2 replies to this topic

[tnasparkles]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for thoughts/advice please - I've found a ring design I love from Tolkowsky's "Signature" collection and (so far) I've only seen it sold in Australia and NZ. By Aussie standards, the ring is relatively expensive (AUS$5500 to $6000) and comes as a .50ct, E-F, SI1 demi flush solitare pave shoulder. I thought I might have better luck (pricing and clarity) finding the ring here in the US - but no luck to date. Am I out-of-line to buy the diamonds separately and to look for someone else to make the ring for me? I worried that there's a intellectual property or copyright attached to the design. Would anyone know?

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[davidelevi]

The general lines of the design are not uncommon, and there's nothing wrong (or illegal) in asking someone to get you something close to this.

However, an exact copy may be difficult or expensive to replicate, quite apart from intellectual property issues: some of the details (like the larger melée diamond that seems to be set right under the main stone) are not ordinary, and require some study to get right.

[denverappraiser]

Tolkowski is a NZ company so I'm not surprised that they have better distribution there but they DO have agents here in the US and surely you can find someone who will be happy to sell you one. Try contacting them and see who their US agents are.

Knocking off the design wouldn't be particularly difficult and although this would not result in a 'genuine Tolkowski' product if that's what you want, pretty much any capable jeweler should be able to do something pretty similar. It's possible you would even like their take on the design better.

They may or may not be cheaper but it's certainly possible. There's nothing wrong or illegal about asking.

Edited by denverappraiser, 18 December 2011 - 02:21 PM.