Custom design engagement rings

Qingu

My fiancé is very picky with her ring design, and some of the jewellers we've looked at can apparently create custom designs. (Some have offered cheaper prices than the fancier rings we looked at!) Has anyone had any luck with this? How much input does one generally have?

matt has a problem

It all depends on how much you're willing to spend honestly. The more intricate the design, the more it's going to cost you. With a well-trained jeweler, he/she should be able to come up with anything you ask for.

Pheezer

You can make metal look like anything nowadays. The problem is money.

Come up with a "wildest dreams" design, and see how local jewelers react to it. If they're like "no fucking way", ask them to show you what CAN be done, and go from there. Feel out the capabilities of two or three generally well regarded local jewelers that specialize in custom designs, and pick one.

The only solution here is for you to do your own leg work, mang.

Djeet

I had a lot of input when designing my wife's ring. I made several detailed drawings with measurements (2 side views and the obverse of the setting). Most of the input I got from the jeweler was regarding making sure I understood that while he'll try to maintain high fidelity to the design, the particulars of the settings and the expected usage by the wearer may dictate the actual product not look identical to the skecthes; one of the design considerations was that the original ring was damaged during normal usage and the new ring needed to be able to stand up to normal usage by the wearer. This resulted in the bezel setting I chose for the main stone to project up higher out of the piece then as portrayed in my sketches; the obverse looked pretty spot on, but the side-view as sketched was impossible given the settings, metal used, and expected usage.


Also, if the rock used is coming from an existing setting, the jeweler may ask you to waive the right to seek indemnity should something happen to the stone during removal. With a compentent jeweler this risk is pretty low, but many may not to agree to pry out a $10K rock to do $2K worth of work without some kind of protection. I went with an independent, so I'm not sure if a larger company might have some way of insuring against this, thus requiring no waiver.

underdonk

I had a custom ring designed for ex-Mrs. Underdonk. It was unique and she loved it. As other have said, it really comes down to how much you want to spend, as this will generally be a more expensive option. I think she will appreciate having something custom and unique. I will do this again for future ex-Mrs. Underdonks.

LewieP's Mummy

I designed my own engagement and wedding rings, then re-designed them for our 25th wedding anniversary. Partly I had to, to make them fit over my fingers(2 are 1"long, 1 is 1/2"long, all 3 webbed together), but mainly because I'm picky, and knew exactly how I wanted them to look. Go for it!

Forbe!

Any respectable jeweler should be able to draw sketches up for you, or some can even render them in 3d on the computer machine.

If you don't feel comfortable with the jeweler, or you feel like they are trying to force a design on you, simply walk away. My brother completely designed his own engagement rings, with help from the jeweler, and they followed through with it.

Being a jeweler myself, I can recommend going to smaller, independent jewelers. They will usually be more customer oriented. Most chain jewelers simply buy their stock rings from korea or china, and refit them with different settings.

LaPuzza

I worked in jewelery for years and expected custom to be expensive. My wife ended up getting diamond mands custome made. Diamonds matched perfectly, craftsmanship was much better than off the shelf, and it was cheaper than sale prices (but not employee prices).

A good custom shop will have designers and jewelers that can do some fantastic stuff.