Don’t get wedding rings from PAD.
Lots to go over. I ordered the meteorite with real gold liner and my wife got a stardust and gold ring. This review will mostly be about the meteorite, as her ring was only a few weeks late and was done well. PAD seems like they do a decent job with their epoxy channel rings and hers was well done. That’s the reason for the second star. I am a traditionally trained bladesmith, a pen maker, and have owned handmade product business. I have been following PAD since Patrick started, and was excited to finally get a PAD ring only to find out this company spends their time, effort, and money on social media marking. Craftsmanship and customer service take a back seat. Firstly, communication is awful. We ordered our wedding rings 17 weeks out, which should be plenty of time for an 8-12 week window. After 13 weeks and no communication, we had to reach out and ask about the status of the order. “They’re handmade so sometimes it takes longer” was the response after waiting an additional 3 days to receive an email response. I know full well the business of handmade things and am totally understanding that handmade does sometimes take longer. No communication from the company for an expensive order after 13 weeks is unacceptable. If you’re going to be late, tell me before you’re late. If I have to reach out after the deadline that the company set, huge red flag and immediately lost my trust. And then having to wait 3 extra days just to get an email response…do better. They sent a placeholder ring because they were not going to have my ring done before the wedding, which was nice, but they had ample lead time to get my ring finished in time. When the ring finally was shipped after the wedding, it was sent regular priority mail. I have worked for high end jewelry companies…in the jewelry business, overnight is industry standard. Especially for items over $1000, overnight is the only option. It costs more, yeah, but the more time jewelry is in the mail, the larger chance that something bad happens. It also creates more trust. When the ring finally arrived, I was very disappointed. The ring was black. Fully black with no texture showing and did not look at all like the photos. Sounds like this is a common issue with PAD though. Responses to this comment on other reviews is “oh it just needs more time in the acid”. Wrong. I am a bladesmith, I work with metal and etching acids. If it’s fully black like that, that means it was taken out of the acid. Rinsed off, and throw into the box to ship out. It still smelled like acid too. It could use more time in the acid to get a deeper and better looking etch, but it needed to be buffed with 6000+ sandpaper so there is contrast, Then protected with some sort of wax (renaissance was preferably) because meteorite is iron and prone to rusting. Fortunately, I can do all this. But spending that much money on a ring and then my self having to do additional work on the ring to get it to look close to their photos is a very bad look for PAD. In addition to a lazy etch, their lathe isn’t true. The gold liner is a different thickness on one side than the other. Also, on one side of the ring, there is enough of a gap between the liner and meteorite that I can catch my fingernail on half the ring. This was a rushed job and not done professionally. I understand it’s handmade and there are going to be minor imperfections, and there are other imperfections, but if you are a ring maker, having a gap between liner and ring is very shotty craftsmanship. For that element of the ring, there is no excuse. Uneven bevels on the side, sure. Imperfections and chips on the meteorite? Sure, it’s a natural matters with natural voids. Being .5mm off the width that was ordered, sure. (All also things I noticed on this ring). A gap big enough to catch a fingernail? Absolutely not. Not for that price tag. It was also very aggravating receiving more marketing emails and texts while we were waiting for the ring beyond their own deadline. I do not care about your current sales if you are 4 weeks late on an order with no communication. If you can’t complete your orders on time, stop doing so many sales that will make you father behind. Focus on quality and customer service. It was a very thing we ordered during the bogo sale because if we paid full price for both rings I would be extremely upset and demand a refund. What is good about the ring? It does fit very well. It’s the right size, and the comfort core is very comforted and the ring has a nice heft without being too heavy. It’s thick enough to be durable, but could use more etching. I’ll do that myself because I don’t trust PAD to do it…but after I cleaned it up, it is a handsome looking ring. All in all, I wish I still had access to a metal late to make my own rings or that we went with a traditional jeweler. I will not be recommending PAD to anyone.