can't wait to see it and I hope you share many pics of it tomorrow. I'm glad you are finally at the end of this journey and that you can focus on your wedding after enjoying your ring.
 
whitewave said:
I think you don't like to hear that I didn't like him.

I would have purchased two diamonds for him for that project, so I'm not sure what you mean about him saying the truth. Truth about what? That the project would have been 2/3 his stones?

I suppose the truth is he didn't want to work with me. I told him I didn't want what everyone else had and then he threw out casually that he could make me what I call a "zales $199 special"... therefore, he did NOT get my next $4,000 job. He may or may not get future business from me. I may not make $20,000 purchases at one time, but I am on a buying spree and have been spending money.

Not everyone is going to click and apparently some people don't want business.
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By zales $199 special, I do not mean that as a quoted $199 price, but as a mass marketed, generic design that is in no way special. Obviously, buying two more diamonds from IDJ would have cost a lot more.
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
:wavey: Yenny, I know Caysie would want you to be happy, and I think if you want that engraving redone, you just need to tell her asap! Don't wait and then be sorry you didn't ask soon enough to get it done. Be sure you are happy with it or contact her right away.
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Thanks DS! I'm trying to decide if I truly don't love it or just need to get used to it.
 
yennyfire said:
Thanks DS! I'm trying to decide if I truly don't love it or just need to get used to it.
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I understand, Yenny. That's why it is really unfortunate that someone chose to post your private information when you were purposely not posting here about it since you are undecided and have not even contacted Caysie to tell her you want it redone. It wasn't fair at all to Caysie since she hasn't had an opportunity to correct it.
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
I understand, Yenny. That's why it is really unfortunate that someone chose to post your private information when you were purposely not posting here about it since you are undecided and have not even contacted Caysie to tell her you want it redone. It wasn't fair at all to Caysie since she hasn't had an opportunity to correct it.
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Yes, it's definitely unfortunate. But to be honest, she shouldn't have done it in the first place without contacting me. We wouldn't be having this conversation had that occurred. I truly don't understand how this happened. I haven't contacted Caysie because I'm not ready to have a conversation til I know what I want (or even if it's possible to redo the engraving without redoing the whole ring).
 
whitewave said:
How long have you had it?
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August 17th, but I had to take it for sizing because it was so big it literally flew off my hand when I flung my hand out to make a point during a conversation! So, I only wore it for a total of a few hours over a few day period before dropping it at my local bench. Because the part underneath the stone is so open (which I love), it fits much larger than a normal 6. I'm having it sized to a 5 1/4 which will fit like a 5.5, which is what my local bench said is my correct size. I've typically gone with a 6 because it fits when paired with a band or two..
 
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yennyfire said:
Yes, it's definitely unfortunate. But to be honest, she shouldn't have done it in the first place without contacting me. We wouldn't be having this conversation had that occurred. I truly don't understand how this happened. I haven't contacted Caysie because I'm not ready to have a conversation til I know what I want (or even if it's possible to redo the engraving without redoing the whole ring).
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Yenny, it wasn't my intent to end up in a conversation about your ring on this thread! But I am so confused as to why you say the part in bold above when you said in the other post:

"I didn't ask for a sketch of the proposed engraving, as Caysie said that the engraver would come up with something spectacular and she recommended that we give him some freedom. Knowing that he had created the "Papillion" and that I loved it and wanted something similar, I agreed to let the engraver do his thing. However, what I received bears no resemblance to either photo that I had sent to Caysie."

It sounds to me from what you said that you gave suggestions of engraving you liked and Caysie recommended y'all give him some freedom, and you agreed. I get that you don't like it. I think you need to get it redone. But it sounds to me like Caysie did discuss this with you prior to the engraving??? I mean, the engraver is not local to her. So she didn't see it until it was finished, either.
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
Yenny, it wasn't my intent to end up in a conversation about your ring on this thread! But I am so confused as to why you say the part in bold above when you said in the other post:

"I didn't ask for a sketch of the proposed engraving, as Caysie said that the engraver would come up with something spectacular and she recommended that we give him some freedom. Knowing that he had created the "Papillion" and that I loved it and wanted something similar, I agreed to let the engraver do his thing. However, what I received bears no resemblance to either photo that I had sent to Caysie."

