A very common, but very loaded question -- it depends. Custom rings vary wildly in style, materials, and labor required. The absolute biggest misconception about custom engagement rings, however, is that it is expensive.
This is only as true as you make it -- as you're the one controlling all of the costs.
To keep things simple, let's break it down by budget:
THE STONE
With few exceptions, the center stone (if you're wanting a traditional Diamond) is without a doubt going to be the most significant chunk of the project budget. Because this part won't really change whether you're buying a ready-made ring or choosing to have a custom ring designed, the largest factor of your spending won't really change whether you go custom or not. Therefore, this part of the project isn't really something to consider as a pro or con when deciding whether to go custom or not.
EXCEPTION: If you're into a non-diamond alternative stone, often a custom ring may actually be less expensive than the average Diamond engagement ring.
The biggest factors you'll want to consider when structuring your budget (or saving) in regards to stone choice will be: Lab Grown vs. Earth-Mined Diamonds, Why Diamonds are the #1 best stones for engagement rings, Moissanite as a Diamond alternative, Non-Traditional Diamonds, other alternative engagement ring stones, and how much you should you spend on an engagement ring.
THE METAL
This is another category that isn't exactly apples-to-apples, but also isn't typically an area where you'll se a huge cost difference either. Sound a little confusing?
Let us explain: Designers will use more metal in their designs as they're not designing for mass production (a.k.a. keeping material costs down and margins up) -- so it is likely that your custom ring will utilize a slightly larger chunk of gold or platinum when compared to something you'd find in a traditional store offering pre-made or assembled rings. More metal is a good thing because it is a sign that there were no short cuts in material used for prongs (keeping your precious diamonds in place!) or on shanks (where the bulk of the wear happens over years of wear). The more metal, the longer your ring will last and less repairs it will require over the years. Think of the slight increase in cost here as a long term investment -- a little more cash up front for less headaches down the road.
FUN FACT: You can actually also re-purpose existing gold and/or heirloom stones if you'd like, which can actually make the entire process less expensive than a traditional ring!
We always recommend choosing the metal based on her personal preference, as you typically won't see a significant or 'deal breaking' different between metal costs in the grand scheme of things. If you are interested in getting the most for your money when it comes to metal though, we'd suggest going with gold over platinum. The most expensive metal is platinum because of it's specific gravity (or, density) -- it simply takes more metal by weight to create the same design than it would gold. For this reason, it's still more expensive even when the gold price and platinum spot price is equal.
THE DESIGN
This is the area where you'll see the largest difference between a custom ring and a ready-made ring. Typically, ready-made or mass produced pieces will automatically have large retail margins built into their price as they're not assessed a separate fee for making on demand. Custom pieces, in contrast, will have a custom fee associated as they're being made from scratch as a one-off design and take quite a bit of labor to produce. The margins are lower, but the time it takes and labor required to make the ring are significantly higher. This process can vary greatly -- but you'll also see that difference reflected in the design fee. Simpler designs often cost much less than extremely intricate designs, and designs with one stone will likely cost quite a bit less than a thing that is encrusted with diamond.
The custom fee can span from around $800 for the simplest designs to upwards of $4000 for elaborate or extremely labor-intensive pieces. Most engagement ring projects, however, land somewhere in the middle. As a general rule, in most of the engagement ring projects we make here at MAKE MADE Jewelry, the custom fee equates to around 1/3 of the cost of a standard 1 carat center Diamond, or 1/4 of the price of the entire project.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Custom can be more affordable than you think! It can be more expensive than a ready-made ring, it could be about the same, or could actually cost less. The very best news is that these variables are all factors you have control over when you're planning a custom engagement ring.
An engagement ring can be as simple and understated or extravagant as you'd like, and designers are prepared to work with you at all different levels depending on your vision, desired stone, and ideal budget.
or
“I’m considering having Brian Gavin Diamonds custom design an engagement ring for me. I have some diamonds that I’ve accumulated over the years and am wondering how much does it cost to have a ring made from my diamonds? My girlfriend really wants a halo setting, and the diamond we’ve selected from Brian Gavin is a 1.65 carat round which is G-color and VS-2 clarity. We’re not certain whether we want an open prong design like the Anita Halo or the Halo setting by Brian Gavin that has more of a closed outer edge. We’re interested in 18k white gold or platinum.”
