Alex Monroe is ridiculous

[buzzoffbee]

I really loved their hidden bee locket but wanted it 50% bigger. (1.5cm tall instead of 1cm)

After several attempts and mis-communications with them going back to April, I finally managed to get a quote from them today! The original is £775, they want between £3500 and £5000!

Is it me, or does anyone else think they've lost the plot? They really don't want to make this necklace for me, do they?

Anyone recommend a similar jeweller who can make something similar at a more reasonable price?

[LemonTT]

No idea who this person is. Wouldn’t buy jewellery new as it is stupidly over priced. Plus there isn’t that much scope for innovative design to justify the designer prices of often mass produced items.

[Shoxfordian]

Do they say they make custom jewellery? It generally would cost more to have something made

[Gorl]

It’s not really that surprising that a custom item costs way more than an off the rack item.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Things are worth what you'll pay for them.

Inflated prices tend to mean the person has more than enough work and it will only be worth it for a lot of money, Fair enough.

[MichelleScarn]

Hidden bee? Is it the bumble bee one currently trendy with lots of celebs?

[DominicRaabsTravelAgent]

Do they say they make custom jewellery? It generally would cost more to have something made

They will make a "bespoke" piece of jewellery which you have to book an appointment to discuss with them.

Their website doesn't mention anything about altering existing designs. Well not that I can see anyway.

[buzzoffbee]

The necklace is 18ct gold and is made to order anyway, they do a bespoke service and I just want it 50% bigger than their standard offering in this design. Of course I expected it to be more- 50% more gold and scaling up but they are asking for not 50% more cost but a cost increase of around 700%

[Gorl]

Also re finding another jeweller, you’re very unlikely to find a reputable jeweller who will copy another artist’s design. You could, however, research jewellers you like and work with someone else to make a unique necklace that you love.

[DominicRaabsTravelAgent]

The necklace is 18ct gold and is made to order anyway, they do a bespoke service and I just want it 50% bigger than their standard offering in this design. Of course I expected it to be more- 50% more gold and scaling up but they are asking for not 50% more cost but a cost increase of around 700%

So you don't want to pay them for their time to make you a one off piece of jewellery, so don't.

Really not sure what you're upset about really.

[buzzoffbee]

They do customise existing pieces- this is from their website!

A Starting Point
Do you have an idea for a treasure you would like to create in Alex’s signature style? Whether it’s an existing style with an alternative choice of stones or an idea straight from your imagination, our Bespoke Service will help you bring it to life! We are able to cater to most budgets, however please note all Bespoke commissions are exclusive to 18ct gold or platinum

[buzzoffbee]

I do want to pay for their service- I don't want them to completely rip me off! Their jewellery is all handmade and the one I want is made to order anyway- not kept in stock- how ill it cost them 7 times more to make it 50% bigger is what I want to know?

[buzzoffbee]

@gorl, yes I thought that and I wouldn't really want to copy the design- it feels tainted now, what a shame!

[FreeBritnee]

Just don’t buy it then. Honestly people have bigger problems than this right now on this site.

[ClumpingBambooIsALie]

50% bigger doesn't mean 50% more gold. I don't know what shape the piece of jewellery is, but to simplify it I'll pretend it's a sphere, which will overestimate somewhat but perhaps not much. The formula for the volume of a sphere is V = (4/3)πr3, so increasing the diameter of a sphere by 50% increases the volume by 237.5%. So unless I've fucked up the maths somewhere, a sphere of gold that's 50% taller actually has nearly 3½ times as much gold in it.

[BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand]

They might make the standard one 'to order', but they will have a pre-made mould that they use to make each one, with one mould making a large number of pieces. The cost to them of making the standard size are therefoee significantly lower than making a bespoke piece.

A 50% increase in size will require them to make a fresh design and mould etc. that they will only be able to use once. It was never going to be just a 50% increase in price, or even just a 100% increase.

[Lockdowndramaqueen]

Try Max Danger

[ChequerBoard]

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

They might make the standard one 'to order', but they will have a pre-made mould that they use to make each one, with one mould making a large number of pieces. The cost to them of making the standard size are therefoee significantly lower than making a bespoke piece.

A 50% increase in size will require them to make a fresh design and mould etc. that they will only be able to use once. It was never going to be just a 50% increase in price, or even just a 100% increase.

Exactly this.

They have told you the price which sounds fair enough given all the work involved to create scaled up moulds etc.

You just don't want to pay what it costs so go and buy something within your means elsewhere.

No need to try and trash someone's reputation because the prices isn't within your budget.

[chesirecat99]

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

They might make the standard one 'to order', but they will have a pre-made mould that they use to make each one, with one mould making a large number of pieces. The cost to them of making the standard size are therefoee significantly lower than making a bespoke piece.

A 50% increase in size will require them to make a fresh design and mould etc. that they will only be able to use once. It was never going to be just a 50% increase in price, or even just a 100% increase.

This.

[buzzoffbee]

I bake cakes- if someone wanted a 12oz cake instead of a standard 8oz cake I wouldn't increase the price from £50 to £325- it doesn't make any sense!

[OneTC]

Presumably it's cast in some way? So they'd need to make a different mould. Adapting a design to the same specifications would allow them to reuse the existing mould

[BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand]

It's like if a retailer makes a dress in standard sizes 10, 12 & 14 etc.. They will have cut patterns that they use multiple times, whenever a certain size is ordered. So the cost of the time spent making each of those patterns is divided by the large number of sales.

If you say "Actually, I want the same dress, but made to my specific body measurements", the cost of making a new pattern is all attributable to just one dress - yours. So it's going to cost a lot more regardless of how much material is used.

[SusieBob]

Depending on how it's made it probably would cost a significant amount to resize an existing design - e.g. if it's cast from a mold they have to design and make an entirely new mold, create test pieces etc all of which takes time and money, and if they can't then use that mold for future works it's just you covering the cost of that + any profit margin.

Or it could be they just don't want the work and have pulled the trick of giving you a ridiculous quote.

[BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand]

@buzzoffbee

I bake cakes- if someone wanted a 12oz cake instead of a standard 8oz cake I wouldn't increase the price from £50 to £325- it doesn't make any sense!

Cakes are not a good comparator. You can't make hundreds of cakes using a single mould or pattern. But you can with jewellery.

[SusieBob]

@buzzoffbee

I bake cakes- if someone wanted a 12oz cake instead of a standard 8oz cake I wouldn't increase the price from £50 to £325- it doesn't make any sense!

Yeah, that's not the same thing at all.

[ChequerBoard]

@buzzoffbee

I bake cakes- if someone wanted a 12oz cake instead of a standard 8oz cake I wouldn't increase the price from £50 to £325- it doesn't make any sense!

That's a terrible comparison though. A bigger cake just needs a bigger tin and more ingredients.

Scaling up a necklace requires new moulding and hand carving on the individual elements. If there is a hidden bee for example they have to scale up the bee they can't just photocopy the existing bee 50% larger.

You're not thinking this through.