The exact time required to make a piece of custom jewellery depends on several factors, but on average, you can expect the process to take about two to eight weeks.
In this post, we’ll explore the factors determining the time it takes to have custom jewellery made in Melbourne, along with some tips to speed up the process. As soon as you have a solid understanding of how this process works, you’ll be well on your way to getting a unique, valuable piece of custom jewellery made just for you.
Custom Jewelry Manufacturing Process
Stage 1: Designing and Consultation
In this stage, you share your idea with the jeweller. The overall process may take about one to four weeks, with several one- or two-hour meetings.
In your first consultation with an expert jewellery designer, you should share your vision of the piece you want. Use sketches, pictures, screenshots, and references to explain your idea to them. Make sure you’ve calculated your budget and considered how much custom jewellery costs before you discuss your desires with the professional.
Once you’ve shared your idea, the expert jewellery designer will share their views. A good jeweller should do everything possible to bring your idea to life. If there’s a limitation, such as budget, material availability, or design impracticality, they should be able to suggest alternatives.
Stage 2: CAD Modelling
CAD is short for computer-aided design. Basically, jewellers use software to create a virtual 3D model of your custom jewellery. Once it’s ready, they’ll share it with you to get it approved. This process takes about a few hours.
Stage 3: Wax Model Production
Next, a wax model of your custom jewellery is created. The jeweller may or may not share this with you depending on your preferences; it takes a day to produce the wax model.
Stage 4: Casting
Once the model is approved, it undergoes casting wherein molten metal and gemstones enrich the jewellery piece. This process requires precision and expertise–it may take days, even for a professional.
Stage 5: Finishes
Lastly, your jewellery designer will polish your jewellery with your preferred finish. This may take a few minutes or hours, depending on the complexity of the design.
Factors That Affect Jewellery Making Time
Apart from the time required for the different processes above, several other factors influence the time it takes to make custom jewellery. These include:
Revisions
When the CAD model is designed, the jeweller will get in touch with you to check if they’ve mapped your vision correctly. If they’ve missed out on something, you can let them know, and the design will go back for editing. This will continue until they get it right, and the same will occur when the wax model is created.
Naturally, more revisions mean a longer time to complete the project, and it may take your jeweller one to two months to complete the final product.
Material Availability
If you’ve opted for rare or extremely high-end raw materials for your jewellery, the jewellery maker may take considerable time to arrange the material. Importing expensive or rare gemstones and metals takes a few weeks, at the very least.
Similarly, if you’ve asked the jeweller to repurpose any of your old jewellery, they will take a bit of time in extracting useful materials from it. They’ll then refine it and make it usable for the new ornament.
Designer Availability
Similar to materials, some jewellery-making techniques demand exclusive skills and expertise. For example, if you want your ring to feature Makume Gane and your preferred jeweller doesn’t have a solid command over the technique, they’ll have to find an expert to help with the job, which will take additional time.
Final Thoughts
All in all, it takes at least two weeks to get a custom-made piece of jewellery. Make sure you pay great attention to detail and communicate effectively at each stage to minimise revisions and errors. If you need a quicker turnaround, this will likely incur extra costs, as well.
Luckily, the experts at Holloway Diamonds are ready to help you throughout the entire custom jewellery-making process, and we’ll make sure each step is as streamlined as possible so you can walk away with the custom-made piece of your dreams.
Our jewelry production process typically takes 4-6 weeks and involves several stages to ensure that each piece of jewelry is created with precision and care. The first stage is creating a sketch of the design, which is then modeled using specialized software to create a 3D image. Once the model is created, we create a render image that gives our clients a realistic idea of what the final product will look like. The client then approves the design, and we move on to the production stage, which involves printing the design in wax, burning it in a kiln to create a mold, and then pouring pure melted metal into the mold to get the raw cast. After casting, the piece goes to gem setting where each gemstone is set by hand. The piece is then polished to perfection before going through the final cleaning process. This process ensures that each piece of jewelry we produce is of the highest quality and meets our clients’ expectations.
[clearfix]
While each piece is individually crafted, many of these steps are done in batches to increase efficiency. For example, printing a single wax model can take 2.5 to 4 hours but if done in a group of 20 it will take almost the 1/10 of time per model to print them together reducing the total cost for machine time. We also use a wax tree method for casting which means that with one flask we are able to produce molds for multiple different jewelry pieces which is much more cost effective.
When a customer requests a rushed production, we need to adjust our normal production process to accommodate the request. This means prioritizing the customer’s order above others, working longer hours, and even sourcing materials at a higher cost to meet the deadline. All of these factors can increase the cost of materials and decrease the efficiency of the process, leading to a higher cost of production.
When it comes to custom creating jewelry it is better to start as early as possible, however, we understand that sometimes clients need their jewelry sooner. If this is the case, we are ready to take on the challenge and adjust our process to meet your needs.