Unusual job on the bench today
Discussion
ecain63 said:
thebraketester said:
That is lovely. Can you explain how you set the diamonds in the holes? Are the just a press fit?
3.3mm diamonds. Holes drilled to 3.3mm and about 0.5mm deeper than the edge of the stone. Stone is pressed in then the gold around the edge is pressed over the lip of the hole onto the edge of the stone. Nice, neat and secure finish.
GT03ROB said:
happie33 said:
bloody brilliant
you sir are a genius
He absolutely is. And I feel daft for asking him to do the couple of things he did for me earlier this week. you sir are a genius
There will be better jobs in due course Eddie I promise!
h0b0 said:
Some how you just made Cartier prices seem reasonable. I had no idea that much work and raw ingredients went into one of their brackets.
Would you retail something like this or is 8 hours of your time not feasible?
I'm not sure what an 18ct Cartier bangle with 1.5ct of diamonds retails at. Over £6k possibly / probably? The name is probably worth a 25% mark up at least Would you retail something like this or is 8 hours of your time not feasible?
I have enough for 2 more in rose gold using the old bracelet. As rose is in fashion i suspect the wife will insist I make another couple for the shop to cover the cost of hers. Whether I want to or not is the next question. I usually make stuff like this to order as everyone has different requirements so until someone asks I'll probably resist the temptation to add a days backlog to my normal workload.
I've still got to finish that diamond bracelet (this weekend) and set the diamonds in that 2 peice ring (tomorrow) so I'm not short. Needs a holiday
ecain63 said:
I'm not sure what an 18ct Cartier bangle with 1.5ct of diamonds retails at. Over £6k possibly / probably? The name is probably worth a 25% mark up at least
I have enough for 2 more in rose gold using the old bracelet. As rose is in fashion i suspect the wife will insist I make another couple for the shop to cover the cost of hers. Whether I want to or not is the next question. I usually make stuff like this to order as everyone has different requirements so until someone asks I'll probably resist the temptation to add a days backlog to my normal workload.
I've still got to finish that diamond bracelet (this weekend) and set the diamonds in that 2 peice ring (tomorrow) so I'm not short. Needs a holiday
You have about $2k in materials and I'd guess $1k in labour in the piece. I'm sure you can reduce the labour costs by making a form/mold but it would still be time consuming. I have enough for 2 more in rose gold using the old bracelet. As rose is in fashion i suspect the wife will insist I make another couple for the shop to cover the cost of hers. Whether I want to or not is the next question. I usually make stuff like this to order as everyone has different requirements so until someone asks I'll probably resist the temptation to add a days backlog to my normal workload.
I've still got to finish that diamond bracelet (this weekend) and set the diamonds in that 2 peice ring (tomorrow) so I'm not short. Needs a holiday
I expected jewllers to have a much higher mark up on their product but I have vastly under estimated your time/talent.
h0b0 said:
You have about $2k in materials and I'd guess $1k in labour in the piece. I'm sure you can reduce the labour costs by making a form/mold but it would still be time consuming.
I expected jewllers to have a much higher mark up on their product but I have vastly under estimated your time/talent.
I've just checked the Cartier price list. For a bangle with half the diamond weight of mine you are looking at £8k+ in rose gold. That's shocking. I was looking at £5k retail with my specs. I expected jewllers to have a much higher mark up on their product but I have vastly under estimated your time/talent.
On that note, my wife absolutely loves the bangle. However, I need to make another as it's a little too big. With the diamonds in it would be a pain to make smaller without leaving trace so it looks like I've got another day lined up in the near future.
She does absolutely love it though.
I got a Tudor Black Bay. Win!
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/gY0TLspi.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/z3xGuXw6" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/z3xGuXw6.jpg)
Cutting back to this hellish bracelet...... here is where we got to today once the second bangle was completed.
The last bit is the hardest but also the most satisfying IF it goes right. There are 16 more claws to add to the outer rim of the links and they all have to be added without melting the existing joints. If any solder runs into the hinges or something collapses then it could potentially be the end of the road for one or both links and at worst a need to start again. Luckily I've already had my bad luck on this job so I got away with the rest of it pretty much unscathed. The trick is to use the smallest torch nozzle you can get away with so you don't end up toasting the other claws or overheating the link.
1/4 the way round:
With the outer claws done the next bit is the tricky ones between the links. If I had thought about it I'd have done these before the outer ones so that I had less in my way, but that's hindsight for you (the next pic shows a claw in the wrong place. I did move it I promise):
With it looking like a pile of sticks for the fire I find myself some princess cut diamonds to set in the middle. I added a little spacer under the stones to give them the desired height as well as a bit of strengthening for the claws when it comes to bending them over the stones:
Fiddly gits they were but they went in. I also laid in the round stones for the corners. I am awaiting the arrival of the 1.75mm x 1.25mm baguettes for between the rounds. I'll hopefully get them Tuesday:
The last bit is the hardest but also the most satisfying IF it goes right. There are 16 more claws to add to the outer rim of the links and they all have to be added without melting the existing joints. If any solder runs into the hinges or something collapses then it could potentially be the end of the road for one or both links and at worst a need to start again. Luckily I've already had my bad luck on this job so I got away with the rest of it pretty much unscathed. The trick is to use the smallest torch nozzle you can get away with so you don't end up toasting the other claws or overheating the link.
1/4 the way round:
With the outer claws done the next bit is the tricky ones between the links. If I had thought about it I'd have done these before the outer ones so that I had less in my way, but that's hindsight for you (the next pic shows a claw in the wrong place. I did move it I promise):
With it looking like a pile of sticks for the fire I find myself some princess cut diamonds to set in the middle. I added a little spacer under the stones to give them the desired height as well as a bit of strengthening for the claws when it comes to bending them over the stones:
Fiddly gits they were but they went in. I also laid in the round stones for the corners. I am awaiting the arrival of the 1.75mm x 1.25mm baguettes for between the rounds. I'll hopefully get them Tuesday:
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