Cost of Gold - Marmite Ring!

Do you remember this ring? Now called the Marmite Ring cos you either loved or hated it?!

http://www.colouredrocks.com/i-ps355/kunzite-diamond-ring/

Well it's almost 10g of 9k white gold and some people commented that they thought at £147 it was expensive. Thought you might like to know that UK jewellers are buying gold at approximately £11 per gram (9k gold is rising in price).

Therefore if you break down the costs:-

£111 - just for the gold (if bought in the UK)
£ 20 - cost of 6ct Kunzite wholesale (guestimate). The stone is pale but well cut
£ 10 - cost of frozen spit diamonds (yuck) should be free!
£ ?? - labour - unknown but mass produced so probably around £20
£141 - minimum cost to make

I know they buy in bulk so you can cut the above prices a bit but even then the profit margins must be incredibly small as I bought this ring for £147. In addition to the above you still have the cost of importing, hallmarking etc etc etc ......... :52:

To change the diamonds (there are 26 of them) all 1 pointers to VS/SI and G/H in colour will cost me around £80 (work included).

If you try to buy a 10g setting without gemstones you'd be looking at £200-300 minimum. Of course, the ring is expensive if you don't like it or don't want to re-use the setting but I thought you might find the breakdown of costs interesting!

Thanks for breaking it down Meesho.
As you say, if you like the ring then you have a bargain .
I suppose if we all liked the same things the world would be a very boring place & there'd be no point in this forum as we all would have the same pieces! How borng would that be! :56:

love the discription....frozen spit ! not seen this one in the flesh so to speak, I love marmite but his one is not my cup of tea :44::1:

Found this on QVC


http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.item.688865/walk.yah.UKJE-UK03

Quite similar in design!!!! I don't think I've actually seen anything on Rocks that I would consider expensive for what it was. We've got so blase at the ridiculous prices, that anything a little bit more, we're thinking it's dear. When you think what we've paid elsewhere for jewellery, Rocks' prices are ridiculous, even, if like you Meeshoo, you've bought a piece and are having it adapted/reset.

:doggie:

Mad4Gems said:

Quite similar in design!!!! I don't think I've actually seen anything on Rocks that I would consider expensive for what it was. We've got so blase at the ridiculous prices, that anything a little bit more, we're thinking it's dear. When you think what we've paid elsewhere for jewellery, Rocks' prices are ridiculous, even, if like you Meeshoo, you've bought a piece and are having it adapted/reset.

:doggie:

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I think you're right about us getting a little blase about prices but I do think it is what we would pay for things.
I'm not too keen on the marmite ring, as we're calling it these days, so wouldn't pay that much for it but for those who like it & would wear it then it's a real steal!
I also don't look at the rrp when I'm buying but, again, how much I would want to pay for it, which I think it the best way as then you're not disappointed when it goes lower then you paid the next time it's on.

Corporal Jones said:

Found this on QVC


http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.item.688865/walk.yah.UKJE-UK03

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When you consider that the QVC ring is £338, almost same size Kunzite as the marmite ring, much less diamonds and not sure about goldweight, you get much less for your money with this one!

I think this demonstrates very well (thank you Corporal Jones) what I was trying to say i.e. that RocksTV prices are far lower than you would expect if you analyse the cost involved.

GlamDiamonds said:

I think you're right about us getting a little blase about prices but I do think it is what we would pay for things.

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I have to agree with M4G. People who haven't been buying jewellery for as long as some of the oldies (in forum age I mean!) will know how good the prices are BUT quality IS sacrificed. Something has to slip in order to be competitive at these prices. It'll either be the cut of the gemstone, the quality of the gemstone, the goldweight, the colour/clarity of diamonds etc.

If you look at RocksTV (and apologies to RocksTV) their diamonds are the lowest quality I've seen for ages - and not just as accents. In their solitaires the colour is general J colour and I1/I2 which is dire in terms of diamond standards. Rocks and Co skimp on goldweight but have great accent diamonds but their cutting leaves a lot to be desired on some of the gemstones (windows galore). So, you pay for what you get and that's how their prices are less than you'd pay elsewhere.

