Special Orders

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#2,956
lilmermaid264 said:
I have more dumb questions, what is the difference between made to order and special order? Is made to order just a deposit placed on a order that isn't available in store?
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Not dumb. MTOs are VCA pre-approved combos that require the premium (30%-35%) but not the pre-approval from Paris. They need to be ordered specifically. They are not available for purchase otherwise.
 
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#2,961
nicole0612 said:
It is a little more nuanced than just yes or no answers, but I will do my best to answer. For made to order, it is just based on hitting the prepend threshold, it does not have to be at any particular boutique. For special order, the request needs to be placed through your home boutique, so it is extremely helpful if most of your spending comes from that boutique. If you don’t know which store is designated by VCA as your home boutique, your sales associate can look up your profile and let you know. Special orders are approved by Paris based on the client’s profile, not by the sales associate or store director, however, the sales associate will have to take the time to submit the order for you, so having a good relationship is helpful. The spend is lifelong, it does not reset, even when changing boutiques, however, the prespend requirement does go up over the years (not on a certain timeline). Also to note, all made to order and all special order request are currently on hold for the foreseeable future. I would guess they will resume at some time, but no one knows when.
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Hi Nicole thanks for the detailed answer. I was wondering if you knew about the limited edition (TQ, lapis, RC, pietersite and obsidian) : if you became eligible for these pieces do you have to get a yearly prespend or is it your global prespend ? As for the holiday pendant I heard it is a yearly prespend that counts (but we hear so many things it is quite difficult to know what is really the policy)
 
#2,962
spaul said:
Hi Nicole thanks for the detailed answer. I was wondering if you knew about the limited edition (TQ, lapis, RC, pietersite and obsidian) : if you became eligible for these pieces do you have to get a yearly prespend or is it your global prespend ? As for the holiday pendant I heard it is a yearly prespend that counts (but we hear so many things it is quite difficult to know what is really the policy)
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For the rare stone Alhambra pieces, it used to be much more variable and casual. For the recent rounds of offerings for rare stones, the spend was determined by corperate starting at the top in spend tiers and in the top tiers sometimes other factors as well (eg high jewelery purchase). Then over time and later waves, offers worked down the list as the later waves came in. It is lifetime, not yearly and it does not reset, though most people had to choose one rare stone set for the first couple of waves, and then it became a bit more flexible as of the most recent wave.
For the HP, I am honestly not sure. I’m not quite sure how to phrase this, but I think that the spend requirement is so reasonable that I would not know what it is because it’s not a question that would come up. One more recent change is that the offer (at least early on) comes from the home boutique, where in the past it could be purchased elsewhere.
 
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#2,963
nicole0612 said:
For the rare stone Alhambra pieces, it used to be much more variable and casual. For the recent rounds of offerings for rare stones, the spend was determined by corperate starting at the top in spend tiers and in the top tiers sometimes other factors as well (eg high jewelery purchase). Then over time and later waves, offers worked down the list as the later waves came in. It is lifetime, not yearly and it does not reset, though most people had to choose one rare stone set for the first couple of waves, and then it became a bit more flexible as of the most recent wave.
For the HP, I am honestly not sure. I’m not quite sure how to phrase this, but I think that the spend requirement is so reasonable that I would not know what it is because it’s not a question that would come up. One more recent change is that the offer (at least early on) comes from the home boutique, where in the past it could be purchased elsewhere.
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Thanks so much. My SA told me to get a second set of LE for me she had to get the permission of Paris management and that the one set one year rule is tight.
 
