New Ring

[poetrylover]

I am looking to have my wedding, engagment and eternity rings made into a new ring ... the engagement ring is a solitaire (don't know about carats) and the eternity ring has 7 (tiny) diamonds .... all are white gold ..... where can I get a new ring designed and what might it cost ....? Are there any on line websites to help with design/costings?

[ACtheTROLL]

i wouldn't trust that sort of work to a website
most real jewellers will know where to go - but like paintings - there are good ones / bad ones and great ones ... 3 rings worth of gold ... you are either going to end up with a knuckle duster (7 +1 diamonds will be a fair size also) - possibly 1 - 1/2 rings worth of spare gold (or money off the price

remember though that a ring is cast then rag polished - some gold will just "vanish" - you need to know exactly how much is going in -so you can see what comes out

and of course it will be assayed
it won't be cheap

[buildersmate]

Why what - what won't it be cheap?
Because the big lie about jewellers is the massive mark-up they make between the cost of raw gold/platinum and diamonds and the price of the finished product - lets call it around 100%. OK, so part of that is the design/manufacturing cost.
So the way I'd do this is to sell the rings as second-hand (if you must on financial ground - otherwise keep - you might later regret it) and respecify a new one. Melted down rings have little base metal / gemstone value compared to their original price.

[poetrylover]

Thanks everyone ... still not really sure what to do ... just wanted an idea of cost and whether there was a website where I might be able to try designing something new .......?

[ACtheTROLL]

builder

it won't be cheap - because it's a one off original design ... run of the mill jewelry is mass produced ... and the wholesale markup is low... so it's not expensive

however buy a tiffany decorated plain band ring - it will cost far more than ratners ...
the work required just to produce a design and mould, cast and finish will be relatively high - higher per ring than same produced for mass production ... because it's only going to be used once.
and it will be a done by someone who wants paying as an atrizan or artist (look round designer silver jewelry goes for ridiculous prices)

think of a photograph or painting ... get your gran to take the pic ... then ask david bailey to take one ... I bet his prices would be slightly higher

what do you charge per day mate?

the assay for a ring is about 38p

if poetrylover does the design -

finally - I asked a mate who does this sort of thing - a days work starts at �500 - that's his price