[review] Custom engagement ring / wedding band made in Hanoi (Vietnam) in 4 days

I’m taking advantage of my whirlwind visit to Hanoi (one week) to have a platinum solitaire ring made. I’ve known my current jeweler for several years, but this is the first time I’ve ordered a custom ring from him. Let me explain how it works.

It all starts with the design. You need to have a more or less clear idea of what you want. In general, you’ll need to consider setting some precious or semi-precious stones (it’s my jeweler’s specialty. He has an incredible collection of high-quality natural stones). For me, I want a solitaire ring, but you can opt for earrings, a bracelet, a pendant… Usually, people come with a photo of a piece of jewelry they like, but want to personalize.

In my case, I want a solitaire ring, so I just need to:

• choose the diamond
• choose the ring style
• choose the metal (silver, gold, platinum)

For the diamond, you need to give the 4Cs to the jeweler, and he will contact diamond dealers to find THE diamond that matches your criteria.
At first, I asked for a maximum of $200:

• between 0.16 and 0.18ct because I have small fingers
• color D, it’s the best possible color for a diamond
• clarity: VVS2 or better
• diamond cut (brilliant cut) with a cut rated ” excellent “: the ” diamond cut ” wastes much more of the initial rough diamond, but will shine more. An excellent cut allows the diamond to have the ideal depth and cutting angles to shine to its fullest.

He converts carats to millimeters and tells me that 0.18ct is better because it makes 3.6mm in diameter. 3+6 = 9, 9 for eternity, it’s better. He’s very into “numerology,” you see.

He launches a search among diamond dealers, and since these are popular 4Cs, there is no stock available. He contacts other dealers and comes back to me with a diamond: 0.18ct, color D, clarity IF, excellent cut. For $280. Clearly, if for $80 more, we go from VVS to IF!!! it’s a mega good deal. Really cheap compared to what I’ve seen in Antwerp. Since it’s a diamond that comes from India. What makes me really happy is that it even comes with a GIA certificate which normally costs around $100 already. For the diamond’s 4Cs, you can check this article.

With the diamond found, we refine the style of the ring. I’m going for a solitaire with 6 prongs (which helps raise the diamond a bit and make it look bigger) and I want it in platinum. It will be my first piece of platinum jewelry. It’s a much more precious metal than gold but is shunned by jewelers because it requires working at high temperatures and creates more work for them. However, platinum naturally has a silver color, while white gold is dirty yellow and has to be rhodium-plated. Platinum doesn’t need rhodium plating, will stay beautiful all the time, is durable, and easy to maintain.

I took care to ask J., who was at the Boulle school, whether to make my ring by wax or by hand (an expression meaning to make it by hand from an ingot or a plate). He replied that it’s better to do it by wax to avoid any soldering. Platinum is a very dense and hard metal; if you use another alloy for soldering, the points where there is solder will be weaker and that defeats the purpose of having a platinum ring. The 6-prong setting raises the diamond, and these platinum parts need to not be soldered and form a single piece, hence the interest in lost-wax casting.

So we went with wax. Let me explain what that means: a specialist creates my ring on his 3D software. Then, a 3D printer prints it in wax (the printing takes at least 2 hours, which is why they only print twice a day). The wax model is then passed to the caster. There’s only one platinum caster in Hanoi, and he offers PT900 (a platinum alloy). PT950 would have been better, but they don’t have it in Hanoi, don’t look for it! The platinum ring is then sent to the setter who sets the diamond and does all the polishing. It then goes through the hands of another jeweler who will engrave our initials by laser inside the ring. And it’s my jeweler who has to manage all these people so that the ring comes to me all ready. The whole process takes 4 days.

You can look here at the photos of a bracelet creation with lots of rubies, by my jeweler. Much more difficult than my ring.

I have a say when the 3D model is sent to me. The diamond seems a bit too high to me, so I gave feedback.

20 minutes later, I’m sent the corrected 3D model and I approve.

I still have a say when the setter has just finished his setting. Once again, the diamond is sitting too high, and the setter goes back to work and returns the ring an hour later.

The ring delivery is impressive. My jeweler takes out his microscope and asks me to look at the diamond’s number inscribed by laser. Then, he takes out my diamond’s certificate and reads the number out loud so we can check together that the setter put the right diamond. It’s an incredible moment because I can see the numbers perfectly even though the microscope is at 100x and my diamond, at that scale, has no visible imperfections. It’s IN.CRED.IBLE. That’s the power of “clarity IF,” not even visible under a magnifying glass. Anyway, my diamond is almost perfect; it would need a step above and a cut at a few small degrees to be PERFECT. But I won’t have the budget for that.

My jeweler really likes me and didn’t charge a penny for his work. He had me pay exactly what the others charged him. So I end up with a really cheap ring because it’s a B2B rate I got ! That’s where I realize my estimate of T. ring costs was right, and that brands like T. take huge margins. Let’s say I paid less than 1/5th of what I would have paid at a luxury brand, for a 100% customized ring with engraving on top.

For jewelry enthusiasts like me, it was an incredible experience.

But if you’re less knowledgeable, no problem, you just need to give the model to my jeweler, give your budget (if needed) and he’ll take care of finding

(1) the stone(s) (if you have an idea of the stone size, even better)
(2) the metal
(3) the size for you

It is recommended to contact him before your trip to Hanoi so he has time to find the stones, and possibly make a first 3D model, since the process takes 4 days even when super sped up. It’s a great opportunity to have your wedding/engagement rings made custom at a low cost.

Regarding the unreasonable requests: please come see him with a comfortable budget (400-500 euros or more). If you have a tiny budget, honestly, even in Vietnam they can’t make you a beautiful custom ring. Stones & gold have international prices; a diamond like mine costs $280 already, 2g of gold (for a small ring) at least 70 euros. If you have a small budget, please buy an industrial piece of jewelry. Handmade has a price, even in Vietnam. Please don’t take advantage.

You can contact him on WhatsApp via this number.

+84979451921

or go see him in Hanoi: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nSjV93iMK5yficWMA?g_st=ic

He accepts PayPal (online) or credit card (on site).

I don’t get anything for recommending him. He’s become a friend, and I admire him greatly for his perfectionism and his knowledge of gemstones. He has a huge collection of rubies, Colombian emeralds, sapphires (including star sapphires), and pearls. Don’t hesitate!

p/s: Thanks JB my love for this early birthday gift!