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#2,965
nicole0612 said:
For the rare stone Alhambra pieces, it used to be much more variable and casual. For the recent rounds of offerings for rare stones, the spend was determined by corperate starting at the top in spend tiers and in the top tiers sometimes other factors as well (eg high jewelery purchase). Then over time and later waves, offers worked down the list as the later waves came in. It is lifetime, not yearly and it does not reset, though most people had to choose one rare stone set for the first couple of waves, and then it became a bit more flexible as of the most recent wave.
For the HP, I am honestly not sure. I’m not quite sure how to phrase this, but I think that the spend requirement is so reasonable that I would not know what it is because it’s not a question that would come up. One more recent change is that the offer (at least early on) comes from the home boutique, where in the past it could be purchased elsewhere.
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My info is a bit different, adding here for reference: for pietersite and obsidian and the like, was told it’s first based on previous 12 month spend to determine where clients falls in terms of offer sequence. When I got my pietersite, my SA mentioned that is was a good thing that a larger-ish order I placed earlier arrived ahead of the “special” pieces being available so that the spend was counted.
I am based in Asia, not sure if practices differ? However understand that everything goes to Paris for approval.
 
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#2,966
chiaoapple said:
My info is a bit different, adding here for reference: for pietersite and obsidian and the like, was told it’s first based on previous 12 month spend to determine where clients falls in terms of offer sequence. When I got my pietersite, my SA mentioned that is was a good thing that a larger-ish order I placed earlier arrived ahead of the “special” pieces being available so that the spend was counted.
I am based in Asia, not sure if practices differ? However understand that everything goes to Paris for approval.
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Thank you for adding your experience as another reference point! Knowing that VCA protocols are seemingly always evolving, it is hard to know whether there is some small difference in distribution among regions, or whether this directive has been updated over time.
Special orders are one example that comes to mind for pieces that are approved in Paris but that had different guidelines and qualifications depending on the region. However, perhaps VCA is attempting to streamline protocols worldwide and when special orders resume they will be standardized as well.
I would guess, that the guidelines in this case have evolved over time, since we have so many other examples (e.g. guidelines for MTO, Holiday Pendants, etc).
 
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#2,967
If there is not my size ring on the VCA website and that SA in the USA says they can do a ‘made to order’ for me from France’s workshop, me paying 100% deposit up front.

How long do you all think it would take to get the ring?
Thank you.
 
#2,969
nicole0612 said:
It is a little more nuanced than just yes or no answers, but I will do my best to answer. For made to order, it is just based on hitting the prepend threshold, it does not have to be at any particular boutique. For special order, the request needs to be placed through your home boutique, so it is extremely helpful if most of your spending comes from that boutique. If you don’t know which store is designated by VCA as your home boutique, your sales associate can look up your profile and let you know. Special orders are approved by Paris based on the client’s profile, not by the sales associate or store director, however, the sales associate will have to take the time to submit the order for you, so having a good relationship is helpful. The spend is lifelong, it does not reset, even when changing boutiques, however, the prespend requirement does go up over the years (not on a certain timeline). Also to note, all made to order and all special order request are currently on hold for the foreseeable future. I would guess they will resume at some time, but no one knows when.
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Yes, my SA told me that as well. They don’t take SO now.
 
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#2,970
nicole0612 said:
It is a little more nuanced than just yes or no answers, but I will do my best to answer. For made to order, it is just based on hitting the prepend threshold, it does not have to be at any particular boutique. For special order, the request needs to be placed through your home boutique, so it is extremely helpful if most of your spending comes from that boutique. If you don’t know which store is designated by VCA as your home boutique, your sales associate can look up your profile and let you know. Special orders are approved by Paris based on the client’s profile, not by the sales associate or store director, however, the sales associate will have to take the time to submit the order for you, so having a good relationship is helpful. The spend is lifelong, it does not reset, even when changing boutiques, however, the prespend requirement does go up over the years (not on a certain timeline). Also to note, all made to order and all special order request are currently on hold for the foreseeable future. I would guess they will resume at some time, but no one knows when.
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Hi Nicole, You truly are a wealth of information. I did know they have stopped taking any new SO and MTO orders. But what about the SO and MTO placed before and are waiting approval?
The funny thing in my case is they approved my magic pave Alhambra RG pendant on the day they closed the SO and MTO. But the BTF ring is on hold for approval.
 
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