*FLASH UPDATE* Bespoke Vs. ready made rings?

Hi and congratulations! My h2b designed my ring - when I say designed, I mean he chose the exact style, and the jeweller provided sketches etc to make sure it was what he wanted. This was all done on email as the jeweller is in South Africa. If you're on a budget I would highly recommend them, Keith white jewellers. My ring was custom made for me, is an 18ct white gold 0.5carat diamond, h2b paid £1200 but we have since had it valued and it's worth £3k! The diamond is excellent quality, the valuer could tell straight away it wasn't from the UK.

I think often custom made can work out cheaper, as all the high street jewellers add a massive mark up to their jewellery - a ring which is the exact same spec as mine in crouch was over twice the price and the diamond is most likely poorer quality. Have a look at Keith White, or alternatively alba rose do custom design and their prices look v reasonable. I'm not sure of anywhere that would let you source the materials I'm afraid, or where you'd even be able to source gemstones and precious metal legitimately! Good luck!

Congratulations on your engagement IGBMN

When we got married we looked at having rings designed/made .. but chose to go with ready made in the end.
I did have a bride & groom once that made their own rings at a workshop in London? I don't know what it was or where but they
went to classes and at the end walked away with a ring each!

The likelihood of that helping is slim but I wanted to say Congrats anyway ?

I knew I could rely on hitched to help us! Thanks so much for the replies, I'm definitely leaning more towards custom made. I like the idea of getting one from an international jewelers but were you not worried about it getting lost in the post/fake etc? I imagine you got it valued here to put your mind at rest?

Have a look at independent jewellers and see what they have to offer/speak to some about your idea. I'm not sure whether designing but yourself would make it cheaper as they'd still need to make it etc. Would you compromise on the stone? If you had something other than a diamond it could be cheaper (depending on the stone you pick) but still look gorgeous. I think you get tend to get more for your money and get exactly what you want.

Congrats on the engagement, Italy sounds v romantic! Alba rose offer a bespoke service for £25 they will help you design your ring (you could send them the CAD drawing) and will send you a 3D image and a wax mould too, and give you a price, might be worth looking into. We are currently in the middle of finalising our designs, and the prices have come out comparable, if not cheaper, than elsewhere

With Keith White, my OH's friend knew him as a business associate and had ordered jewellery (including his wife's engaement ring) from him, so we were already reassured that he was very good. You should always get a certifiate with your ring if you're having a diamond, which reassures you that it's real as well as tell you what quality it is. We had my ring valued in the UK, but only because you have to in order to insure it - there was no doubt in our mind that it wasn't legitimate. It was couriered by Fed Ex, my OH was able to track it the whole way online, he said he got SO excited when it said it had arrived in London the morning of the day he proposed.

Here's a link to the website in case you're interested, I couldn't recommend him enough: https://sivanadiamonds.co.za/

Hello

My ring was lovingly designed by my O/H, I absolutely adore it. It did however come with a hefty price tag and is now valued at a stupid price (scary to wear), it cost £1700 from Samara James.

My wedding ring has had to be made special to fit with my engagement ring, this time we designed again, but much simpler design. We went with Alba Rose, The price was just £450. ?

Wifey to be 88: Thanks for recommending Keith, I completed an enquiry on his website only about an hour ago and already he has emailed me. He asked me to text him my design so I have sent a very basic drawing of what we're after and he texted back straight away saying he will get me a quote early next week. Amazing! Really hoping he will not say something completely unrealistic for us to afford, if he does I could perhaps ask him to reduce weight/quality of the diamond and recalculate.

I have taken on board all your suggestions. I have checked out the jeweller in Canterbury and was impressed with some of the designs but I am not going to contact him just yet as I've got too many irons in the fire now. I have requested a quote from Alba Rose, though I think it's nice to go with an independent/small business as I feel like designing a ring needs to be quite personal. We have an appointment with an independent jewellers near where we live (W Yorkshire) and we'll see what he comes up with price-wise too.

So excited and thanks again!

Congratulations on your engagement! Proposed in Italy too - it's wonderful country.

That said, I'll declare my interest upfront - my wife works as a bespoke ring designer and I come from a jewelling family - so hopefully I'm in a good place to answer your questions. I'm not going to mention any company names or links since I'm just trying to give good advice - bespoke jewellery is an interesting subject!.

Has anyone designed their own?

This is becoming more popular since people want something special to them where they've put thought and effort into the ring. I designed my wifes engagement ring, and her wedding ring too. If you find a good jeweller who provides a bespoke ring service they'll help you create a lovely ring, even if you're not sure about exactly what you want. The key is finding someone you're comfortable working with and who has examples of their work you like.
Word of mouth is a great way to find someone.

How much did you pay and what did you get for this?

The cost comes down to what you want the ring to be. Overall, the most intricate the design - the more time is needed and the cost will go up. If you want an expensive metal such as platinum the cost will be higher. Metal costs tend to go: silver, 9ct, 14ct, 18ct white/yellow, palladium, platinum (cheapest to most expensive).
And of course if you want any diamonds the size/clarity/cut/colour affects how much you'll pay. Remember - it's not all about size! Additionally, stones tend to have a small price jump when you hit 1ct since "everyone wants 1ct", so if you're sourcing the stones yourself, maybe a 0.9 or 0.95 might be a better buy.

