Who to trust with small projects, when you have big OCD about the work?

[PreRaphaelite]

Hello PS family,

I have compiled a batch of projects that only take small details to complete, but since I'm picky about details, who would you recommend I send these to for alteration? I don't trust the local yokel as they screwed up several pieces already and that lesson was very painful to learn.

The PS favorite in LA isn't an option this time - so if these little guys were yours, who would you contact first?

 

[PreRaphaelite]

And for the watch, a new link, fabricated to match the original links?

 

[PreRaphaelite]

And to whom shall I send my signet ring for re-engraving, after the local bench destroyed the delicate original, during sizing? I’ve looked on instagram for engravers but they all seem to want to add large signatures beneath the image, which is a deal-breaker for me. Not sure what to engrave, either. A swan, perhaps, or a griffon. Anyone have ideas?

 

[seaurchin]

I have narrowed mine down to a local jeweler in my new area based on his good reviews and system of photographing each piece (and giving the customer a copy of the photo) at intake. I'm waiting until after the holidays, then I plan to try him out with one job at a time, starting with the smallest.

I am thinking the jewelry makers here wouldn't want to do repairs but just realized I don't know that for sure. Is that what you're thinking too?

Good luck with it!

 

[Sprinkles&Stones]

the only person I have heard of who specializes in antique repairs and “jewelry doctor” is Sako and his dad. I have not worked with them personally but have heard many good things about them and their skill.

 

[Sprinkles&Stones]

the only person I have heard of who specializes in antique repairs and “jewelry doctor” is Sako and his dad. I have not worked with them personally but have heard many good things about them and their skill.

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[yssie]

Depending on the particulars of the fixer-upper - Caysie, Sako, WF, Leon Mege, or Pearl Paradise.

They’re all on the pricey side and I know I’ll be waiting a while, but I respect their professional ethic and I trust their workmanship. I won’t even bother trying to search for anyone more convenient any more, it’s never ended well for me.

 

[LilAlex]

If you really want to make a new link and are OCD and are not super-cost-conscious, I will shout out to Margulis in Portland again and hope they can manage to stay open for another hundred years.

Here's one example. Relative halfway across the country sent me a very tiny bracelet to enlarge somehow; it had already been mangled a bit to make it smaller 50 years ago. The "links" were fused near the ends of this otherwise very flexible and pretty 18K bracelet of great sentimental value.

They looked at it for a long time and eventually came up with a curved, florentined solid gold "insert" with tube-hinges on either end to preserve the flexibility while adding an inch to the length. They salvaged the original box-clasp and its meaningful hallmark (not important, historically, but it was where the bracelet was made). Really a nice job and incredible attention to detail and wearability.

Forgive the crummy picture. There is a tiny difference in color (that is exaggerated in this brown-on-brown photo) because there is old rose-gold plating over this yellow-gold bracelet and it is worn off asymmetrically; it is not noticeable in everyday lighting.

 

[LightBright]

Regarding engraving, I seem to recall Yvonne (Cecile) Raley using a skilled engraver in NYC to do some very fine engraving work on a ring she made for a PSer. You could contact her and see if she has a reference.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Hello PS family,

I have compiled a batch of projects that only take small details to complete, but since I'm picky about details, who would you recommend I send these to for alteration? I don't trust the local yokel as they screwed up several pieces already and that lesson was very painful to learn.

The PS favorite in LA isn't an option this time - so if these little guys were yours, who would you contact first?

that's such a beautiful picture (the bottom one)
it should be on a greeting card

i also have a bunch of alterrations,restringing, minor fixers, resizing and engraving that needs to be done
wish me luck, im trying the local family jewler in town, the first batch is ready for pick up

 

[pokerface]

Uh oh, why's the PS favorite not an option? Any reason you can share?

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Uh oh, why's the PS favorite not an option? Any reason you can share?

This was written just before Christmas, when he would have been in full Holiday Rush mode. The only reason he wasn’t an option is that I’d be embarrassed to even ask. I remember a different Vendor evoking the epithet of Mosquito, once. I would not wish to be a Mosquito!