It sounds to me from what you said that you gave suggestions of engraving you liked and Caysie recommended y'all give him some freedom, and you agreed. I get that you don't like it. I think you need to get it redone. But it sounds to me like Caysie did discuss this with you prior to the engraving??? I mean, the engraver is not local to her. So she didn't see it until it was finished, either.
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DS, I agree that this isn't the place for this convo. Yes, I told Caysie to give the engraver some freedom, using two rings as inspiration. Both of those had flowy engraving, which isn't close to what I got. When I saw the first photo Caysie sent to me and I said it wasn't what I was expecting, she told me (and I can send you the text thread privately) that what we had originally discussed wasn't possible. When she discovered that, she should have contacted me. Period. That's my issue with how it was handled. Whether I love it or not is another discussion. I'm happy to discuss this with you offline, but will not be hijacking ILS's thread further.
 
I whole-heartedly agree with those who have commented to say that they would like to see ALL comments on vendors, positive and negative, on PS (how they are verified as real reviews from genuine clients I have no idea). I think of PS as a place to share a love of jewellery, but also to gain information on which vendors might best fit with my requirements. I don't see how the second can work without hearing the full range of the experience spectrum.

To that end, I'd just like to add that I have a few pieces from Caysie and have had a situation where things took longer than I had expected. However, I have also had a situation where Caysie went massively beyond my expectations to help fit a tight timeline I was working to. She went out of her way to turn a project around in about 3 and a half weeks. This was November time, so maybe I benefitted from not clashing with spring/summer engagement season, but it was still a very tight turnaround and I greatly appreciate what she did.

I adore the items I have from her and would happily wait given my experience of her product. I do acknowledge though that I may feel differently if it was an engagement ring I was waiting on.
 
Just wanted to add that one of the things I like most about PS is hearing comments and advice about how to choose vendors for specific projects. To that end, it's necessary to see both positive and negative comments.

I don't think ILS has said anything rude, disrespectful, or out of line--she's been honest and straightforward about her experience. If others disagree or want to voice their positive experiences, they should feel free to do so, but without any accusations of ILS herself. I think things like that are exactly the reason why some people don't post negative experiences on here--because they don't want to feel attacked for expressing honesty.
 
@ILikeShiny I can't wait to see your rings and I hope you are over the moon happy with them. I completely understand what you have been saying even though your meaning has been twisted and spun. You have shown more professionalism in your patient explanations and view point while others have accused you of malice and spitefulness. I don't think the end justifies the means with comments of, " Oh it will be worth it in the end." As if to pat you on the head and tell you this is the price to pay for excellence. Thank you for sharing YOUR experience. I've heard you.

Edit- To say I was typing while Lovedogs was responding, and I agree!
 
Hi!
I just wanted to add my experience with Caysie. I inquired about designing a setting on April 1st 2015. It was the Dahlia, which I basically designed. I think we exchanged over 300 emails during the whole process. I approved CADs about three weeks later but was never told it would be a 6-8 week turnaround time from Cad approval. I was only told it would take 6-8 weeks for the entire process. My wedding anniversary is on June 2nd and I basically said I was hoping to receive my ring for my anniversary. I was told I would get my ring way before that and I shipped out my diamond on May 11th. While I waited for my ring I was able to find Caysie on Instagram, only to find out that not only was my ring finished, but someone on PS had tried on my ring. This person even posted my completed ring on her hand, on PS before I received it. I think it was a day or two later before Caysie sent it to me. This all happened a while ago but it was definitely before I got it.
I received my ring on June 26th, 12 weeks later. When I received it I was not happy with the width of the shank. It was way too delicate for me (less than 2 mm and I asked for 2 mm) and the diamond was also set too low. I wanted the donut high enough so that a diamond band would not scratch the head. Since we had exchanged so many emails, and I even sent a final email with exactly what I wanted, I was a little disappointed.
I posted that I was disappointed with the shank on my PS thread and someone on PS alerted Caysie that I was not happy with the width of the shank. She contacted me and said she would remake the ring. She told me she was alerted by someone on PS.
I held onto the ring while a new ring was being remade. This was completed in September 2015.
When I recieved the new ring, the diamond was loose and rattled in the prongs. I had to return the ring again. I finally got my completed ring on Dec 13th 2015.
I was a little upset that the ring took so long to make and it wasn't made right the first time, but I know Caysie stands behind her work and she will make things right if you are not happy.
I plan to use her again in the near future. This time I know what to expect and since I have my diamond already in a temp setting, I don't mind waiting a little longer bc I don't believe anyone can deliver the quality that Caysie delivers for the same price point.
 
