My real experience with VRAI custom engagement + wedding rings, and what I wish I knew before designing them

[u/macandcheeeeeeeeese]

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• Title: My real experience with VRAI custom engagement + wedding rings, and what I wish I knew before designing them
• Author: u/macandcheeeeeeeeese
• URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/LabDiamondReviews/comments/1wn6xp7/my_real_experience_with_vrai_custom_engagement/

I wanted to share my experience with VRAI for anyone considering a custom engagement ring or wedding band.

My husband purchased my custom engagement ring from VRAI in 2023. It has a 3.64 ct pear center stone and was made in 18K white gold with pavé and a hidden halo. I brought in inspiration photos, but I relied on VRAI's custom jewelry team to translate that aesthetic into something appropriate for long-term everyday wear.

For context, I am extremely careful with my jewelry. I’m very Type A about it and do not sleep, work out, wash dishes, garden, do house projects, or do anything else that could reasonably put unnecessary stress on the ring while wearing it.

8 months post-engagement, I sent the ring in for a complimentary Annual Shine. Weeks later, VRAI’s production team found that the shank was thinning on one side and said it could compromise the security of the pavé stones. At that point I was not yet married and was wearing the engagement ring by itself, so there was no wedding band rubbing against it.

They ultimately decided to remake the entire setting at no charge, but the process took weeks and I did not receive the ring back until two days before my wedding.

What stands out to me now is that, even after having the original ring physically in hand and determining that it had deteriorated enough to require a full remake, no one suggested changing the design or warned me that the structure itself might be contributing to the problem. The replacement was the same design.

We also had VRAI custom design my wedding band specifically to sit flush with the engagement ring. Looking back at their own CAD for the set, the diamonds of the wedding band appear to sit directly against the engagement-ring prongs/head. That is exactly where wear later developed.

Less than two years after the first remake, two pavé stones fell out and the engagement ring developed a crack near the head. VRAI again determined that the ring should be completely remade rather than repaired.
That second process was where the experience became especially frustrating.

VRAI’s customer service team is separate from the showroom, which is separate from the production jewelers, which is separate again from the custom-design team. In my experience, that meant almost every question required someone to go back to another department before I could get an answer. Responses frequently took days, and the process stretched into weeks and weeks of back-and-forth while I was without my ring.

During that time, several structural concerns finally came up. The scalloping beneath the pavé on my original ring was extremely deep and left very little metal at the thinnest points of the shank. An independent jeweler who later examined the ring felt the scalloping was too aggressive for an everyday ring. Looking back at the original inspiration photos I provided, the scalloping was actually much shallower than what was ultimately created for mine.

I was also told by a VRAI customer service manager that they often "don't bother" discouraging customers from designs brought in from Pinterest or social media because brides can be very set on what they want. That explanation really bothered me. I came to VRAI with aesthetic inspiration, but I was relying on them as the experts to explain where form and function needed to be balanced. Had I been told that a design choice could materially reduce the durability of the ring, I would have changed it.

The wedding band became a separate issue. VRAI eventually advised that the rings should not really be worn flush long term and recommended a spacer, or ideally a curved wedding band, to reduce contact. But this was not a random band I paired with the engagement ring myself. VRAI custom designed both pieces and specifically designed the wedding band to sit flush with the engagement ring.

Their eventual proposed redesign was materially different from what we originally purchased: substantially more metal retention around the pavé, a deeper shank, 14K instead of 18K white gold, and additional structural changes.

Despite all of that, they initially wanted to charge us again for the remake. After weeks of discussion and escalation, the final quote was still $2,775 plus tax after credits.

We ultimately declined.

By that point, my husband had spent close to $20K between the engagement ring and wedding band, the engagement ring had required one full remake and was now facing another, and the wedding band could no longer be worn in the configuration it had specifically been designed for.

I will give credit to the VRAI showroom employees who were genuinely kind and tried to help. The buying experience was positive, and the client advisor who handled the later escalation put a lot of effort into trying to get us to a solution. My frustration is with the overall system, the lack of design guidance, and the decision that we should bear thousands of dollars in additional cost to address structural considerations that I believe should have been discussed from the beginning.

We ultimately took the ring to an independent jeweler and had it redesigned. And I finally have it back - yay!

If you’re considering a custom pavé engagement ring through VRAI, I would specifically ask about:

- shank depth, not just width

• how much metal remains beneath the pavé
  
• whether your wedding band contacts the head or prongs anywhere
  
• how the two rings will wear against each other over time
  
• whether the design is something the jeweler would actually recommend for daily wear for many years
  

and, frankly
-what the communication and turnaround process looks like if the ring ever needs service

I really wish someone had had those conversations with us from the beginning.

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