Custom jewelry is a unique and special way to express yourself.
It’s a way to create a piece of wearable art that is completely your own, and can be as simple or complex as you like.
But how is custom jewelry made?
How does the process work from start to finish?
While custom jewelry is literally made from “scratch”, it can also be copied from designs that you have seen to give you a jump start on the process.
You can design your own, or you can simply bring a picture to a Bench Jeweler and pour over the exact details with them.
In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about how custom jewelry is created.
Table of Contents
What Is Custom Jewelry vs Mass-Produced?
Mass produced jewelry is manufactured jewelry.
These are items that are turned out of exactly the same molds, except perhaps for using different gemstones, and are sold all over the world by the hundreds of millions.
Think of them like Beanie Babies were.
Every 6 months a new version of the exact same bear would come out, only wearing different colors and different accents.
But a bear is a bear.
After the craze ended, and it did end, everyone who purchased them found themselves with 100 or more bears.
Well, mass produced jewelry is pretty much the same, except that you can at least sell it for the gold or silver value at some point if you wanted, or you can put it away for a decade or two until precious metals go up in value.
Custom jewelry is very much different and is usually more expensive due to the time it takes to put something together from start to finish.
Not everyone can, or is willing to, put the kind of time and money into having a custom piece of jewelry made for them because it is quite time consuming.
You’d need to start a good 4 months in advance if you want it finished by a particular date to be safe.
The reason for this is because you may want rare colored diamonds or gemstones that will have to be sourced, and you may keep tweaking the design for months!
Also, consideration needs to be factored in for holidays that would pull a bench jeweler away from your project to accommodate other customers.
Process Of Making Custom Jewelry: From Start To Finish
There is definitely a process for making a custom piece of jewelry.
Let’s just say that you want a wedding ring made and you would like it to be styled similar to some pictures of pieces that you have seen during the Art Nouveau Era.
Step 1. Start With a Conversation
First, we have to start out with a conversation and hopefully some drawings and/or pictures to help solidify what the customer is after.
Picking their brain is essential, otherwise time is wasted and misunderstandings have to be navigated.
The best way to get what the customer wants is to involve the bench jeweler who is the one that will do the work, except for perhaps the CAD drawing.
Leaving the bench jeweler out of the process and relying on information passed back and forth is the biggest reason for customer dissatisfaction. A bench jeweler might miss some of the desired nuances that the customer wanted, or did not want, if they aren’t included from the get-go.
The other reason to involve the bench jeweler is because they will be able to guide you as to what is possible, and what might not work so well in terms of design.
They will also let you know if there are better ways of achieving a certain look that you are going for, or if a different metal might be better to use.
Step 2. CAD Drawing
This is a computer generated rendering of the sketch or picture that is sent to them.
A team will use computers to put your ideas down and customize it to fit your finger length and size. The drawing will then be sent via email for you to look at for feedback so it can be further modified if needed.
Step 3. Wax Carving and Model Making
This next step is where it gets fun.
Wax models are used for settling the design details and also for producing the cast pieces. The cast piece will need a wax master model. Hand carving will assist the milling machines to create detailed perfection.
Once this step is finished, you will get to view your model and try it on. It will be a colored wax rendition of the real thing.
This is needed so that you can make final changes and it will be explained that the wax model may look a little thicker in the prongs to account for stones needing to be set, but that will be fixed once it is in its final production.
Step 4. Making The Jewelry
Now that the wax model has been modified and approved, it is time for casting.
Many jewelry stores will send this out to be done by companies who have their own centrifuges.
But for those that have their own in house, then the gold or platinum is melted then shot and spun into the mold.
The heat of the melted gold will displace and melt the wax and fill the cavity.
When this is cooled, the ring will then be removed, inspected to make sure that there was no pitting, and then is ready for polishing because it comes out with matte finish, rather than shiny.
This requires very intricate work because every detail must be attended to.
Once that is complete, the next step is now ready to be done.
Step 5. Setting Gemstones
Your ring is now ready for the gemstones to be set.
The bench jeweler will have already known which type of setting the gems will need and will place them securely in the ring. Once this is finished, the ring is ready for the final polishing.
Texture, hand engraving or tooling and detailing will be the final step.
Step 6. Final-Polishing
When you’ve just created a piece of jewelry, rarely will it look perfect.
