What to expect when working on a custom design

[dk168]

Here are my own experience with 4 benches, one in China via eBay (my main bench), one in UK, one in India and one in US. All IMHO.

Allow plenty of time, 3 months minimum from first contact to receipt of the finished piece, can be longer.

A CAD fee is usually paid upfront, for it to be deducted from the final price of the piece.

Just because a piece is small and light in precious metal weight, and does not appear to be complicated, it will still have a base cost in labour such as casting and setting.

Be very specific about your design needs and wants.

Be prepare to walk away and stop the project, and just pay for whatever CAD fees that had incurred. I had done that before at least a couple of times when I felt my design ideas were too complicated for the bench to grasp what I was trying to achieve.

Provide as many inspiration photos as possible, and let the bench know what I like and dislike the design elements in an inspirational piece.

I have very strong likes and dislikes in jewellery designs, and usually have a specific design in mind before I approach a bench for it to be made.

I made mistakes when I started my custom made journey back in 2004/5 and had learnt from them, such as asking for drawings/CADs to be provided, for them to be reviewed and approved before going into production.

Good luck.

DK

 

[EllieTO]

Btw, is Sako relatively new on the scene? I lurked here quite a bit as recently as 2020, and don't recall ever hearing about him. When I was first directed to his Instagram for the stone I ended up buying from him, I ignored it at first cause I had never heard of him. He didn't mind selling me the stone only, but did ask if he can "bid" on my setting, then left it alone when I said I had a CvB design in mind.

Is there anyone else I should consider who hasn't been mentioned in this thread?

 

[lavenderdragonfly23]

Another vendor that hasn't been mentioned in Single Stone. not sure if they work with outside stones.

When I spoke with Single Stone in December they said they no longer set outside stones. I forgot I spoke with them… they have beautiful settings though!

 

[Mreader]

This sounds like Sako who doesn't quote up front regarding the work. For me I wouldn't be comfortable going into a project not knowing what the final cost would be. Also every change to a CAD would be extra.

I’m glad you said this because this is who I was thinking it also was and I have the same thought.

 

[Rfisher]

Nope.

There's a shop my kids like to buy clothing at. Eveything has a price tag but its not the real price tag because there are all these "deals" see. Buy two pants get two "free" t-shirts. Buy one get one half off. I hate it lol. Just tell me the price!

If my disposable income monies had its own fun money -
I’d be all over mystery discounts because I wouldn’t care.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Btw, is Sako relatively new on the scene? I lurked here quite a bit as recently as 2020, and don't recall ever hearing about him. When I was first directed to his Instagram for the stone I ended up buying from him, I ignored it at first cause I had never heard of him. He didn't mind selling me the stone only, but did ask if he can "bid" on my setting, then left it alone when I said I had a CvB design in mind.

Is there anyone else I should consider who hasn't been mentioned in this thread?

Sako is relatively new. We first learned about him because he does bench work for CVB. I think a few people started working directly with him about 4 years ago? If you search you will start to see his name about that time.

Another name: Gary Roe. Cheyenne Weil. But very different style than we have been discussing!

Joe Escobar is in LA I think and a bunch of PSers have worked with them.

Also there is another jeweler in LA that a bunch of people have used for antique styles... I can't remember the name but I'll search. Their work is pretty great iirc. EDIT: Debebians.

 

[lavenderdragonfly23]

Definitely start a thread once you pick your jeweler, there are some very knowledgeable people on here and can give you some guidance through the process. I am not one of these people, lol!

I LOVED reading @Dreamer_D 5 stone journey. PS needs more journeys and I have a feeling this is going to be a great one

 

[dk168]

I forgot to mention an estimated cost of the piece is agreed upfront prior to going into production.

I had one ring made with an estimated price which needed to be confirmed after casting had been completed to determine the exact Platinum weight used. I was informed about this upfront and was provided an estimate on the potential weight variation.

DK

 

[jjca]

If you're in the US, DK can send you a shipping label.

That’s what I did. He’s so great to work with

 

[EllieTO]

Sako is relatively new. We first learned about him because he does bench work for CVB. I think a few people started working directly with him about 4 years ago? If you search you will start to see his name about that time.

Another name: Gary Roe. Cheyenne Weil. But very different style than we have been discussing!

Joe Escobar is in LA I think and a bunch of PSers have worked with them.

Also there is another jeweler in LA that a bunch of people have used for antique styles... I can't remember the name but I'll search. Their work is pretty great iirc. EDIT: Debebians.

Thanks for the other suggestions. The first two are not at all my style, and the rest are very typical trendy styles you see everywhere, nothing that caught my eye.

Here are my own experience with 4 benches, one in China via eBay (my main bench), one in UK, one in India and one in US. All IMHO.

Allow plenty of time, 3 months minimum from first contact to receipt of the finished piece, can be longer.

A CAD fee is usually paid upfront, for it to be deducted from the final price of the piece.

Just because a piece is small and light in precious metal weight, and does not appear to be complicated, it will still have a base cost in labour such as casting and setting.

Be very specific about your design needs and wants.

Be prepare to walk away and stop the project, and just pay for whatever CAD fees that had incurred. I had done that before at least a couple of times when I felt my design ideas were too complicated for the bench to grasp what I was trying to achieve.

Provide as many inspiration photos as possible, and let the bench know what I like and dislike the design elements in an inspirational piece.