People frequently ask us what they can do with old diamonds and jewelry that they have accumulated over the years. In the first place, the style of the jewelry might not match with your current preferences or style. For example, it’s quite common for women to have a jewelry box full of jewelry that represents a younger period in their life when they preferred pieces that were lighter and smaller.
Obviously, the simplest approach seems to be something like melting it all down and creating a piece of custom jewelry that reflects your current style. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy since all of that old jewelry is likely to be made from different alloys and mixtures. With that in mind, it’s more cost-effective to trade it in for melt credit.Obviously, the simplest approach seems to be something like melting it all down and creating a piece of custom jewelry that reflects your current style. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy since all of that old jewelry is likely to be made from different alloys and mixtures. With that in mind, it’s more cost-effective to trade it in for melt credit.
Sometimes people really want to use their old gold for sentimental reasons and we can do that if you really want, however, it’s not really an effective approach because we need to use 50% fresh alloy in order to maintain the structural integrity of the new jewelry item and to reduce the presence of porosity. Under those circumstances, only a portion of the new piece would consist of the old jewelry and it doesn’t really make sense because it reduces the overall quality of the new creation.
Obviously, you might want to use any old diamonds or colored gems that you have lying around in a new piece of custom jewelry. One of the best ways to do that is to select a freeform design that has swirls or sweeping curves in which stones can be set easily regardless of differences in size or shape.
The custom jewelry designers from Brian Gavin Diamonds can help you design a piece of freeform style jewelry that will accommodate the majority or perhaps all of the diamonds and colored gems that you want to include in a piece of jewelry.
We can start with a napkin type sketch of what you have in mind, or provide you with some ideas after a brief consultation.
Contact our customer service representatives
for an appointment.
While there are some ring designs that Brian Gavin can custom design using your diamonds, a halo setting would not be one of the designs I would recommend, unless the diamonds you have are all calibrated to be the same size, same diameter, and match perfectly for diamond color and clarity. Making a ring out of diamonds that are mixed and matched for size, cut quality, clarity and color is a recipe for disaster, especially when the design is uniform in design. Freeform style rings that consist of combinations of different sized loops and circles are better suited for combining diamonds of different sizes, shapes, and qualities. Trust me when I tell you that we use Brian Gavin Signature Melee cut diamonds for a reason. BGD Signature Melee cut diamonds (pronounced “mell-ee) are cut to the same incredible standards that larger Brian Gavin Signature round diamonds are cut to. Thus we can guarantee that the diamonds in the setting will deliver the same high volume of light return and sparkle factor as larger BGD Signature diamonds. Halo style engagement rings like the Anita Halo by Brian Gavin require extreme precision to create the perfect balance between the size of the accent diamonds and the center stone. We custom make every halo style engagement ring from scratch so that the center stone fits the ring perfectly, with just the right amount of space between the edge of the center stone and the row of accent diamonds. We use calibrated melee cut diamonds to ensure that every Brian Gavin Signature engagement ring looks its absolute best.Understand that we’re happy to try and use your diamonds to make a custom ring, but they probably aren’t suitable for use in a Brian Gavin Signature engagement ring like a halo setting unless they are calibrated in size, and precisely matched for color, clarity , and diamond cut quality. When customers have presented us with diamonds in situations similar to this in the past, their diamond holdings have consisted of small diamonds set in various rings of different designs, all being of different sizes and qualities, and to be perfectly honest, they tend not to be of much use for the level of quality that we produce. However, we are always willing to take whatever diamonds you have on hand into consideration when designing a custom jewelry creation on your behalf. It is your engagement ring after all, Brian Gavin is the custom creator of the dream that you have in mind. Please contact our customer service department for additional details.