How Custom Jewelry is Made

Sketch
The custom designed jewelry process begins with a sketch. However, before we even start sketching the piece for you, we would like to get know you, since the custom jewelry design is all about you! Whether you are interested in custom designed jewelry for an engagement ring or a wedding band, earrings or pendant, bracelet, or any other piece of jewelry, we will discuss the piece and give you ideas for the design. Then, we will sketch the piece for you and, don't worry, we will keep sketching until we hear, "That is exactly what I had in mind!" After that, we can begin your custom jewelry design process.

Selecting Diamonds For Your Custom Designed Jewelry
Diamonds are quite often important parts of our customers’ custom jewelry designs. Therefore, selecting and matching diamonds are important steps in the custom jewelry design process. We will educate you on the quality of the diamonds and will select diamonds to fit the design perfectly. We can also use diamonds or colored stones from the piece(s) of jewelry that you are planning to re-purpose. If there are not enough diamonds in the piece(s) you are re-purposing, we will carefully match additional diamonds to the ones in your existing pieces. That is what custom designed jewelry is all about; you have unlimited freedom, creativity, and flexibility to design the jewelry of your dreams!

Selecting diamonds for your custom designed jewelry can be a time-consuming. However, it is such an important step that we happily spend as much time as necessary to assure that we make the right selection.

Creating a Model
Depending on the design, we will either have our model maker create the model by carving it by hand from a block of wax, or we will create a model using a computerized methods of jewelry design called CAD. Before we proceed to the next step, you are always invited to the store to see and approve the wax model. Seeing a prototype of the piece that was transformed from a sketch into a wax model will give you a very good idea of what the finished piece will look like. And, it is always exciting to see the first three-dimensional version of your design!

Let's take a look at how the model maker creates the piece in CAD.

CAD Process
CAD is just one of the many steps that takes place in the custom designed jewelry process. CAD stands for Computer Aided Design. The CAD software allows a designer to create models and prototypes of one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry with a help of computer jewelry design software.

CAD is a program in which the creative process meets the technical knowledge required to design every piece of jewelry.

The CAD designer needs to envision the piece and bring it to life using the computer jewelry design software. It is fascinating to watch the CAD designer add every element of the design to the model on the computer screen. For example, if he is designing a custom engagement ring, you might first see the shank, and then a box for a center stone placed on top of the shank. Next, you would see stones being added to the shank. And on and on, until every element of your custom designed jewelry is transferred to the screen.

Rendering of Custom Designed Jewelry
Next, the piece has to be re-created as a three-dimensional model. Every element and space allotted for each stone has to be precise. It is this computerized model that will be cut out of wax later in the process, and so our designers are extremely meticulous!

Casting and Finishing
Once the wax model is completed and approved by you, the wax is then cast in the metal of your choice: gold, platinum, or silver. We polish and set the diamonds into the setting, and then… your beautiful piece is complete.

Now it can be enjoyed for generations to come!