 

[Mreader]

This was written just before Christmas, when he would have been in full Holiday Rush mode. The only reason he wasn’t an option is that I’d be embarrassed to even ask. I remember a different Vendor evoking the epithet of Mosquito, once. I would not wish to be a Mosquito!

Oh yeah no way should you go with him. Someone who replies with three word answers would not be a good fit for what you’re looking for!! I was wondering if you meant DK at first. He has also done small things for clients like sizing rings and setting stones so you could give him a try!

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Oh no, David's always been kind and patient - I just thought he would be way too busy during the holidays to delay larger work for these little things.

 

[FL_runner]

And to whom shall I send my signet ring for re-engraving, after the local bench destroyed the delicate original, during sizing? I’ve looked on instagram for engravers but they all seem to want to add large signatures beneath the image, which is a deal-breaker for me. Not sure what to engrave, either. A swan, perhaps, or a griffon. Anyone have ideas?

A Phoenix because it will be reborn after being so badly messed up by the first bench!!!

 

[Mreader]

Oh no, David's always been kind and patient - I just thought he would be way too busy during the holidays to delay larger work for these little things.

I should clarify - when I said at first I thought you meant DK it was the very first part of the thread where you just said “a PS favorite” since he is so popular here. But then when you brought up the mosquito reference hahahahaha I knew who you meant.

 

[Mreader]

I should clarify - when I said at first I thought you meant DK it was the very first part of the thread where you just said “a PS favorite” since he is so popular here. But then when you brought up the mosquito reference hahahahaha I knew who you meant.

@PreRaphaelite The other reason I thought David is because you said the favorite in LA. Alex is in New York.

 

[pokerface]

I think she does mean DK. She said it was a different vendor who made the mosquito reference . Uh oh, I think I am a mosquito!

 

[Mreader]

I think she does mean DK. She said it was a different vendor who made the mosquito reference . Uh oh, I think I am a mosquito!

Whoops I guess I just can’t read properly anymore! I blame the Internet. Upon rereading I understand it now.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Blame it on being blinded by Bling!

 

[Cerulean]

Honestly, I really enjoyed working with Inken at Enhoerning and she regularly deals with antiques. Her bench is incredible - they do handforged and cast. The milgrain is honestly the nicest I’ve ever seen - much finer than my DK ring and even finer than a ring made by Sako (which was exceptional).

The attention to detail she brought to every conversation was exceptional. She was willing to get into the weeds with me, answered my dozens of questions with patience and in an extremely timely fashion. She never made me feel “less than” some of her other clients who I know spend far more as she specializes in sourcing really top quality sapphires and rubies.

For example, I entrusted her to slim down my wedding band and match it to a new engagement ring setting - which honestly was extremely anxiety producing because I just couldn’t bear the thought of mucking up my original wedding ring. She did an outstanding job. She was so keen on getting a PERFECT match that she had her bench do a comfort fit shank by hand instead of casting it so the shank was the exact same height as the wedding ring. I also sent her an antique bracelet to remove a few links, asked her not to touch the patina (I recall that had been an issue in the past for you) and have another antique bracelet that needs shortening that I plan to send as well.

Thread to my big project with Inken: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...loral-setting-for-diamond-cant-decide.268950/

I’ve worked with Sako and DK, and although they are great in their own ways, I don’t know if they’d be the best fit communication wise. Sako got rather impatient with me in full transparency with communications but his work was impeccable… and DK is not going to indulge in lots of details at all.

In terms of pricing, Inken was less than Sako for sure, and I’d say comparable to DK, maybe slightly less but I didn’t have apples to oranges projects.

Hope that helps and good luck finding the right fit. I’m sure others have great recs too.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

Honestly, I really enjoyed working with Inken at Enhoerning and she regularly deals with antiques. Her bench is incredible - they do handforged and cast. The milgrain is honestly the nicest I’ve ever seen - much finer than my DK ring and even finer than a ring made by Sako (which was exceptional).

The attention to detail she brought to every conversation was exceptional. She was willing to get into the weeds with me, answered my dozens of questions with patience and in an extremely timely fashion. She never made me feel “less than” some of her other clients who I know spend far more as she specializes in sourcing really top quality sapphires and rubies.

