At What Price? – Mark Grosser
Mark Grosser breaks down a custom piece, fee by fee
Editor’s Note: When a customer had some leftover diamonds after selling her gold and having some larger gemstones re-mounted, custom jeweler Mark Grosser was only too happy to put those diamonds to use in a new bracelet for her. Here’s how Grosser of M. Grosser Jewelry Design in Carmel, Indiana, arrived at the final charge for the 14k white gold bracelet. (Originally published May 2019.)
Design:
We don’t charge for design consultations, which usually take an hour to an hour and a half. For this project, I drew about 10 quick sketches of different styles to find out what type of style the client would want. Once she decided on a style, I drew several more quick sketches until we narrowed it down to this design and I drew a final concept.
Total Fee: $0
Metal:
The long runs of channel-set diamonds had to be hand-fabricated be-cause it’s not really possible to successfully cast something that long. To create the bracelet, I used 14k white gold flat sizing stock measuring 3.5 mm x 2 mm (12 inches) and 2.5 mm x 2 mm (16 inches).
Total Fee: $2,800
Stones:
As mentioned, all of the diamonds were left over from a previous re-mount job. The 120 diamonds (4.12 ctw) were all different sizes and had to be sorted out into an orderly layout.
Total Fee: $0
Labor:
It took four hours to assemble the bracelet and another hour to polish it, for which we charged $200 per hour. We charged $20 per stone to set the 120 diamonds. Finally, there was a $100 charge to rhodium plate the piece.
Total Fee: $3,500
Final Price:
$6,300