Frequently Asked Questions
Making your custom jewelry
Customer Service
Payment / Shipping
Making your custom jewelry
- Can you use my diamonds or gemstones?
Of course! We are happy to work with your diamonds or colored gemstones, our diamonds, or any diamond vendor you may choose to work with. Our primary goal at Images Jewelers is to create the perfect custom jewelry for you. There may be occasions where we will suggest specific stones, or request that you allow us to purchase stones on your behalf, stones for pavé and melee are prime examples of this.
- What about melle and small accent stones?
We will provide all melle and minor accent stones. When making jewelry we run in to areas where what we thought would fit doesn't. If we tell you that we plan to use 20 1.5mm stones we may actually use 16 1.5mm stones 2 1.6mm stones and 2 1.3mm stones to visually balance a piece. We can only do this economically if we provide the stones. Add to this the issue of matching color and clarity in parcels of diamonds and it becomes easier and less expensive for us to source these diamonds when we make the ring.
- What alloys do you use?
We can use any alloy that you prefer. While we do have our favorites, our goal is to make your jewelry to your specifications.
Our preferred alloys include:
- Sterling Silver: Argentium Alloyed Silver. Argentium sterling silver provides a tarnish resistant metal that remains clean and shiny far longer than traditional alloys. Argentium Sterling also resists fire scale making it easier for us to work with in the casting process.
- White Gold: Nickel based bright white. Today's modern nickel alloys are less likely to cause or aggravate a nickel allergy. In 30 years of business we have not experienced any reactions to the nickel based alloy that we use.
- Platinum: Plat/S2+ 950 Platinum developed by Steven Kretchmer. The Plat/S2+ platinum is by far the best platinum we have ever used. It out performs every other alloy in every way, from ease of manufacture to lasting finish, Plat/S2+ meets all of our requirements.
Again, we are able and willing to work in any alloy that you would prefer. If you have a special request please let us know and we will be happy to work in that material for you.
- Who is responsible for my diamond or gemstone during setting?
We are! Images Jewelers has been creating fine jewelry for over 30 years and our craftsmen are among the best. While we understand the reasoning behind having the customer take responsibility, we believe that as the professional in the relationship it is important that we take the responsibility. There may be occasions where upon inspection of the diamond or gemstone we see more risk to the integrity of the stone. In these cases we will contact you and explain our concerns with you and we can then decide how to proceed. We also have set a limit of $25,000 on the value of the stones we will cover ourselves. If your diamond or gemstone should exceed this value we will discuss with you our options after we inspect the stone. In many cases we will still take full responsibility.
We no longer accept setting responsibility for CZs and their variations (Asha, Interlap, etc.). Their brittle nature makes them more difficult to set than natural diamonds. The breakage rate on them is still incredibly low, but we can no longer accept the risk for setting CZs that we do not sell.
- Why can't you use my old gold to make my new ring?
All gold, except 24k, is made with an alloy to make it more durable. Over the years those alloys have changed considerably. If we were to use your older gold in a new ring, we may experience problems in casting, finishing, or contamination in your new ring. To avoid this problem we only use new casting grains that we alloy ourselves in our shop. This allows us to have complete control of the entire manufacturing process, providing you with the highest quality custom jewelry.
We can offer you scrap value for your old settings if you send them to us to have the stones removed for use in your new jewelry, or, we can return the settings to you with your finished custom jewelry.
- Ring Sizing:
When we make your ring, we request that you get a current ring size for us to build to. Should your ring need resizing, we recommend that you use a local jeweler for resizing purely as a time saving factor. We will be more than happy to resize your ring for you for free (plus shipping) for 30 days after purchase.
Customer Service
- What happens if I get my custom ring and I don't like it?
We try very hard to never let this happen. This is why we build 3D models and get your approval on the design before we make it. Unfortunately, when you see something in real life instead of a picture you may find that there are minor, or even major, changes you would like to have made. We try very hard to avoid this issue by having drawings approved and going over every detail as thoroughly as possible, but it does happen from time to time, even with customers that come in to our store.
If you get your ring and decide that it simply isn't what you had intended, or that there are changes that you would like to see made, we will work with you to make you as happy as possible. While every situation is unique, we will usually remake a ring for you for $200 to $300 for a simple ring to as much as $500, or more, if there is a lot of stone setting that needs to be done as in a pavé ring.
If you are ever unhappy, please let us know so that we can work with you to resolve any issues. We want you to be happy with your jewelry.
- What is your trade up policy?
Isn't it wonderful that as time goes on we are able to buy bigger and better items for ourselves? At Images Jewelers we are proud to be able to help you do just that without loosing the investment you have made in your diamonds and gemstones. At any time you can trade in your diamonds and gemstones for 100% of the original purchase value toward the purchase of a new diamond or gemstone. For more details on our Trade Up Policy simply click on the Trade Up link.
Payment / Shipping
- How can I pay for my jewelry?
At Images Jewelers we accept all major credit cards. Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover Card. We do offer a 2% discount on all payments made by wire transfer.
- Why do you charge for designs?
We charge for initial design work for several reasons. The primary reason is obvious.
It costs money and time for us to design your custom jewelry for you. Usually far more than the design fee we charge. Even for projects where there is no real "design" aspect, we must charge this small fee because we are still taking the time to create 3D renders of the finished product.
This fee is non-refundable and is applied to the final cost of the project.
- How do I ship my jewelry to you?
We recommend that you ship your jewelry to us via the US Postal Service. The USPS has program in place now to allow you to ship your jewelry via registered mail fully insured. And they even have the material on hand to help you package your jewelry properly! It is the easiest, and safest, way for a consumer to ship their jewelry and feel safe about it reaching it's final destination.
