Let me tell you a story....its long .....
My Mum passed away I was bequeathed her beautiful set of rings with many diamonds, set in white gold (or could have been platinum).
Each time I looked at the rings, I felt a lump form in my throat, they were my Mums. One day I thought, the rings arent my Mum, my Mum lives on in my heart, my memories, so there is no use hidding them away, I will have them reset.
I wanted a fantastic job done, faultless and very special so although I have had Burhan and Ms Pak make me special pieces of jewellery, I thought I would have it made locally in Melbourne.
I had had personal experiences with 2 local jewellers so asked for quotes. I wanted one ring made using Mums diamonds with yellow gold, not the white in Mums rings.
One jeweller (Annies) who I felt 100% sure would make a perfect ring wanted $2200. Phew, I felt that was a lot when I was supplying the stones.
The other jeweller (Chris) quoted $1770 so I went with him. I had seen some lovely pieces he'd made previously although I also knew his time frame was rubbery!
Chris also assured me we would sit and check the progress along the way.
This never happened, each time I was due to check it out, Chris had another lame excuse. Eventually the final date when I particularly wanted the ring for, about 8 weeks later, I went to pick it up and it was terrible. A real shoddy job. Not even neatly set diamonds. Looked like he'd stayed up the night before and thrown it together. A couple of the larger diamonds were tucked down the side, almost not noticable. He had bought my white gold so I owed him about $1380. He and I agreed, I would pay him half (about $700). (I tell you what, he has lost more then $700 with his shoddy workmanship, I will never recommend him and if I hear anyone thinking of using him, I will suggest otherwise).
I then took the awful ring to Bali in August and gave Ms Pak a photo of a ring I'd seen on a ladies hand (at Daly Waters in NT and complimented her on the design and asked if I could copy).
I spent about another $100 and came away with a really beautiful ring, finished well (and no diamonds have fallen out).
So there you go, nothing is guaranteed in life regardless of the dollars you spend and the confidence you may have in a craftsmans work.