What does it take to have jewelry made to your own design?
Custom manufacturing means the design is yours and the factory builds exactly it. The work that decides whether it succeeds happens before any metal is cut — in the manufacturability review, where an engineer reads the CAD and says which features will not produce as drawn.
- MOQ
- 500 pcs / style / colour
- Sampling
- 10 days
- Production
- 25 days
- Tooling
- Separate one-off line
Who this suits
- Brands with a finished design or CAD file ready to produce
- Designers moving from bench-made samples to production quantities
- Existing brands changing supplier and bringing their tooling requirements with them
- Buyers who need a specific alloy, finish or compliance route rather than a catalogue item
What each side supplies
Most delays on a first order come from an unstated assumption about who provides what. This is the split.
- The design — CAD (.stl, .3dm, .step), a dimensioned drawing, or a physical sample
- Material and finish specification, with plating thickness in microns
- Quantity per style and per colour, and the sizing distribution
- Target market, so the compliance route can be set
- Manufacturability review before quoting — what will not produce as drawn, and why
- Itemised quotation with tooling as its own line
- Tooling, cut in-house for stamping dies
- Sampling, production, inspection and export documentation
How it runs
Each stage has a duration attached. Tooling time runs before sampling, not inside it, so a launch date is built from the sum rather than from the production figure alone.
- 01
≤ 24 hDesign reviewAn engineer reads the CAD against the chosen process and flags wall thicknesses, undercuts and finish conflicts.
- 02
1–2 daysQuotationMaterial, labour, plating, finishing and packing priced as separate lines; tooling quoted separately.
- 03
2–20 daysToolingMold or die cut after written CAD sign-off. Stamping dies are cut in our own wire EDM room.
- 04
10 daysSamplingPhysical sample shipped for approval before any bulk metal is committed.
- 05
25 daysProductionIn-line QC during the run rather than only at the end.
- 06
By incotermInspection & shipAQL inspection report travels with the shipment.
Order terms
| MOQ | 500 pcs per style, per plating colour |
|---|---|
| Sampling | 10 days from approved 3D file |
| Bulk production | 25 days after sample approval |
| Tooling | Quoted and invoiced as a separate one-off line — buyer owns it |
| Reorder | No second tooling charge for the same design |
| NDA | Signed before design files or briefs are received |
| Inspection | AQL inspection report travels with the shipment |
| Testing | Arranged on request against the destination market’s standards |
How this differs from the other routes
Custom manufacturing is the broadest of the three routes and the one where the buyer carries the most design responsibility. If you have the design, this is the route. If you have a brief but not a design, that is ODM. If you want an existing piece under your own brand, that is private label.
| Route | Who designs | Tooling cost | Lead time | Exclusive to you? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom / OEM | You | Yes — separate line | Longest — tooling before sampling | Yes |
| ODM | The factory, from your brief | Yes, plus development | Longest — development, then tooling | Only if agreed in writing |
| Private label | Already designed | None | Shortest — ~25 days | No |
What to watch out for
Custom jewelry manufacturing — buyer questions
Each answer stands alone and can be read without the rest of this page.
What file formats do you need to quote a custom jewelry design?
CAD in .stl, .3dm or .step is ideal, because it carries the actual geometry. A dimensioned technical drawing works. A physical sample works and can be scanned or measured. What does not work on its own is a rendering or a reference photograph — neither contains wall thickness or tolerance, so a quote built from one will change once the real geometry arrives.
Will you tell me if my design cannot be manufactured as drawn?
Yes, before quoting rather than after sampling. The common findings are walls below the process minimum — 0.8 mm for casting, 0.3 mm for stamping — undercuts a die cannot release, plating specified on a substrate that cannot take it, and stone seats too close to an edge. Each comes back with the change needed and what it does to the price.
Do I own the design and the tooling?
Yes to both. An NDA is signed before design files are received, tooling is quoted and invoiced as a separate line and stored under your account, and there is no second tooling charge on a reorder. Client designs are never resold or shown to other buyers.
What is the minimum order for custom jewelry?
500 pieces per style, per plating colour. Each finish is a separate production batch with its own setup, so three colourways of one design is three batches of 500. Sampling takes about 10 days and bulk production about 25 days after sample approval.
Can you match a sample I already have from another factory?
Usually yes. Send the physical piece — it is measured and, where needed, scanned to reconstruct the geometry. What matters is agreeing in advance which properties must match exactly: dimensions, weight, plating colour, plating thickness, or all of them. A visual match at a lower plating micron is the usual way a "matched" sample turns into a different product.
How much does custom jewelry manufacturing cost?
A unit price is metal weight × metal cost, plus labour per operation, plus plating by surface area and micron thickness, plus finishing, packing and a 3–8% scrap allowance, with tooling as a separate one-off. At 1,000 pieces a stamped 316L ring with gold PVD is in the region of $0.87–1.71 ex-works; a cast brass pendant with 1 µm gold plating $1.31–2.77. The manufacturing cost page breaks every line out.
Not answered here? All buyer questions →
Get a quote in one working day
Send the design or the brief, the material and the quantity. You get an itemised price, the tooling cost as its own line, and a manufacturability review before anything is committed. Production runs on our own floor in Qingxi, Dongguan, Guangdong.
- 01Reply within one working day, Guangdong business hours.
- 02Itemised cost sheet — mold quoted separately, not folded into the unit price.
- 03NDA on request before any file is shared.