How to Price Setting-Only Work for Client-Supplied Stones

When a client brings their own stone, the stone-cost line disappears from your quote — but that doesn't mean the job should simply be priced at your normal labour rate minus the stone. The margin you'd normally earn on the stone itself was quietly covering more than just profit.

Why client-supplied work needs its own pricing logic

On a job where you sourced and sold the stone, your margin on that stone helps absorb the cost of insurance, the risk of loss or damage during setting, and the time spent handling and safeguarding a valuable item you didn't originally price in as a separate line. Remove the stone sale and that buffer disappears — which is why most jewellers charge a genuinely higher labour rate for setting a client-supplied stone than the equivalent work on a stone they sold themselves. This isn't a penalty on the client; it's pricing in a real cost that used to be hidden inside stone margin.

What to actually build into the quote

• Base setting labour — the mechanical work itself, scaled to setting complexity (a simple solitaire prong setting versus a halo or vintage-style setting with more individual stones and more intricate metalwork).
• A risk premium specific to handling stones you didn't source — reflecting the insurance and liability exposure covered in our insurance and liability guide.
• Design and CAD time, if the piece is being built around the stone's specific proportions rather than dropped into an existing setting — client-supplied stones often need more custom engineering, not less, since you're designing around exact dimensions rather than a standard size.
• Any engineering premium for unusual proportions — an antique cut, a non-standard depth, or an unusually shallow or deep stone can require setting modifications a standard-inventory stone wouldn't.

Quote transparently, not defensively

Clients who've done the work to source their own stone are usually receptive to understanding why setting-only pricing differs from a package price — walk them through what the fee actually covers rather than treating the question as an objection to deflect. See our client conversation guide for how to frame this well.

Related reading

• What to check before setting a client-supplied diamond
• Markup strategy for independent jewellers
• Insurance and liability for client-supplied stones

Sources: setting-fee structure and risk-premium rationale per current trade commentary (AfricaGems, PriceScope) and jewellery business pricing guidance.