I have very strong likes and dislikes in jewellery designs, and usually have a specific design in mind before I approach a bench for it to be made.

I made mistakes when I started my custom made journey back in 2004/5 and had learnt from them, such as asking for drawings/CADs to be provided, for them to be reviewed and approved before going into production.

Good luck.

DK

Great advice, thank you.

Ahhh…. Yes! He does

Erika Winters, Sako both do their own hand forge work, DK and CVB use a master bench for it. If that’s the route you want to go. If your after a piece that looks old and value the old methods, than this is your path. If you want perfection and want to micromanage (which is totally fine if you do, no judging lol) … then you probably want to cast it. If you want both perfection and hand forged work… VC and EW … I will say, Flora is pretty perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing

I think you may be misunderstanding or mis-speaking on hand forged. For example Erika Winters doesn't do hand forged. I don't know of Sako or CvB doing it either (or having a bench, in the latter case), but I could be wrong. The hand forged makers I'm familiar with are VC, Leon Mege, Maytal Hannah, Steven Kirsch. None of them are the esthetic I'm looking for right now, except maybe VC (and probably not the price point either ).

 

[EllieTO]

This is a great discussion! I didn't respond to every post, but thank you all!

I requested a few quotes today. VC for a couple of the in-stock settings with moissanite centers, to see if they could fit one of my stones. These are the ones I asked about.

Victor Canera

www.victorcanera.com

Victor Canera

www.victorcanera.com

I also asked if the cost would be the same if they were custom-ordered, because I've always wondered and these prices seem low. I recall I got a quote for a pave solitaire a bunch of years ago (for a potential engagement that never happened; we even met with him in person) and that was about the cost of these more elaborate settings. I know he's picky about working with outside stones, but I also know he makes exceptions (maybe for antique stones, and not a random modern blue nile purchase?). But if I could get one of the in-stock moissanite rings, that would get around it. Now I think I need to find a new stone to fit the settings. But I can't bear to part with either of my new stones.


I also asked for a quote on the Erika Winters Caroline. I love her work, but more so the solitaires, which is not what I'm looking for right now. Having a quote for one of her halos would be helpful as I shop around, and it's not out of the question that I may go with that. It sure is a very distinctive style.

Caroline Halo - Erika Winters Fine Jewelry

erikawinters.com

Please keep sharing advice and testimonials, and I'll report back too.

 

[LilAlex]

Lot of good answers here. A few points maybe not mentioned above:

The service and patience you encounter will be influenced by your having some knowledge of the process -- not so much that you are not requesting the impossible but maybe that you are not requesting the extraordinarily challenging for only an incremental visual benefit. Like insisting that a backyard deck be made with slightly wider or thicker boards -- which would all need to be custom milled, etc.

Service, patience, and mutual trust will evolve as you work several times with one vendor and they come to recognize that you are not entirely crazy and they become comfortable pushing back against your nuttier instincts and enthusiastically embracing your flashes of design brilliance.

For context, I have done carved wax and hand-fabricated with a local B&M, carved wax with Gary Roe (followed by a lot of hand engraving), and carved wax, CAD, and hand-fabricated with Inken. All were excellent experiences except one go with the local bench that did a wonderful job but neglected to show me the wax before casting and mounting (!) -- and it was not at all what I had in mind. (It was really well executed and I went with it, but it irked me. To this day.)

 

[Rfisher]

@EllieTO
Quote:
‘Btw, is Sako relatively new on the scene? ‘



My (now someone else’s) Paraiba/onyx was TGP to DJK to Cicada as the bench, back in 2016. Not long after that I heard a few different people say they were utilizing him direct/retail and it seemed it was well known. I don’t believe they are relatively new to the jewelry scene.

Not much discussed here on board tho is correct.

I don’t know the year OMJ came into
being - I think that’s maybe when him starting to actively advertise/ look for direct retail work came into play. Just guessing on that part tho.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I don’t really like those Canera settings? I feel like they are not as delicate as that style needs to be which is a down side of hand forged designs IMO. Just my 2c!

That EW one is beautiful.

I would not rule out high end stock settings either.
Era Gem
Gabriel &Co
Erstwhile
Beverly K (used to be super popular on PS)

Also have you looked through David Klass IG? He has some very high quality antique styles.

 

[seaurchin]

I've had a half dozen pieces made by David Klass and have been very pleased.

I put together the details the best I can, such as the size of the stones I have and the details of what I want, plus inspiration pictures and drawings, whatever I think explains it best. He sends me a quote, which has always been the final price, unless I change something, like add diamonds or whatever.

Once that's agreed on, I request a mailer and send the stone/s.

Meanwhile, they'll send a CAD. How long it takes varies. I send back any tweaks to it or questions about it. Then they send a new CAD with changes incorporated, if needed. Sometimes I'll post a CAD on PS for input from the members here.

After I approve the final CAD, they usually offer to send a rubber mold of the piece (I forgot what it's called) but I've always bypassed that step so far because I'm too greedy to get my piece ASAP.

And then it arrives.

 

[RMOO]

Has anyone had a bracelet done by DK?

 

[peppermintpatty]

Has anyone had a bracelet done by DK?

@Inked just had the most incredibly beautiful bracelet I have ever seen!!!

 

[seaurchin]

Has anyone had a bracelet done by DK?

Here's mine.