I hear some version of this almost every week. A client comes in for a consultation, we talk through what they're imagining, and at some point they say something like: "I'm probably not your typical client." Or they hedge — "I know this might be outside my range."

They're almost always wrong.

The idea that custom jewelry is reserved for a certain income level is one of the most persistent misconceptions in this industry. I think it costs a lot of people pieces they'd genuinely love wearing. So let me be direct about how the numbers actually work.

What You're Really Paying For at a Chain Store

When you buy a ring from a national jewelry chain, the price includes a lot of things that have nothing to do with the stone or the metal. Retail rent in a mall or a high-traffic location. Advertising. A commissioned salesperson whose incentives don't perfectly align with yours. Corporate overhead. A piece that was mass-produced to hit a price point and photographed under ideal lighting to look its best in a display case.

That markup is real and substantial. A solitaire engagement ring retailing for $4,500 at a chain store often has materials that cost a fraction of that. The rest is brand, distribution, and real estate.

Custom work is different. You're paying for my time — design consultation, stone sourcing, fabrication — and for materials. There's no retail markup, no advertising budget baked into the price. I charge for the work I actually do. In practice, this means custom pieces are often priced comparably to, or less than, a similar piece you'd find elsewhere. I've made engagement rings for clients with $2,500 budgets. I've made pieces for clients spending $30,000. The quality of attention is the same either way.

The Problem With One-Size-Fits-All

Mass production requires standardization. Rings come in standard sizes, with standard stone shapes, in standard proportions designed to work for as many people as possible — which means they're genuinely optimized for no one specifically.

Last spring, a client came to me wanting a ring she could actually wear during her work as a physical therapist. Something low-profile, durable, nothing that would catch on gloves. Everything she'd looked at was too tall, too delicate, or too generic. We designed a flush-set oval sapphire in 14k yellow gold — clean, secure, proportioned for her hands and her life. Total came to just under $3,200. She wears it every day.

That piece doesn't exist in any catalog. It exists because we made it specifically for her.

What Custom Actually Requires From You

Time, mainly. A custom piece takes longer than buying something off a shelf. I typically work on a 6–10 week timeline from deposit to delivery, depending on the design and how long it takes to source the right stone. Some things move faster. Complex pieces or hard-to-find materials take longer.

It also requires a real conversation upfront. I work by appointment from my studio in Santa Monica, which means when you come in, the time is yours. No one hovering. No commission pressure. We talk about what you want, what your actual lifestyle looks like, what you've seen that appealed to you and why — and just as importantly, what you hated and why. That conversation tends to be more useful than people expect.

The thing most clients don't anticipate: the process is genuinely enjoyable. People come in braced for something stressful and usually leave having had a good experience. I've worked hard to build my practice that way, and it shows in how often clients come back for a second or third piece.

One more thing worth saying: you don't need to know exactly what you want going in. Some of my best work has come from clients who walked in with just a vague feeling — "something unusual," "nothing that looks like everyone else's." That's enough to start a real conversation.

If you've been putting off a custom piece because you assumed it wasn't in your budget, reach out before you decide. The initial conversation costs nothing. You can find me through my contact page and we'll figure out together if I'm the right fit for what you're imagining.