What a commission actually costs, and why

Fine jewellery is one of the last consumer categories where the customer is routinely expected to accept a price with no explanation of its parts. We would rather explain.

The stone is most of it

On any piece with a significant centre stone, the stone is between sixty and eighty per cent of the total. This is the part with the least margin in it. We buy at trade and mark up modestly, because a stone is a commodity with a published market and pretending otherwise insults everyone.

It is also the part where your budget has the most leverage. Moving from D colour to G on a stone that will be set in white metal is very often invisible on the hand and can free up thirty per cent of a budget.

Metal is cheaper than you think

The platinum in a substantial solitaire is a few hundred dollars of raw material. Metal cost is almost never the reason one setting costs more than another.

The labour is the rest

A hand-forged setting is somewhere between fifteen and forty hours of bench time depending on complexity, plus setting, plus nine stages of finishing. That is the number that varies most between makers, and it is the honest reason a forged piece costs more than a cast one — you are buying days, not materials.

It is also why we quote lead times in weeks rather than days. Nothing here is waiting in a drawer.

What we do not charge for

The first consultation, sketches, sourcing and presenting stone candidates, and the design work up to the point you approve it. If we cannot find you a stone you love, you owe us nothing and we have lost a few days. That risk is ours and it should be.

Rough guidance

• Silver and gold pieces without significant stones: $800 – $6,000
• Diamond jewellery, smaller stones: $4,000 – $12,000
• Engagement rings with a certified centre stone: $8,000 – $30,000
• Important pieces, exceptional stones: $30,000 upward

If your budget is below these, say so plainly — there is usually a version of the idea that works, and we would rather design to a real number than sell you a compromise you did not ask for.