Why should I trust you as my jeweller?

We always recommend that you take your newly finished or antique jewellery to be independently valued by a reputable valuer.

Plus, if you’re buying a new diamond larger than 0.30ct, it will usually come with certification.

Again, like the previous FAQ, it takes a lot of time and effort to remove a stone and reset it, and jewellers usually don’t carry enough stock to cover all size and shape variations – even of cheap CZs.

If you’re having your diamond set into a new piece of jewellery, we would always recommend you take the finished jewellery to be independently valued for insurance purposes and that will verify the size and quality of your diamond.

Don’t forget – your diamond will look different in a different setting!

The financial gain to be had from swapping one diamond for another would be negligible for any good jeweller. In other words, it’s just not worth it – plus you’re assuming that the jeweller carries enough diamond stock to cover all possible size and shape variations.

Since very few diamonds are the same measurements you should be able to spot a change. But it wouldn’t be worth the expense or effort to try to find one with the exact same dimensions to fit back into the setting.

It takes a lot of time and effort to work out a stone from a setting and reset another one. Removing it would be fairly quick but replacing it with the same size/shape and then repairing the claws would take time.

As a small business, we don’t carry any stock of large loose diamonds, we only ever order them in on specific request.

Above all else though, we are a small, growing business here for the long haul – it’s just not worth us risking our reputation.

I often get clients coming to me who have shopped in all the usual jewellery stores and realised they can get better value from having me hand make something which will stand the test of time instead of buying a mass produced (factory made) piece.

Clients have often been given a hard sell by shop assistants describing jewellery as ‘hand finished’. This is not the same as having a piece handmade from scratch with the gold melted and rolled out at the start, etc. ‘Hand finished’ usually only means a human being has polished the jewellery or possibly even set the stones in it after it’s rolled (thinly) off the production line!!

Why is it so cost effective to get me to hand make something? Simple – I don’t have a shop so I don’t have all the overheads that normal jewellery stores do.

Why is it better quality? Because I carefully craft, mould and carve each piece from start to finish by hand – not machine. I see the whole process through to the end and take care over how all the elements work together – rather then oversee one part on a production line. Even the gold is better quality because it contains special alloys for handmaking rather than ones that have to be used in casting (machine made) at lower temperatures. This means it’s more durable.

How do I know you’re going to do a proper job of making my jewellery? Unless specifically asked to because of the client’s budget constraints, I don’t get jewellery custom cast by a casting house using Computer Aided Design. If it really is the only way to meet a client’s budget, then I ensure the stones are hand set, as opposed to being cast in at manufacture, to make them secure. AND I don’t ‘make’ rings by soldering a pre cast shank and head together (yes this does actually happen!).

The photos below illustrate the differences there can be in the quality of workmanship between two rings of the same style. One is a picture of a ring a client found on the internet which was advertised as handmade but is in fact several cast bits soldered together, the other is the version I handmade from scratch.

We are a small, growing business here for the long haul – it’s just not worth us risking our growing reputation by producing shonky jewellery that will fall to bits in a few months or a couple of years.

I guarantee all my work (although not against accidental damage) and will never skimp on quality. All stones are hand set and all jewellery is made to last a lifetime. So you’ll never find, for example, stones that will randomly fall out or jewellery made of really thin metal, etc, etc. Yes, I know this happens with other jewellery – I’ve had to repair a lot of it!

I want you to come back again – and hopefully recommend me to all your friends!

What’s more, because I don’t have a store, busy clients can make appointments to come and see me after normal working hours.

So if you’ve been shopping around and are unsure whether you’re being offered the best value for money, contact me with your ideas and I’ll be happy to offer an estimate.

cheers
Siobhan