If you are sourcing the diamond(s) yourself - the cheapest place for a consume is online - unless you know someone in the trade who can do it at cost. That said, diamonds go waaaaay beyond the 4C's and it's easy to 'get caught out'.

Was it good value for money or would you buy a ready made one if you had the chance again?

I paid trade so got a great deal (again, see if anyone to know happens to know a jeweller to get a good price!). That said, a general point on price is: if you go with a small jeweller or independent, they're more like to do you a good deal to get a sale. Large companies have specifically set margins and allowances built-in so you're less likely to get a really good deal.

Ready made rings will be cheaper up to a certain price point - simply because they're mass produced. But this is not always the case! High street stores have some huge markups. Always shop around and compare.

As I said, if you want a better deal, whether it's a bespoke ring - if you go with a local jeweller, you've got more chance of getting a deal!

Can I source my own materials to reduce cost?

Most jewellers will have no problem with you providing any expensive gems such as a diamond if you already have them. If you need a diamond (or a few), get them to give you a cost for them separately - then see if you could beat it, buy them yourself and get them to use those. One key point here is that stone shapes and sizes and the sizes of "parts" of the stone (such as the girdle height) can affect the design.

One good trick to reduce the cost would be to trade-in any scrap gold you might have, they'll often off-set this against the total cost of the ring at a rate more generous than if you asked for cash.

In terms of the raw-materials, it's unlikely that you'd be able to source the raw gold/palladium/platinum cheaper than the jeweller.

Can he design the CAD himself?

This depends. There's a lot of CAD software out there. For reference, a lot of jewellery design CAD software runs on Rhino version 4 or 5. So, if he designs it in a file format that's compatible, they may be able to import it.

One option if you really want him to design it himself without the aid of a jeweller and the jeweller either doesn't use CAD or cannot import the file, you could simply send them the images (renders) of the ring for them to duplicate.

If you don't want any stones, then there are online services who 3D print in precious metals! Just have a quick google for something like "online 3d print gold".

One point to be aware of if you're going it completely alone with him designing and having it made by a non-jeweller is that precious metals have certain tolerances, like all materials. Plus the current offering of 3D printing might not be to the standard he'd like.

Where is the cost in a bespoke ring?

This wasn't asked but most bespoke ring providers don't charge for the design itself - their markup is in the ring. So often they'll want to make something on the ring. How much? It depends on their markup and maybe their mood that day!

A bespoke ring cost can vary widely, for example a ring could cost anywhere from £3k to £5k+ depending on simply who you go with.

So, with that - shop around!

(but be careful if you're showing previously done designs from another designer and ask someone to 'copy' them, since they're copyright of the original designer).

If you have any questions, just shout!

Aw I'm so glad you got in touch with Keith! I love my ring soooo much, 6 months on and I still can't stop looking at it! Plus Keith's business sounds so good, he offers jewellery making apprenticeships to deprived areas in SA.

Don't forget the different metals vary in price too - my h2b went with 18 ct white gold rather than platinum as he didn't want to reduce the size of the diamond - I love my sparkler so for me he def made the right choice!

let me know how you get on and don't forget to post a pic if you end up going with Keith!

Mine was designed and handmade by Russell Lord - http://handmadediamondjewellery.com/ My OH was able to scrutinise the quality of each diamond before selecting them and they were much higher quality than anything you would usually find. The only thing I would say is that it was certainly not a quick process!

This is my first post on Hitched... please be gentle!

My boyfriend and I are going to a bespoke jewellers on Friday to design my engagement ring. Once it's ready, he'll propose properly and then he'll be my fiancé! How exciting!

We are going down the bespoke route as I will be incorporating the diamond from my grandmother's engagement ring into my own. She was a very special lady and she had a long and extremely happy marriage. I miss her a lot so having her engagement ring diamond will mean she will always be with me.

We are going to Harriet Kelsall in Hertfordshire. They have excellent reviews and an amazing gallery of previous work. I love the idea that no one will have a ring quite like mine and I can really make it a bit special. My OH and I are both really excited about the appointment and the process of designing something that will be really personal and special.

When we started investigating the idea, we emailed the company for some general price ideas based on their previous designs that we liked and they were much more reasonable than we were expecting. We are also hoping that, as we don't have the expense of paying for the main stone for my engagement ring, hopefully there will be room in the budget to splurge elsewhere!

Just a quick update- I have had 2 quotes today, one from Alba Rose and the other from Keith White from South Africa. Unfortunately Keith's came in nearly £600 more expensive than the Alba Rose quote. The only difference in the ring was that Alba Rose specified that the diamond would be colour G and with slight inclusions, both of which I don't mind. Keith said he has based the price on a white diamond, no mention of clarity.

I am still seeing a local designer tomorrow with my fiance and we'll see what he can come up with, then we'll take it from there. I did want to stick to smaller independent jewellers, however at the moment Alba Rose's prices just seem too tempting!

