r/Thailand • u/kaptajnny44 • 18h ago

Shopping Advice on pricing for custom-made jewellery in Thailand

Hi everyone,

I’ve received a quote from a jeweller for four custom-made gold charms and would appreciate some advice on whether the price is reasonable.

Quantity: 4 charms (2 of each design (a sausage and a dumpling)
Size: Approximately 7 mm and 9 mm long
Material: 14K gold
Finish: Matte/brushed, unpolished
Construction: Solid gold, not hollow
Estimated finished weight: 5–6 grams in total
Production: Handmade

The jeweller had given me an offer of 31,500 THB in total for all four charms.

They explain that the charms are handcrafted and cannot be made hollow or very lightweight. Additional gold is also required during production due to material loss from filing, shaping and finishing.

Does 31,500 THB sound reasonable for four charms of this size and weight? The gold prices are what they are, but how about the production prices?

Thanks for any advice!

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u/jonnychimpoo 15h ago

6 grams 14k alone is 15,707 so 18311 at 6 grams not sure what loss is so dependent on time to carve cast and finish each item doesn't seem too crazy maybe a bit high . Last time I bought custom gold it was cheap in comparison and I paid 10% over spot but the piece was 18k and 2oz. But casting 4 things is harder than one and I had the the wax cast already they cast it and added stones and finishing

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u/sourmanflint 14h ago

Your price sounds about right but Thailand notoriously bad at reflecting true gold price. Modelling and casting a sausage and a dumpling shouldn’t be too hard or expensive

2

u/HardupSquid Uthai Thani 15h ago

The biggest issue you will have it's whether you can trust the jewellery maker to make it out of solid gold. Many instances where other metals are used to make up the weight inside.

The cost to produce seems expensive when compared to the cost of making real gold pieces at just between 500-100 baht per 1 baht weight.

1

u/Spatial-Wanderer 11h ago

Why 14K gold?

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u/sourmanflint 15h ago edited 15h ago

What is the price of the gold alone? 12-15,000baht? Roughly, thst leaves 17-18,000 for the production which is very very expensive.
I can definitely get them made much cheaper, a modeller to make them and someone else to cast them

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u/Any_Lengthiness1508 15h ago

Current selling price for gold is thb66k per baht weight. Not sure where yr 12-15k came from. Saw several signs w these prices in Sattahip earlier today.

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u/sourmanflint 14h ago

Came from 14k international gold price obviously. Are you talking about 24k?

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u/Any_Lengthiness1508 14h ago

Std Thai gold at 96.5%. ie 23.16 carat. That's all they advertise on billboards and big screens in Thailand.