The Twelve Questions We Are Asked Most

Twelve questions, in the order we get them. Each answer is deliberately short; the linked article is there when the short version is not enough.

Before you buy

1. How do I know a seller actually makes what they sell?
Ask for a photograph of a piece cast but not yet set. Nobody photographs a half-finished ring for a catalogue, so a workshop produces one in minutes and a reseller cannot obtain one at any price. See how to check whether a brand makes its own pieces.

2. How do I compare two rings that look identical?
On six specifications: metal and karat, gram weight, centre stone millimetres, accent count and size, shank width and thickness, and production plus transit days separately. The blank cells do the comparing. See how to compare two rings.

3. Is a bigger stone at the same price a better deal?
Not if it measures larger than standard for its weight — that means it was cut shallow to spread, which returns less light. A round at one carat should be about 6.5 mm.

4. Which grades should I actually pay for?
Match colour to metal: in yellow or rose gold, H–I reads white; in white gold or platinum, G or better. On clarity, SI1 is usually eye-clean under a carat — and position beats grade, so open the plot diagram.

While it is being made

5. What is the single most important thing to ask?
“Can I see the side elevation with the profile height in millimetres?” The top-down render everyone approves from hides profile height, gallery, taper and total width — all of which are fixed permanently at casting. See how to read a CAD render.

6. How thick should the shank be?
1.8 mm at the base for daily wear, 2 mm for working hands — measured at the base, not the shoulders, where a taper flatters. It is the number that decides whether a reshank comes at year twelve or year twenty-five.

7. Can I still change my mind?
Before the wax, almost everything is a file edit. After casting, only the separate components — stone, head, finish, shank — can change. See changing your mind at the CAD stage.

8. How long will it take?
Ask for production days and transit days as two separate numbers. A checkout estimate is transit only and omits the bench entirely.

After it arrives

9. It looks smaller than the photographs. Is something wrong?
No. Product photography is shot at close range under directional light and chosen from hundreds of frames, so a real ring correctly looks smaller and calmer. Check it against the written specification rather than the images.

10. Why does it look dull already?
Almost always film on the pavilion — the underside, where light enters and leaves — from lotion and soap. Warm water, a drop of washing-up liquid, a soft brush from underneath, weekly. The table can look perfectly clean while this is happening.

11. What maintenance does it actually need?
A bench check every two years for a ring, yearly for anything with a clasp. And one instruction every time: “do not polish”, which is done by default and removes metal each time. See what a bench check involves.

12. What paperwork should I keep?
The written specification, photographs including the marks inside the shank, any report with its inscription number noted separately, and a dated appraisal. Stored digitally, separately from the jewellery. See the paperwork, by what you might need it for.

Four we are asked and cannot answer

• “Is this stone lab grown or mined?” from a photograph — nobody can tell. They are the same material and it needs laboratory equipment. The girdle inscription settles it.
• “What is my ring worth?” from images — a valuation needs the object in hand, and a figure guessed from a photograph is worse than none.
• “How thick is that shank?” from an image — a photograph has no scale. Put a ruler in the frame.
• “What grade is this moissanite?” — no laboratory grades moissanite, so any grades attached to one are a seller’s assessment rather than certified facts.

Frequently asked questions