This is where the ring will receive its final polish and then it will be complete. If there was an inscription that needed to be done, it would be accomplished at this time as well.
Finding A Jeweler Who Can Create Your Vision
Everything considered, if you cannot communicate with your jeweler about what you want and they seem to move into the opposite direction when you are trying to explain it to them, then they are probably not going to be a good fit for you.
If an Architect cannot get into your head to understand what you want, then would you hire them to design your house?
That said, sometimes a customer goes in with one idea, and after being shown all the other options, decides that the jewelers options are far better.
That is a win-win…but can they pull it off?
Just because a jewelry store claims that they offer custom service, does not mean that the rapport that you have with them means that they will actually be the one doing the work!
You need to start asking questions regardless of what their claim is.
While there is nothing wrong with them sending piece work out to several different craftsmen for each stage of fabrication, this is where the mess ups do begin.
Flexibility is needed when custom work is being done, and you will need to know if you will be in contact with the people doing each step along the way.
Ask About Fabrication Method
The first question that you should ask is if the ring is going to be hand fabricated or cast.
If your ring is going to be cast, then the CAD drawing is really the thing that you will be doing battle with…and that is a computer.
But if your ring will be hand fabricated, then that is far superior because you have complete control regarding the finer details as it is easier to talk to a jeweler along the way than to deal with a computer.
The only real problem with CAD work is that you may not be able to discuss the process directly with the designer and will waste valuable time trying to communicate with a third party with the jeweler too.
Find out if the jeweler does both casting work as well as hand fabricating. If they do both, and if they can show you a nice portfolio of the work they did, you are in luck.
Use an In-House Bench Jeweler
Find out if they are going to do their own stone setting in house or if they are going to send it out.
A Master Bench Jeweler should be a whiz at setting stones and there should be no reason to send out your ring for someone else to do this.
A good bench jeweler should be able to set stones in any way possible, such as:
- channel
- pave
- fishtail
- tab
- bead
- and cut-away styles
This is important to get right, because the last thing you need are stones that are constantly disappearing over time because the jeweler was simply not good at it setting.
See Their Previous Work
If your ring is going to have fancy filigree hand engraving or “tooling” work done on it, ask to see samples of what the bench jeweler has already done.
If you do not like his style, perhaps you should have that part sent out if everything else is fine otherwise.
Last, take a good look to see if the pieces of their work have stones that are uniformly set, engraving work should be uniform, and the finish surface should be finely done.
Stones should not appear to be set to look too bulky nor sparse.
Use a loupe to see the work close up, although realizing that the naked eye will not see most things. What you are looking for is uniformity and strength.
FAQ’s About Custom Jewelry
Why do people make custom jewelry?
There are a variety of reasons people might want to make custom jewelry.
Some people want a piece that is unique and not like anything else out there, while others might want something that has sentimental value or is meant to commemorate a special event.
Custom jewelry can also be made to match an existing outfit or style.
People usually have a vision in their own minds about what they want, and have already looked high and low for something.
Usually, by the time a person decides that they will be having their item custom made, they are fed up with looking at what is already being offered.
What is custom jewelry made of?
Custom jewelry is usually made from different karats of gold, platinum, and sterling silver.
These metals can be combined with each other and can even be made with different colors of gold, such as: rose, green, white or yellow.
Diamonds, whether earth mined or lab grown stones can also be added, as well as just about every gemstone known to man if it can be acquired.
How do I start making jewelry?
If you want to start making jewelry yourself, as in DIY, then be prepared to spend some money on tools, a small workbench, and some essential materials.
We recommend taking some jewelry classes in order to learn how to make jewelry scratch so you will have a great foundation to start from.
Or, you could find a good bench jeweler who is willing to mentor you and teach you the ropes.
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind that the average non Holiday time frame for making a custom piece of jewelry is about 12 weeks assuming that all is going well.
If you can afford to have several people who are brought into the process paid, as well as the jewelry store and all the materials needed, then you can expect to pay 3x’s as much for a ring than for something that is typically found in store cases from mass production.
But herein lies the difference in that it will be uniquely yours alone.
Custom jewelry is a wonderful way to get something that is one of a kind, and made just for you.
When done right, it can last generations and become an heirloom piece to be passed down.