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?

Can people not read the thread?

I have accepted I am unreasonable- people don't need to keep repeating the same things that others have already said.

People like you are why I stopped doing custom designs in my shop. I got tired of politely explaining what should be really basic concepts to people who thought they could get original work for high street prices.

It's made to order from a cast. They use a mould and cast it. The molds are already made. The "made to order" part is just the pouring the metal, putting it together and finishing it. Usually for casting, you would have 50 to 100 poured in one go and then you put the pieces together and finish for each order. Its cheaper the more castings you order in one go.

If you want it mar largertthen that requires making a new blank (usually carved from wax) in the correct size, having that wax then turned into a new mould and then casting one piece. A single casting comes with surcharges from the casters.

Your quote is because you're paying for them to carve a new wax blank, paying for a new mould to be created, paying for a single casting and then putting that together. You're also paying a premium for a one of a kind piece which they dont make.

I certainly don't think they are ridiculous for making a commercial decision. I don't think you should ask for a recommendation for a brand name designer maker, OP, rather a trade jeweller, ideally in the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter or Hatton Garden. I could PM a recommendation if you want.

It would depend on the weight of the gold but for such a small pendant that has a hollow-ish design, the gold might be (low) hundreds. There would be one off work for the moulds if cast - I don't know where on the spectrum of manufacturing Alex Monroe is from machine made, 'slave' trade volumehand made in Asia made to hand-made or casting and hand finished in the UK. There would be different ways to make this from either needing probably a mould for each half that could then be cast to using 3d printing for wax to direct cast. If they CAD the original master then it would be straightforward to scale this up.

@Lotusmonster

The increase will be more than just the scaled up material and labour cost….you are massively over simplifying it as is the poster who talked about a bigger cake. The locket probably has a mould for the standard size. For your bespoke size they’d have to create and make a new mould. That mould and any other specific tools for the design may only ever be used for you and you alone.

Exactly, would it not be more like you were asked for cake that would be too big for your current oven, so to make it youd need to buy a new one?

Their products are very expensive for what they are in the first place

@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!

But in both cases you use standard cake tins that you can easily buy cheaply.

With the pendants even if the work is partly by hand I expect they are made using some sort of mould. In which case they would need to pay for the tooling to scale up by 50%. Seems reasonable that would cost a lot.

@buzzoffbee

I have already accepted IABU!

Please can anyone recommend British Jewellers who are more reasonably priced and work in solid gold not just gold plate?

For example I really like Lily and Roo

Anyone know others which are similar?

That doesn't look particularly unique. It looks nice though.

I didn’t know Alex Monroe was female!

I didn’t know Alex Monroe was female

He isn't

@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!

But if you had a customer who wanted a cake in a specific shape that required you to design, cast and create an entirely new cake tin, not only requiring new skills but also time you could have used to create many other cakes, you might well increase it that much.

Or just don’t buy anything.

Well I very much like their work so thanks for sharing OP.

I have an entirely separate gold jewellery problem in that I cant find anyone who works in 18ct Red Gold.

Not only does it always have to be custom if I want this metal, but I also cannot get plated options.

So count your blessings OP. Count your blessings!!!

@garlicandsapphires

He's a man.

If you’re prepared to slum it with gold plate then Cult of Youth.

I'd recommend Lucy Stopes-Roe, I admire her work a lot and she will do solid gold.

www.lucystopesroe.com/

Thank you @ferretface - I really like some of her pieces!

[quote buzzoffbee]@gorl, yes I thought that and I wouldn't really want to copy the design- it feels tainted now, what a shame![/quote]
You would'nt be able to copy the design even if you wanted to.

Copy someone's design?? Intellectual property theft springs to mind

@ferretface thanks for that link, some lovely pieces on her website. The humming bird pendant is beautiful. And I prefer her bee. I'm not a fan of the Alex Monroe bee, the proportions seem off.

They are both different bees. I think there is room in the world for both bee pendants to exist without having to be compared.

Gosh that is dear but I suppose it’s a tricky shape compared to, say, a bespoke engagement ring. If it makes you feel any better I think the hidden bee locket is pretty hideous and much prefer the simpler joy everley link posted down thread.

That hummingbird looks strikingly similar to the hummingbird silver plated charms available in bulk on etsy (from china). Rught down the the feather texture, placement of the eyes, little feet detail and number of grooves on the wings.

It's very very easy to buy one of those charms, send it to a caster for them to make a mould of, then they make a wax version and create a casting mould. Then you get them cast in silver/gold etc.

I'd be interested to go through her other designs and see if other identical, plated charms are available online.

@LadyTiredWinterBottom2

Copy someone's design?? Intellectual property theft springs to mind

Its a bee. Mother Nature owns the copyright.

I LOVE Alex Monroe. I've had their daisy ring for almost 10 years now and it needs a clean but it's still as beautiful as the day i bought it (and it's work every day).
All my other jewellery is second hand or vintage but some of the Alex Monroe designs are just beautiful.