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Bonfire said:
@ILikeShiny I can't wait to see your rings and I hope you are over the moon happy with them. I completely understand what you have been saying even though your meaning has been twisted and spun. You have shown more professionalism in your patient explanations and view point while others have accused you of malice and spitefulness. I don't think the end justifies the means with comments of, " Oh it will be worth it in the end." As if to pat you on the head and tell you this is the price to pay for excellence. Thank you for sharing YOUR experience. I've heard you.

Edit- To say I was typing while Lovedogs was responding, and I agree!
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The point is, she is at the end of her disappointing and frustrating journey. The only thing left is to either enjoy her rings or not.

We are all hoping (I assume I speak for all) that she will love and enjoy her rings and that she will end up with an excellent product, despite the failed communications and deadlines.
 
kayla17 said:
While I waited for my ring I was able to find Caysie on Instagram, only to find out that not only was my ring finished, but someone on PS had tried on my ring. This person even posted my completed ring on her hand, on PS before I received it. I think it was a day or two later before Caysie sent it to me.
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:eek2::eek2::eek2:
 
kayla17 said:
Hi!
I was a little upset that the ring took so long to make and it wasn't made right the first time, but I know Caysie stands behind her work and she will make things right if you are not happy.
I plan to use her again in the near future. This time I know what to expect and since I have my diamond already in a temp setting, I don't mind waiting a little longer bc I don't believe anyone can deliver the quality that Caysie delivers for the same price point.
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@kayla17 I'm so sorry that your ring was posted on PS on someone else's hand before you even had a chance to try it on yourself, and that there were problems with the ring after initial delivery. I am glad that you still love Caysie's work and would still work with her in the future due to the quality of her product, her price point and her desire to make sure people are happy with the final piece. This is a great example of how some vendors are the right match for certain people. As another person said, if those are your priorities, and not proactive communication and timeliness, regardless of price point, then maybe Caysie isn't the person for you.

It's matching up designer with client. I won't get into too much detail because this is @ILikeShiny's thread, but to just give a little perspective about my experience with VC, as another vendor, I did not get unprompted proactive updates from him either. I will say that he has delivered within the discussed general time frame with all the pieces he has made. With my pieces, he did not provide CADs so I had to rely on the discussions we had in person, on the phone and over email, and hope that we had talked enough to on the same page with the design. So if a person needed a physical visual rendering of a new design, that may not work for them. Things like height, width of shank, depth of stone setting, curve of shoulders, questions of "will this be too thin? will that be weird? can you make this small enough? Engraving here? Are you sure?"...all I could do was ask and rely on Victor's responses, eye for proportion and design, and promise of execution. That can be very stressful too. Normally, I would love to have a picture of exactly how the finished piece will look like, but because I trusted Victor and loved his work and his pieces, I went with him. Communicating with him can be challenging. I love answers like yes, no, and on paper too. That wasn't always the case, and I had to make every effort to communicate as much as possible, and in many cases, sound like a broken record. Then I had to trust him, live with the answers I got and cross my fingers. My point is to say that there are challenges to working with every vendor and their particular process, which is probably unique to their business. It's a matter of your priorities. I think I have a pretty good idea of the working style of the more popular PS vendors. As @kayla17 said, she would work with Caysie again, because the price point, quality and eventual final product are her priorities, and Caysie delivers. Makes total sense to me. I may or may not, because although I have not had timeless stresses on my pieces, if I did, I think I know myself well enough that I might not want to deal with that kind of stress. I guess it would depend on the project. Not to say that everyone who has worked with Caysie has this kind of experience. The fact is that some people have. Anyone starting a custom project with her should be cognizant of this.
@ILikeShiny thank you for sharing your experience. I don't think you have been unkind or untruthful. Your comments and reviews are helpful to many people, although some may disagree. Thank you for not letting that deter you from sharing YOUR experience. Again, I do think that you will love your rings. Don't let it mar the meaning of your rings. Everything is a learning process, and some risks and challenges are worth taking. You know yourself the best. In the future, you may need to adjust your expectations when working with Caysie, or find a vendor that has demonstrated to exhibit the qualities and characteristics that you prioritize as well, which appears to be timeliness and pro-active communication. I will be honest though. Generally speaking, that last one appears hard to find.
 
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Wonderful post @LLJsmom! Everything you said is so true. That's why it's so important to be able to come here and talk about our experiences without fear of recriminations or pile ons. How else can we make good decisions about which vendor best suits us?
 
