What makes the price of a bespoke ring
The price of a ring often passes for a mystery. It is not one: a precious ring costs what its gold, its stones and the hands that make it cost. Here is how it comes together, so you know what to expect before you begin.
Gold: the first item, by real weight
The first item on the bill is the gold: the weight of metal in your ring, at its fineness (18 or 14 carat), at the day’s price. This is what surprises people most: now that laboratory-grown diamonds have made stones accessible, it is the metal that weighs heaviest in a ring’s price, except in the case of a slender band carrying a large stone. Two rings that look alike can differ in price for this reason: a wider band, a fuller dome, is simply more gold. At LAB IMAGINE, the price is calculated from your project’s true proportions, not from an average. 925 solid silver opens the same forms at a more accessible price.
Stones: what changed, and what holds value
The second item is the stone. Laboratory-grown diamonds have changed the game: real diamonds, created in a laboratory, putting sizes within reach that mining reserved for the few. Their price still climbs in steps with the carat. The coloured stones, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, come from Chatham, the reference in laboratory-grown stones since the 1930s: a quality that has its price. The accompanying stones, halo or pavé, then count by their number and their quality.
Workmanship: the hands
The third item is the work: casting, setting, polishing, finishing. A fine pavé takes hours a smooth band does not. Workmanship does not show in a photograph; it shows on the piece, and over the years.
When do you know the price, and does it move?
At LAB IMAGINE, the price appears as you create, the moment your project is complete: the price of that very piece, calculated from its weight of metal and its stones. While you create, the displayed price may vary by up to 10%. At order, it is set: what you pay is final.
Can a beautiful ring be made on a contained budget?
Yes, and without tricks: by playing with what weighs. A slimmer band, a stone just under a carat step, a chosen pavé rather than a covering one, solid silver rather than gold: so many choices that change the price without changing the rightness of a piece. The configurator lets you try these choices and see their effect, before any commitment.