Thanks again for the advice and I will update when possible.

Bespoke is always better if you can do it; you get just what you want - although as a jeweller, I am biased!

Smaller, independents are good in terms of competitive pricing and there are ways you can save; using palladium instead of platinum, for example

Good luck!

Another thing I have done for a lot of clients is have them bring in jewellery from the family that they want to have re-made into a ring; the diamond will be one of your main costs (if you go for diamond) and this is a great way to get a really personal design that has some family history, whilst saving dosh

This one was one I made for my best friend; her fiancé's mum gave her the smaller stones on the side of the ring, which made it a more interesting and personal piece, I think

"Unfortunately Keith's came in nearly £600 more expensive than the Alba Rose quote. The only difference in the ring was that Alba Rose specified that the diamond would be colour G and with slight inclusions, both of which I don't mind. Keith said he has based the price on a white diamond, no mention of clarity."

It can be hard for a jeweller to give an exact price when it comes to diamond quality - since diamond prices change hourly, but they should be able to give a good estimate.

Before you go with anyone, make sure you get confirmation of the approximate carat weight, colour and clarity of the stone they're basing their estimate on.

For example simply being told a "white diamond" could be any number of grades - even moving 1 grade up or down the scale can increase/decrease costs dramatically, especially when you're at the good-end!

Gen up on the "Four C's" - check out the info on the GIA's website.

http://gia4cs.gia.edu/en-us/diamond-color.htm

Thanks for the advice, I am familiar with the 4Cs. Both quotes are for exactly the same ring, as I said the only difference is that Keith described the diamond as 'white' and didn't mention clarity, whereas Alba Rose said it would be colour G and SI2 clarity. Both quotes are based on a 0.4 carat marquise diamond as that's what I would like. Do you think I should ask Keith to recalculate based on colour G and SI2 clarity to get an exact match? This would perhaps make a better comparison of quotes.

My diamond's clarity is VS1 or VS11, whichever's the more clear can't remember now. Got a feeling the colour is H or I. Might be worth asking Keith to quote on the same spec as Alba Rose, although it wouldn't surprise me if Alba Rose was cheaper as the diamonds would be from the UK. That said we got my h2b's palladium wedding ring from Alba Rose and we couldn't fault the price.

Another update - I have ordered my ring!!!

We went to our appointment at The Wedding Ring shop in Pudsey (Leeds) which just so happens to be a very short walk from our house. Spent over an hour and a half talking about rings and had a lesson in what to look for in a diamond etc etc. Decided to give the green light straight away. The man, Martin, was so lovely and even agreed to resize the ring my fiance proposed with and redip another white gold ring I wear for free!

We will get to see the design by end of next week at the latest and should have it on my finger late November/ early October. Will work out how to flash and will do so when I get it.

Soooooo excited I have skipped home which probably embarrassed my fiance but I don't care as I'm just so happy. Thanks once again lovely people for your advice :-)

Hooray! Glad you were able to get what you want

Mine will FINALLY BE FINISHED ON THURSDAY! 8 months is a shocking amount of time for a jeweller to take over her own ring, haha!

Can't wait for your flash!

And yours! Don't know how you have lasted 7 months OMG!

Hah! Because I am useless and hilariously disorganised; I'm used to it by now

Hi there,

I am looking forward to my own wedding really, and like you have been snooping around for answers around my big day!

First of all CONGRATULATIONS!

I saw your questions and thought I'd chip in! My fiance and I got both our rings custom made (without knowing we were doing it both at the same time as a surprise for each other - its crazy) The really crazy thing was we were talking to the same jeweller!

we both went out and at least visited a dozen jewellery shops, got quotes on stones, gold and design. It was a rather longwinded processes and it took my fiance almost 6 months to find the right stone (for the right prize) and then get it designed and propose finally (day after i presented him with his custom made ring - it was a great moment).

You will have to budget a little bigger than for a normal ring. my sister who got engaged last month got her engagement ring for around £3K it wasnt custom made but still beautiful a really elegant platinum engagement ring from a company called Orla James.

But anyways, the ring i got from my fiance was double that, it's because of the time it takes to design it, the handicraft etc. It is a little different than simply walking into a jewellery shop or buying a ring online.

But hey when we think back it was well worth it (although we are still paying it back LOL)

Hope that helped!

luv x

Nat

Finally have it after 7 weeks of waiting!

And another! Best bit of this is I got a colour D, pure white diamond when I only paid for a G. Well worth the wait.

Lovely. Well I would think so - it's not too dissimilar to my bespoke ring!

Wow it's gorgeous! And so is yours Kharv!

Didn't copy- promise. I've always wanted a marquise diamond and platinum. The amethysts were added as the 'prop' ring my fiance gave me when he proposed had a purple stone. Yours look darker and more like sapphires as opposed to amethysts.

I didn't think you'd copied! Ha!

Mine are sapphires. I was just commenting that they are similar shapes - hence why I think it's nice!

Wow, it's gorgeous, I love it ❤️

Lovely! and much better than the seven months I waited for mine - although that *was* my fault

Brilliant!! Really gorgeous!