I told the salesperson at Embler's that I needed a new setting for my existing engagement ring, and that I wanted something with a vintage look. I also said that I was in South Carolina on vacation, on a tight deadline. I wanted to buy a setting asap, and have my stone set at home. The salesperson found the perfect setting in the case: white gold, vintage-looking, a few diamonds. The tag said $2400. I went to check out but we discovered the ring in my hand was a display model, made in silver.
Again, $2400 was the cost of the setting alone, in white gold, with no main stone.
The salesperson contacted me afterward, and said that they had talked to the designer of the ring. The ring setting could be produced by my deadline, but the price was now $3300. They said that the price of the ring was dependent on the cost of gold (the designer's website also states this), and that the sample ring had been in the case "a long time"; thus the outdated tag. The ring price had increased by 40%.
To be clear: there was no mention of a rush fee for getting the ring done by my deadline, it was all down to the price of gold.
So. Frustrating.
Firstly, while I realize Embler's is the middleman for independent designers, they should be able to be responsible for accurate (or semi-accurate) pricing of what they hold in stock.
Secondly, the pricing was massively confusing. Embler's told me that the designer was basing their new price on the current cost of gold: $1800/oz. This is indeed the current price for *yellow* gold, but the product I was buying was *white* gold, currently at about $1200/oz for 18ct.
I string pearls, so I order gold clasps by weight on a regular basis. I can tell you that $3300 will buy a *lot* of gold, whatever the color.
If you've got some coins in your pocket for reference, a penny weighs 0.09 oz, a quarter 0.19 oz, and a dollar coin is 0.28 oz. $3300 would buy 1.8 ounces of yellow gold, roughly the weight of 6.4 dollar coins.
A ring setting weighs about 0.1 - 0.3 ounces. I did not ask about the actual gold weight in this specific ring, but assuming it was at the highest end of the range at .3 ounces (about the weight of that dollar coin), it would mean $540 in gold in the ring itself ($1800 x 0.3). The equivalent white gold setting would be $360 ($1200 x 0.3).
The salesperson noted that the ring has a lot of "sparkle", with high quality pave-style diamonds. A search of jewelers' forums notes that tiny diamonds are not bought singly, but in bulk. Buying well-matched lots of high quality diamonds means that each diamond prices out at the $3-$7 range, depending on size. The forums put the price of a 1mm high-quality stone at $7 (Pricescope was the most useful on this front, but the GIA forums were useful too re: melee diamonds).
So... if I were paying for the cost of raw materials alone $3300 could also buy me a whopping 116 diamonds (1mm size at $7 per).
I wouldn't be dwelling on this so much if Embler's (and the designer) themselves hadn't stated that the price hike was due to the current cost of gold. The raw materials likely do not reflect the total value of this ring- the workmanship involved in setting each stone. Embler's also deserves a cut for finding the perfect item. Jewelry is sentimental, so there's that.
I guess Emblers (and the designer) want to give the impression of transparency by saying that the ring price is based on the cost of gold, but the math simply doesn't work. For me the tactic backfired badly and led to a complete lack of trust. The raw materials in this ring likely cost between $500-$700, and are almost certainly under $1k. If there are other factors involved (labor, commission), fine: but honesty is appreciated. Giving a customer the impression that they're buying $3300 in gold alone seems... wrongheaded.
In any case, buyers should know that the prices listed in Embler's cases could apparently be off by quite a lot, which doesn't help for budgeting.
I feel comfortable that the data above is accurate, but consumers may want to ask what the gold weight is in the actual ring they intend to buy ( + diamonds), then do their own research before purchase. While a buyer may be ready to pay *any* price for an item they like (and will theoretically wear for a lifetime), the fact is that jewelry often needs to be insured-- insurance will only cover replacement value of the item in case of loss/theft.
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NB1: I did ask before photgraphing this piece.
NB2: The numbers I produced are from the metric system, which is easier because otherwise you can confuse regular ounces vs troy ounces. Original data as follows: a penny weighs 2.5 grams, a quarter is 5.6g, a dollar coin is 8.1g. Engagement ring settings range from 3-8 grams. One gram of 24 ct yellow gold currently sells at $57.23, 18 ct white gold is at $42.80/g. read more