You bought a loose diamond. You inherited a stone with no mounting. You upgraded, and the old stone is sitting in a drawer. Yes — we set stones you already own, and we make the head or the mount to fit them. You do not have to buy the stone from us, and it does not matter where it came from.
A new head or mount made for your own stone starts at about $600, with the gold included. That is a starting point, not your final price: you send a photo and the stone details, and a jeweler emails you one firm number in writing before anything is started or shipped.
Which of these three is your job?
“I need a setting for my stone” covers three very different amounts of work, and they are priced differently. This is the fastest way to tell which one you have.
| Your situation | What the bench actually does | Starting at |
|---|---|---|
| The stone came out of its own mounting, and the mounting is sound | The existing head is checked, the prongs re-tipped if they are worn, and your stone goes back into the mount it came from. Nothing new is made. | $79 |
| The head or prongs are worn out, or too small for the stone you want to use | A new head is made and fitted to the piece, sized to your stone, and the stone is set in it. This is the job for “my new diamond is bigger than the old one.” | from ~$600 |
| You have a loose stone and nothing to put it in | A mount is made for the stone — a ring, a pair of studs, a pendant — and the stone is set into it. | from ~$600 |
The two “from about $600” figures include the gold for the new head or mount. If the design needs anything beyond that — a replacement side stone, for instance — it is quoted separately as its own line, the same as on any other repair, and you say yes or no to each line. Every group’s starting price is on the pricing page.
What to tell us, so the quote is right the first time
- What the stone is, and how bigCarat weight and millimetre dimensions if you have them. If you do not know, say so — do not guess. A gemologist measures it here anyway, and a guessed size is what makes a quote change later.
- Any lab report you haveGIA, HRD, IGI or anything else, even an old one. Photograph it, or send the report number. It is not required, and its absence does not change what we can do.
- What you want it to becomeA ring, a pair of studs on screw backs, a pendant. If it is going into a piece you already own, say which piece.
- The metal and karat you want14k or 18k, yellow, white or rose; platinum. If the new head is going onto an existing ring, we match the metal and karat of that ring.
- One photo of the piece it is going intoIf there is one. The top shows the design, but a straight-on shot from underneath shows the head, the prongs and the shank — which is what actually decides the plan.
Do not post a loose stone loose in an envelope. A stone travelling on its own works into a seam and comes out the other end. Put it in a small zip bag or a folded paper packet inside the box, and tell us it is in there. Every shipment travels on a prepaid, fully insured label, tracked, signature required, both ways — but insurance does not help a stone that fell out of the packaging.
Do not have the prongs “tightened” over a counter first. If a head is worn or too small for the stone you want to use, bending the prongs harder onto it is what cracks a girdle. If a head has to be replaced, it has to be replaced.
Do not throw away the old mount or the old stone. Send both. The old head tells the bench the exact dimensions to work from, and the stone that came out is often the best match for anything else on the piece.
What comes back to you
The same things that come with every repair here, at no extra charge:
- The stone inspected and documented by a gemologist trained at HRD Antwerp and the ERIJ Foundation before and after setting
- A written photo quote before anything is started, and nothing worked on until you approve it
- Ultrasonic cleaning and polishing with the work — it is never sold as an extra
- Insured, tracked return in a keepsake box, adult signature required on delivery
- A 12-month workmanship warranty
- A free insured return if you decline the quote — we cover it
Questions about setting your own stone
Will you set a diamond I bought somewhere else?
Yes. Most of what comes through this bench was bought somewhere else, and a loose stone is no different. You do not need to have bought it from us, and we do not charge more because you did not. Send the stone details and a note about what you want it set into, and you get a firm written quote before anything ships.
How much does it cost to set my own stone?
A new head or mount made for a stone you supply starts at about $600, with the gold included. Re-setting a stone back into the sound mount it came out of is a different and much smaller job, starting at $79. Which one applies depends on the condition of the mount and the size of your stone, and the written quote says which it is before you commit to anything.
My new diamond is bigger than the one that was in the ring. Can it still go in?
Usually, but not into the old head. A head is made to hold one range of stone sizes, and forcing a larger stone into a smaller head is how girdles get chipped. The normal answer is a new head, made to your stone and fitted to the ring, matched to the metal and karat of the ring so the join does not show.
Do I need a GIA or lab report for my stone?
No. A report is useful if you have one, because it saves measuring and tells us exactly what we are handling, but it is not required. Every stone is examined and measured here by a gemologist regardless, and anything involving stones is overseen by gemologists trained at HRD Antwerp and the ERIJ Foundation.
Is it safe to mail a loose stone?
The shipping is the same as for any piece: a prepaid, fully insured FedEx label through IFS, tracked door to door, signature required, both ways. What you have to get right is the packaging — a loose stone must be bagged or folded into paper inside the box, never loose in an envelope. Tell us in the form that a loose stone is in the parcel so it is looked for on arrival.
How long does it take?
The same one to two weeks door to door as most work here, and many pieces are back within 7–10 days. Making a head or a mount is bench time we can schedule; what turns a firm date into a range is having to source a stone, and on this job you are supplying the stone yourself, so that step does not apply. Your exact timeline is confirmed with the quote.