While still at A&M I went to a jeweler in College Station to get a diamond put in my ring. My grandmother wanted to provide this for me, and I already had a plain gold Aggie ring, so I decided to go with a "aftermarket" install. The reputable jeweler told me that it wasn't a big deal, or anything to be concerned with, as voiding Balfour's policy didn't really do much. The rings were no longer two pieces, its just a ring, they can do anything Balfour can for me, etc...
So feeling confident and perfectly okay with voiding the warranty, I went and had it done. They did an amazing job too, no knocking their craftsmanship.
However, for some reason my ring is now huge (literally slips off my finger when reaching into my pocket) and I need to size down 1.5-2 sizes. I went back to the jeweler recently asking about getting a resize and the guy told me it would be $300! I thought surely he's joking with me. After him not giving up the joke, another guy came up and said yes that's what it really costs, and it could even be $400 since its such a large size change.
I feel that is absolutely ridiculous, for a couple reasons,
1.considering getting a custom diamond install was a bit less than $800, it makes no sense that a resize would be half that cost, considering they are adding nothing of any value, and keeping the gold that gets removed.
2. That a $400 dollar resize job was no big deal for them, and never mentioned it, especially considering I was asking and showing concern over voiding the warranty, and that I could have had it resized by Balfour for free, and went into it thinking they would do something like that as well. Or at least around the $100 range....(I know you pay for quality work, but not that much)
Anyways rant over... The question... anyone know of a good/trusted jeweler I cant take it to in the Houston area, that may have experience working on these rings to have it resized and not get totally screwed on price?
I don't need it perfectly reconditioned and make the bottom like new again. It already has marks and has smoothed down some on the bottom and I like that. I just need someone who can size it down and solder it back together correctly, and it wont split apart at the joint or something in the coming years.
So feeling confident and perfectly okay with voiding the warranty, I went and had it done. They did an amazing job too, no knocking their craftsmanship.
However, for some reason my ring is now huge (literally slips off my finger when reaching into my pocket) and I need to size down 1.5-2 sizes. I went back to the jeweler recently asking about getting a resize and the guy told me it would be $300! I thought surely he's joking with me. After him not giving up the joke, another guy came up and said yes that's what it really costs, and it could even be $400 since its such a large size change.
I feel that is absolutely ridiculous, for a couple reasons,
1.considering getting a custom diamond install was a bit less than $800, it makes no sense that a resize would be half that cost, considering they are adding nothing of any value, and keeping the gold that gets removed.
2. That a $400 dollar resize job was no big deal for them, and never mentioned it, especially considering I was asking and showing concern over voiding the warranty, and that I could have had it resized by Balfour for free, and went into it thinking they would do something like that as well. Or at least around the $100 range....(I know you pay for quality work, but not that much)
Anyways rant over... The question... anyone know of a good/trusted jeweler I cant take it to in the Houston area, that may have experience working on these rings to have it resized and not get totally screwed on price?
I don't need it perfectly reconditioned and make the bottom like new again. It already has marks and has smoothed down some on the bottom and I like that. I just need someone who can size it down and solder it back together correctly, and it wont split apart at the joint or something in the coming years.