For example, I entrusted her to slim down my wedding band and match it to a new engagement ring setting - which honestly was extremely anxiety producing because I just couldn’t bear the thought of mucking up my original wedding ring. She did an outstanding job. She was so keen on getting a PERFECT match that she had her bench do a comfort fit shank by hand instead of casting it so the shank was the exact same height as the wedding ring. I also sent her an antique bracelet to remove a few links, asked her not to touch the patina (I recall that had been an issue in the past for you) and have another antique bracelet that needs shortening that I plan to send as well.

Thread to my big project with Inken: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...loral-setting-for-diamond-cant-decide.268950/

I’ve worked with Sako and DK, and although they are great in their own ways, I don’t know if they’d be the best fit communication wise. Sako got rather impatient with me in full transparency with communications but his work was impeccable… and DK is not going to indulge in lots of details at all.

In terms of pricing, Inken was less than Sako for sure, and I’d say comparable to DK, maybe slightly less but I didn’t have apples to oranges projects.

Hope that helps and good luck finding the right fit. I’m sure others have great recs too.

Oh wow, I didn't realize Inken set outside stones and everything too! For some reason I thought she mostly worked with sourcing colored stones. So glad to know. Thanks, @Cerulean.

 

[Cerulean]

Oh wow, I didn't realize Inken set outside stones and everything too! For some reason I thought she mostly worked with sourcing colored stones. So glad to know. Thanks, @Cerulean.

I should explain that my first purchase was one of her rings (the sapphire multi color band on her IG) but after that, she set my diamond! I’m not sure if that mattered but I wanted to mention!

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

I should explain that my first purchase was one of her rings (the sapphire multi color band on her IG) but after that, she set my diamond! I’m not sure if that mattered but I wanted to mention!

No worries. I just checked her website and it specifically says they set personal stones. So yay! I must have missed that part because I had only reached out to her in the past about sourcing a CS.

 

[Mreader]

Honestly, I really enjoyed working with Inken at Enhoerning and she regularly deals with antiques. Her bench is incredible - they do handforged and cast. The milgrain is honestly the nicest I’ve ever seen - much finer than my DK ring and even finer than a ring made by Sako (which was exceptional).

The attention to detail she brought to every conversation was exceptional. She was willing to get into the weeds with me, answered my dozens of questions with patience and in an extremely timely fashion. She never made me feel “less than” some of her other clients who I know spend far more as she specializes in sourcing really top quality sapphires and rubies.

For example, I entrusted her to slim down my wedding band and match it to a new engagement ring setting - which honestly was extremely anxiety producing because I just couldn’t bear the thought of mucking up my original wedding ring. She did an outstanding job. She was so keen on getting a PERFECT match that she had her bench do a comfort fit shank by hand instead of casting it so the shank was the exact same height as the wedding ring. I also sent her an antique bracelet to remove a few links, asked her not to touch the patina (I recall that had been an issue in the past for you) and have another antique bracelet that needs shortening that I plan to send as well.

Thread to my big project with Inken: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...loral-setting-for-diamond-cant-decide.268950/

I’ve worked with Sako and DK, and although they are great in their own ways, I don’t know if they’d be the best fit communication wise. Sako got rather impatient with me in full transparency with communications but his work was impeccable… and DK is not going to indulge in lots of details at all.

In terms of pricing, Inken was less than Sako for sure, and I’d say comparable to DK, maybe slightly less but I didn’t have apples to oranges projects.

Hope that helps and good luck finding the right fit. I’m sure others have great recs too.

That is all very helpful information @Cerulean ! Thank you! I’ve never worked with Sako and DK is lovely but he is laconic which may not be good for the “OCD have a million questions” type.

 

[elizat]

@Cerulean are the Inken pieces more delicate in person? I find her photos to be bulky, if that makes sense?

I like her CS selection, but her photos have always looked more "robust"- best way I can describe it. I am not talking about anyone's pieces in particular, but just the general vibe I got from the photos.