What I think is unrealistic is when people say that things are "expensive" when the prices (on most of the TV/web channels) can't be matched £ for £ on the High Street due to their buying power etc. The choice and variety from these outlets is also much wider than the High Street.

Meeshoo said:

I have to agree with M4G. People who haven't been buying jewellery for as long as some of the oldies (in forum age I mean!) will know how good the prices are BUT quality IS sacrificed. Something has to slip in order to be competitive at these prices. It'll either be the cut of the gemstone, the quality of the gemstone, the goldweight, the colour/clarity of diamonds etc.

If you look at RocksTV (and apologies to RocksTV) their diamonds are the lowest quality I've seen for ages - and not just as accents. In their solitaires the colour is general J colour and I1/I2 which is dire in terms of diamond standards. Rocks and Co skimp on goldweight but have great accent diamonds but their cutting leaves a lot to be desired on some of the gemstones (windows galore). So, you pay for what you get and that's how their prices are less than you'd pay elsewhere.

What I think is unrealistic is when people say that things are "expensive" when the prices (on most of the TV/web channels) can't be matched £ for £ on the High Street due to their buying power etc. The choice and variety from these outlets is also much wider than the High Street.

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I agree with your comment on quality & sacrificing something for the good prices and I'm sure we're all aware of that, when buying, regardless of how long we have been buying from internet/tv channels. We can always send back if we don't like it, which I know is what a lot of buyers do, though I'm normally happy with what I buy at the price I buy it.

I'm sorry if I upset you by saying that the ring was over priced in the other thread but as I was trying to explain & again I'm sorry if that hasn't come across but it is sometimes hard to explain when you're not having a face to face conversation with someone, I wouldn't pay that much for that ring. Not because it's necessarily over priced for what you get but because it's not to MY taste so wouldn't pay half of that for it.
It's more to do with taste & not what it's worth & that's what I was also getting at when I said it was down to what you would spend for an item.
I also think that expense it down to individuals. I'm a student & although I have spent a few thousand pounds over the last few months, since rocks started I'm aware I'm not the most extravagant nor am I the least.
I hope this is coming across ok as I did not mean to upset you & again I'm sorry if I have... :21:

Glamdiamonds you haven't upset me in the least. I actually don't care if people like or dislike my purchases! This thread wasn't aimed at you or anybody else for that matter. There were a number of comments about how expensive the ring was on the other thread and at £147 bearing in mind the stats I found that amazing! Whether something is expensive to me or not is whether I can have the same thing made at the same price or whether I couldn't - so it's actual worth. Taste and being expensive are actually too different things. Some people have bought items for £10 from RocksTV that I consider tacky and I personally wouldn't buy but I wouldn't call that item expensive just because it's not my taste - that was my point. The two things are different.

For example, Tiffany's is expensive because you can buy and make exactly the same item for £100s less (and thousands normally). You pay for the name. So that's expensive. It's not about what person A can afford or person B can afford.

The point of this thread is to help people understand the cost of making some of these items and if you were to buy a similar ring from anywhere else it would be nigh on impossible to have made for the same price. I had a quote to have this ring re-made and it was more than the cost of just having the diamonds swapped over and the jeweller said "hang onto it - you've got a bargain because I couldn't make that for you at that price (or anywhere near)".

I think people think that the prices on RocksTV are "normal". They're not. They're very very cheap in most cases (there are some exceptions and some things are more expensive than they should be) but heyho that's the way of the world.

So this thread was for information and not to have a go at anybody. TBH unless I had re-read the old thread I wouldn't have realised you were one of those who mentioned the word "expensive" so please don't take any of this personally. It was and is meant to be purely for information in case anybody is interested in the actual cost of making things.

Think I'll slink back off to lurkdom - much easier lol!

Nooooooooooo....please don't go to lurkdom, Meeshoo! I really enjoy your very informative posts. I've learned so much through reading your posts, keep in touch!

I just caught up with this thread....very interesting breakdown, thanks for that Meesh! Is kunzite really so cheap?£20 for that carat weight? WOW!!! Thats suprised me really! Have you decided how to reinvent the marmite ring? Would love to know how it turns out.

Meesh!....Dont you dare go back to lurkdom! Some of us on here love your informed input, and besides if you lurk, we may have to come hound you out again!!!