Concierge Engagement Ring Service

A concierge commission means one person handles the whole thing. Dave takes the first conversation, sources the stones, reads the grading reports with you, manages the bench work, and puts the finished ring in your hands himself. There is no counter to stand at and nowhere you have to drive to.

This page is the complete version: what actually happens, in what order, how long each stage takes, what it costs, and what is expected of you at each point. If you have never commissioned a piece before, everything you need is here.

What a Concierge Jeweler Actually Is

The phrase gets used loosely, so here is the specific version.

One person, start to finish. You are not passed between a greeter, a designer and a manager. The person who takes your first call is the person who hands you the ring.

Nothing is held waiting to be sold to you. We source against your specification rather than steering you toward whatever is already in a case. That single difference removes the pressure that makes the ordinary version of this so uncomfortable.

Nobody earns more if you spend more. There are no commissioned associates, because there are no associates. When we tell you a lower grade is the better choice, that advice costs us margin and we give it anyway.

The piece is delivered by hand. Not couriered. Dave brings it to your home, your office, or the restaurant where it is about to be needed.

What you give up is browsing. There is no room to walk into on a Saturday. What you get instead is a short list of stones genuinely worth your attention, chosen by someone who looked at them face-up before you did, and an honest account of what each one compromises.

Who This Is For

Three kinds of client, in our experience.

People who do not know where to start. The diamond market is deliberately opaque. Grades, fluorescence, cut percentages, depth ratios — a person behind a counter rarely explains what any of it means for how the stone actually looks. We do. You will finish the first conversation understanding what you are paying for.

People with a precise vision. You know the shape, the size, the metal. You have references saved. You do not want to compromise, and you want someone who will keep looking until the stone matches the brief rather than talking you into the nearest available thing.

People who value discretion. This is often the most significant piece of jewelry someone will ever buy, and not everyone wants to do that under bright lights with strangers nearby. Every part of this is private. We keep a separate page on how that works for artists, musicians and collectors, and another for athletes.

The Process, Step by Step

1. The first conversation

Thirty to sixty minutes, by phone, video or in person, and there is no agenda beyond understanding what you want and telling you honestly what is achievable at your budget.

Expect specific questions about the person who will wear the piece, not generic ones. How do they dress? Have they always reached for white metals, or do they wear yellow gold? Are they drawn to minimal or intricate design? Do they work with their hands in a way that should shape the setting choice?

If it is an engagement ring, we will ask about the proposal — the timing, the setting, whether it is a surprise. That changes how we approach the build, including whether we design with later sizing in mind or work from a confirmed measurement.

2. Sourcing the stone

We come back with two to four candidates, each with its full grading report and a plain assessment: why it was selected, where it excels, and what it gives up. Lab-grown stones carry IGI reports; natural stones carry GIA.

Dave examines colored and character stones face-up in ordinary light rather than under a lamp chosen to flatter them, because a certificate cannot tell you what a stone looks like. Nothing is decided from paperwork alone.

3. Design and rendering

Once a direction and a stone are settled, the design is drawn up — reference imagery for simple work, a full CAD rendering for anything complex. A CAD is a precise three-dimensional model, which means you see exactly what you are getting before any metal is poured.

This is the stage for changes: proportions, prong style, band width, profile, surface texture, accent stone placement. Most commissions go through one or two rounds here. Nothing moves to the bench until you are confident.

4. The bench

The approved design becomes a wax model, cast in your chosen metal by the lost-wax method used in fine jewelry for centuries. Then the work that actually separates pieces: filing, polishing, and stone setting.

For pavé and accent work, every stone is placed individually by hand. It is slow, and it is the difference between a piece that reads as made and one that reads as manufactured.

5. Inspection, then personal delivery

Before anything leaves, every stone is checked for setting security, the metalwork is inspected under magnification, measurements are verified against the approved design, and the finish is reviewed.

Then Dave brings it to you. Wherever suits — your home, your office, a restaurant, a hotel. That handover is the point of the whole model, and it is not delegated.

The Timeline

A custom engagement ring runs four to eight weeks from the first conversation to delivery. Simple settings land at the short end; intricate work at the long end.

If you have a fixed date, say so in the first conversation. We build the schedule backward from it, and if the date is not achievable for the piece you have described, you will be told that at the start rather than in week five. Where a timeline is genuinely tight there are usually options — a simpler setting, a stone already in hand rather than sourced — and those get laid out as real trade-offs rather than quietly taken.

What to Bring

Nothing formal is required, but three things make the first conversation far more productive.

Reference images. Anything you have saved, from anywhere. You do not need to love every image completely — pictures that show something you like next to something you do not are often the most useful, because they tell us where the line is better than any description.

A budget range. Not an exact figure, and you will never be asked to justify it. But whether you are thinking $5,000 or $20,000 changes the conversation entirely, and knowing early means we can tell you honestly what that reaches and where the meaningful trade-offs sit. We publish real numbers from our own catalog in what an engagement ring actually costs, so you can arrive already knowing.

A ring size, if you have one. If you do not, we will talk through several reliable ways of finding out, depending on how covert the proposal has to be and how much time there is.

Heirlooms and Family Stones

Yes, and it is some of the most satisfying work we do. A grandmother's stone reset into a contemporary design, a stone from an existing ring carried into a new one, gold melted and reused. Bring the piece to the first conversation if you can, or photographs and any paperwork if you cannot. We will tell you plainly what is possible, what is not, and where an older stone will need work before it can be reset safely.

What It Costs

Every ring price decomposes into the same four parts: the stone, the metal, the bench hours, and the margin — plus whatever that margin has to carry. A price funding a street-level lease, floor staff on commission and a national advertising budget is necessarily larger than one that is not. We carry none of those.

Commissions are quoted rather than estimated, because the stone is the largest variable and gets chosen last. What you will get in the first conversation is a realistic band for what you have described, and a plain answer if the design and the number do not meet. The full breakdown, with live stone prices, is in our pricing guide.

After the Conversation

You will finish with a clear sense of what your piece would look like, what it would cost, and how the process runs. We follow up within 24 hours with a written summary and, if you are ready, an initial stone selection.

If you want time to think, that is completely fine. This is a piece that will be worn every day for decades. It should be chosen carefully, not quickly.

Every consultation is complimentary and carries no obligation. We would rather spend an hour with someone who never commissions anything than rush someone into a decision they have not thought through.

Where We Work

We are based in Winter Park, just outside Orlando, and most Central Florida commissions are handed over within a morning's drive — Winter Park, Windermere, Dr. Phillips and Lake Nona especially. There is more on the local side on the Central Florida page.

The metro is not the limit. Clients across the country commission pieces here and Dave travels to deliver them, including South Florida and Tampa. Distance has never been the reason a piece arrived in a box.

Common Questions