 

[Gone_]

My experiences below

DK - not ideal, lots of rework needed... wonky bezels, not matching prongs, and most importantly lack of attention to detail. I have a few pieces by him. I usually wear the pieces for a short while and then either sell or end up re-doing them with other vendors.
Didn't learn my lesson and sent two super small projects to him before the holidays...and back they went. I'm still waiting for him to correct.
This will be my last time working with him, unfortunately

OWD bench - not bad, but not high-end

Sako - scattered communication and he does get annoyed with his clients and it shows. He messed up my engagement ring. Not perfect workmanship by any means.. it seemed very much like he just threw it together and didn't care.
He refused to correct it. After a long back and forth about it he asked me to pay for shipping back to him. I didn't bother..

CVB - amazing workmanship, her communication style is not the best and the wait time is veryy long.

 

[Cerulean]

@Cerulean are the Inken pieces more delicate in person? I find her photos to be bulky, if that makes sense?

I like her CS selection, but her photos have always looked more "robust"- best way I can describe it. I am not talking about anyone's pieces in particular, but just the general vibe I got from the photos.

I totally know what you mean. Honestly I was so nervous to receive my ring - it looked really bulky in photos - the head looked…blobby?

IRL - almost like another ring. Very delicate work. I don’t know what it was about the photos

Here are her pics



My pictures which are much truer to form

 

[Cerulean]

My experiences below

DK - not ideal, lots of rework needed... wonky bezels, not matching prongs, and most importantly lack of attention to detail. I have a few pieces by him. I usually wear the pieces for a short while and then either sell or end up re-doing them with other vendors.
Didn't learn my lesson and sent two super small projects to him before the holidays...and back they went. I'm still waiting for him to correct.
This will be my last time working with him, unfortunately

OWD bench - not bad, but not high-end

Sako - scattered communication and he does get annoyed with his clients and it shows. He messed up my engagement ring. Not perfect workmanship by any means.. it seemed very much like he just threw it together and didn't care.
He refused to correct it. After a long back and forth about it he asked me to pay for shipping back to him. I didn't bother..

CVB - amazing workmanship, her communication style is not the best and the wait time is veryy long.

Honestly I’m really relieved to know I’m not the only one who had poor communication with Sako. I’ll be blunt then…the workmanship was great, but the process was a struggle. Reluctance to make CAD tweaks, had to pay for every one (which is fine, but wasn’t communicated so final pricing was a mystery) in addition to being recipient of obvious frustration for making changes at all

It got so bad and unprofessional, I would never work with him again. I shared that I was struggling with communications on PS mid project (huge mistake) and someone “tattled” on me and he totally blew up at me while refusing to even read what I posted, which was pretty benign. I since deleted the whole thread bc of how traumatic it was.

He seems to work very well with certain people on PS. He can be funny and playful, but frankly I don’t care about that and want strictly professional communications

 

[Gone_]

Honestly I’m really relieved to know I’m not the only one who had poor communication with Sako. I’ll be blunt then…the workmanship was great, but the process was a struggle. Reluctance to make CAD tweaks, had to pay for every one (which is fine, but wasn’t communicated so final pricing was a mystery) in addition to being recipient of obvious frustration for making changes at all

It got so bad and unprofessional, I would never work with him again. I shared that I was struggling with communications on PS mid project (huge mistake) and someone “tattled” on me and he totally blew up at me while refusing to even read what I posted, which was pretty benign. I since deleted the whole thread bc of how traumatic it was.

He seems to work very well with certain people on PS. He can be funny and playful, but frankly I don’t care about that and want strictly professional communications

I agree with every word.
He made one CAD.... when I expressed my concerns, he dismissed them. When he finally sent me his pictures I expressed the same concerns... he said that it wouldn't be visible IRL. Guess what it was visible and all my concerns were valid. In the very end he turned it on me and made it all my fault. How charming.

Outside of all the design flaws, his workmanship was sloppy. Not what I expected after reading all the glowing reviews here.

RE price, he wouldn't quote me... I got my bill when he was readying to ship my ring and it was A LOT more than I expected. I kicked myself for not insisting on his quote prior to starting my project.

So much money down the drain.... plus a terrible taste in my mouth.