@LLJsmom Your post is so true. I have worked with Leon, Victor, Maytal, and Caysie on custom projects (and WF, too, but for items they have made before like DBTY, oh, and IDJ for a DBTY for my sister). Never have I had a progess update until the items were complete from any vendor. One of the ringmakers has told me he will decline a client's project if they seem to have a need to either micromanage the project or require too much handholding/updates, etc. So matching client to vendor is very important!

kayla17 said:
Hi!
I just wanted to add my experience with Caysie. I inquired about designing a setting on April 1st 2015. It was the Dahlia, which I basically designed. I.
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Hey, Kayla! I think you know I loved your beautiful ring! But I was a little puzzled that you said you basically designed it. Because I remembered Caysie making that head before, but it wasn't named Dahlia yet. Your shank was different, but I found where Erica in Dec 2014 posted the completed ring with that head that Caysie designed . Just wanted to clarify that for the sake of accuracy, because while we all give input on our projects and even use ideas from existing rings, some aspects need to be credited solely to the designer. Just posting the pics so you will see what I mean.

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Oh my goodness. No idea why those photos came out so huge! They were sized down on my computer! Sorry!
 
Hey, Kayla! I think you know I loved your beautiful ring! But I was a little puzzled that you said you basically designed it. Because I remembered Caysie making that head before, but it wasn't named Dahlia yet. Your shank was different, but I found where Erica in Dec 2014 posted the completed ring with that head that Caysie designed . Just wanted to clarify that for the sake of accuracy, because while we all give input on our projects and even use ideas from existing rings, some aspects need to be credited solely to the designer. Just posting the pics so you will see what I mean.

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Hi DS,
After exchanged over 300+ messages with Caysie,
I really do feel like I did Basically design the ring. I decided on pretty much every aspect you can imagine. Even if I borrowed the design (which I had no idea was Caysie's when I contacted her, I just thought it was a nice looking ring I found on PS and sent her pictures) I changed things to make it my own. I didn't like the way the prongs looked from the top of that ring and the prongs on the Dahlia are more flowery looking and clawlike. I didn't like the way the head looked so squat and I wanted a silhouette effect. I obviously didn't like the shank and wanted a cathedral shank so the ring would look less peg like.
So yes, while it looks similar there are many different things that make it my own, which I decided on.
And I don't follow anyone on instagram except for three people, so I've never seen those pics on instagram, I found them on here on PS. And you know this as well bc I contacted you on FB while I was working with Caysie.
Here is the top of the Anne ring.
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Here is the Dahlia-
IMG_6885.PNG
And the first time I contacted Caysie. Again, I had no idea she designed the head. And you can read in my message to her that I didn't know. And you can see we exchanged over 300 messages so If it wasn't about the ring design or aspects of the ring, I'm not sure what else we could've been talking about.
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So yes, I do feel like I basically designed this ring. But if it makes you feel better, then I will say I didn't design the ring and it was all Caysie's input.
 
Please remember that ring you're so tactlessly denigrating belongs to a PSer, my client, who adores her ring. You obviously loved it too, since you commissioned Caysie to replicate it with only minor design changes, so perhaps choose your words more carefully. How rude.
 
The dahlia is a modified anne, and now I will get called a caysie cheerleader for pointing that out.
 
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ericad said:
Please remember that ring you're so tactlessly denigrating belongs to a PSer, my client, who adores her ring. You obviously loved it too, since you commissioned Caysie to replicate it with only minor design changes, so perhaps choose your words more carefully. How rude.
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I'm not being rude. I am explaining things that I changed with the ring. I obviously liked the design because I sent the pictures to Caysie. I haven't said anything denigrating. I'm merely explaining what I wanted changed. If I didn't explain what was changed no one would realize the changes that I made and think it was an exact copy.
You're the one that's rude.
 
whitewave said:
The dahlia is a modified anne, but now I will get called a caysie cheerleader for pointing that out.
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I'm a Caysie cheerleader too. Like I said, I don't mind working with her.
I should have put I helped design the Dahlia, instead of writing I "basically" designed the Dahlia.
So if it makes everyone feel better-
I helped with the design of the Dahlia but the head was originally designed by Caysie.
And I apologize if it seems like I was denigrating someone else's ring. I was just trying to point out how the rings were different. That's all!
 
Thanks for clearing that up. I shouldn't be posting because I don't feel well.
 
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