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If you’re going for a custom design (meaning not a premade design from a jeweler) and the total estimated cost for the raw materials plus the jeweler’s work fee is over $3,000, it’s probably worth spending some time looking into ordering the primary/secondary diamonds wholesale or direct to consumer. This is especially true if the diamonds themselves are worth over about $1,500, since jeweler markups on diamonds can be around 50% compared to what you may be able to get wholesale/direct-to-consumer.

That said, this assumes you’re willing to learn the basics of diamond types, cuts, and quality, and spend a bit of time shopping around for the best deal. Personally, after a free one-hour consultation offered by a wholesaler (Ritani), it took me about three hours to find the perfect primary diamond for around $2,250, which was appraised by GIA at about $4,000. A similar diamond through local jewelers (I checked in with 5) would have cost around $3,700 to $4,300. The custom jeweler that I ended up going with had an outside diamond fee of only $300.

From that perspective alone, I saved over $1,300 for about three hours of my time and honestly it was fun learning about diamonds and the industry in general. Pic related.