What to Expect in Your First Design Appointment
One thing we pride ourselves in is that we aren’t your typical jeweler. In this way, if you’re preparing for your first appointment with Alx&Co. you may want to take a look at what to expect from your consultation. If you have visited other jewelers in the past you may be (pleasantly) surprised by the experience!
The first thing to know about us is that we truly believe in providing a service-based product rather than a sales-based product, meaning that we consider our job to be that of providing professional-level advice and information to each and every client. This is a primary reason why we are appointment-only: simply put, it’s so that we can provide the best level of service to our clients, specialized to what each client needs. Other good points to think about are…
Before we meet, we always ask for you to provide us with a basic description of what you need us to do. Whether it’s something extremely simple, like adjusting a bale on a necklace, or something extremely complicated, like a bespoke design, we need to ensure that we are (1) the best resource for this exact task and (2) that you are meeting with the person who will be able to answer your questions about your project while you’re there. Our team is trained to handle different aspects of jewelry restoration or design consultations, so depending on what you’re looking for we want to ensure that you are meeting with the right person, with the right knowledge base, to give you the answers you need.
If you are on a search for something specific, such as an engagement ring, know that we consider such a visit to be a consultation rather than a sales visit. Why? Because we want to ensure that we have the time and focus to discuss your aesthetic and lifestyle so that you walk away with the best choice for you. Because the vast majority of what we create and sell is custom or bespoke, we have a very small selection of jewelry in-stock and we mainly use these as reference points for custom work. We truly are not the type of place to go and look at a ton of different options simply because we don’t have them! We are very small and curated because we hate the overwhelming feeling of walking into a brightly-lit jewelry store and being bombarded by hundreds of options. We fully appreciate that some people might actually prefer that experience. That’s totally fine! Just, not what we provide.
When we do meet for something like an engagement ring consultation or a design consultation, it’s great (but not necessary) for you to have done a little bit of homework before coming in. This means simply starting to think about styles and ideas you like or don’t like, and compiling a list accordingly. We cover all these details in your meeting and if you truly don’t know, that’s totally fine! We have plenty of different styles to show and try on in our shop to help you angle in the right direction and we consider it our job to help you learn the vocabulary to discuss jewelry so that you can get what you want - even if you don’t know what you want (yet).
Especially if you are coming to us for a custom design, you can expect to leave your initial consultation with a ton of information. You could learn about anything from the diamond mining process to how gemstones are graded to technical terms for eras of design to pricing details. Inevitably, more questions come up then you would think so you should give yourself plenty of time to relax and enjoy the conversation. Nothing is more stressful than when someone wants to skip through the details because of a time crunch, because - we promise - these details will come up eventually and you may not have thought through them as well as you had wanted.
Good to know: Our team is not trained to pressure-sell products in the same way that other jewelry stores do meet their bottom lines. We don’t pay commissions to our team (instead, we pay a great salary with benefits) because we truly want to create a pressure-free environment for clients seeking to learn more about fine jewelry and how it can fit into their lives. We know that not every single consultation will lead to a purchase, and that’s totally fine with us. An engagement ring consultation should feel comfortable and inviting, not like you have to buy something from us just because we met. Though, in all honestly, probably 98% of first visitors come back to us for their project, so we stand by our process! If you’re ready to make an appointment, go ahead and take the plunge. We promise you’ll leave informed and with a clear vision of how the process will work for you.
Redesigning a London Blue Topaz Ring
This custom ring was designed using a client’s London Blue Topaz combined with diamonds from another ring. At her first consultation, we discussed what she didn’t love about the original ring, how she saw herself wearing the new design, and what elements were most important to her in the design experience. Start to finish, the entire design and fabrication process took about 3 months.
Custom Diamond Engagement Ring Design
When we first met with the clients who now own this gorgeous solitaire engagement ring, they had visited a few jewelers prior to us but hadn’t found the right fit for their vision. We talked through our gemstone sourcing process, what their goals were with the design, looked at reference photos for inspiration, and came up with a plan to proceed that allowed the future wearer of the ring to be surprised in the end - while giving her the control she sought in the design process. In total, we met with her once, him three times (once for the initial consultation, twice to pick out the diamond) and the entire design and fabrication process took about 4 months.
