Production floor showing several manufacturing processes

Hub

Which manufacturing process should your design use?

The forming route decides the tooling bill, the minimum quantity that makes economic sense, and whether the design can be made at all. Tolerance, minimum wall thickness and tooling cost are engineering properties of each process, so the comparison below holds at any competent factory.

All twelve processes compared

Tolerance, minimum wall and tooling cost are engineering properties of the process. They hold at any competent factory and can be checked against a manufacturing reference.

Jewelry manufacturing processes compared on tolerance, tooling and batch fit
Process	Tolerance	Min. wall	Tooling	Suits	Materials
Lost-wax casting	±0.1–0.3 mm	0.8 mm	$30–120 (silicone or rubber mold)	100–10,000 pcs	925 silver, Brass, Bronze, Zinc alloy
Stamping and die striking	±0.05 mm	0.3 mm	$150–2,000 (simple to progressive steel die)	1,000–500,000 pcs	316L stainless steel, Brass, Copper, Titanium
CNC machining	±0.02 mm	0.5 mm	None — programming and setup only	1–2,000 pcs	316L stainless steel, Titanium, Brass, 925 silver
Chain making	±0.1 mm on link pitch	0.5 mm wire	Machine setup per link style	Continuous lengths, cut to order	316L stainless steel, 925 silver, Brass
Stone setting	±0.05 mm on seat diameter	0.4 mm around a bezel	None — skilled labour per stone	Any quantity	925 silver, Brass, 316L stainless steel
Polishing and finishing	Removes 0.01–0.05 mm	Adds no material — thin sections can be polished through	None	Any quantity	All
Electroplating	±20% on deposited thickness	n/a	None — bath setup per colour batch	Batches of one colour	Brass, Zinc alloy, 925 silver, Copper, 316L stainless steel
PVD and IP coating	±0.1 µm on coating thickness	n/a	None — chamber batch	Batches of one colour	316L stainless steel, Titanium
Gold-filled and vermeil	Gold-filled 5% by weight; vermeil ≥ 2.5 µm	0.4 mm	As for the underlying forming route	500–20,000 pcs	925 silver (vermeil), Brass core (gold-filled)
Enameling	±0.1 mm on fill depth	0.3 mm cell wall	As for the forming route	500–20,000 pcs	Brass, Copper, 925 silver, Zinc alloy
Frosted and Florentine finishing	Fixture- and geometry-dependent, validated per drawing	Adds no material but displaces it — thin sections can bruise or bow	None for full-area work; programming and a fixture per design once zones are specified	Any quantity, but per-piece time does not fall with it	925 silver, Brass, Copper, Bronze, 316L stainless steel
Laser engraving and marking	±0.01 mm positional	Marks 0.005–0.1 mm deep	None — file setup only	1–50,000 pcs	316L stainless steel, Titanium, Brass, 925 silver

Tooling ranges are industry-typical. A firm figure is quoted against your CAD file — see the cost breakdown.

Choosing a forming route

Four forming routes turn raw metal into a shape. Everything else on this page is finishing, applied afterwards. Get this decision right and the rest follows.

Forming routes compared
Route	Tolerance	Tooling	Operations	Choose it when
Lost-wax casting	±0.1–0.3 mm	$30–120 (silicone or rubber mold)	9	Sculptural pendants, signet rings with relief, charms, anything with undercuts
Stamping and die striking	±0.05 mm	$150–2,000 (simple to progressive steel die)	6	Tags, discs, coin pendants, flat signet faces, blanks for further forming
CNC machining	±0.02 mm	None — programming and setup only	6	Plain and channel-set rings, precision components, titanium parts, prototypes
Chain making	±0.1 mm on link pitch	Machine setup per link style	6	Twelve link styles in continuous lengths, 0.8–12 mm gauge

Operation count drives the labour line, because labour is priced per operation rather than per piece.

Tooling cost by route

Tooling is a one-off charge for making the thing that makes the pieces. It is invoiced as its own line, never amortised into the unit price, and the buyer owns it.

Jewelry tooling cost, lead time and life by mold type
Tooling	Forming route	Cost	Lead time	Life
Silicone mold	Lost-wax casting	$30–80	2–4 days	~500–1,000 wax injections
Vulcanised rubber mold	Lost-wax casting	$50–120	3–5 days	~2,000–5,000 injections
Steel stamping die — simple	Stamping / die striking	$150–500	5–10 days	100,000+ strikes
Steel stamping die — progressive	Stamping / die striking	$500–2,000	10–20 days	100,000+ strikes
Die-casting die	Zinc alloy die casting	$600–2,500	15–25 days	50,000–200,000 shots
No tooling	CNC machining	Programming & setup only	1–3 days	n/a

Lead time is tooling only and runs before sampling begins. Stamping dies are cut in our own wire EDM room, so a tooling revision does not queue behind an outside die shop.

industry-typical

Finishing routes compared

Finishing decides how the piece looks on arrival and how it looks after six months. These two are frequently not the same, and the gap between them is where returns come from.

Finishing and surface routes compared
Route	What it does	Materials	Watch out for
Stone setting	Stones are secured mechanically into seats cut or cast into the metal — by prongs, a bezel wall, a channel, or micro-pavé beads raised from the surface.	925 silver, Brass, 316L stainless steel	Setting is priced per stone and per setting type, so a pavé design with forty small stones costs far more in labour than one with a single large stone, regardless of stone value.
Polishing and finishing	Surface material is removed progressively by abrasives — in bulk by vibratory and magnetic media, or by hand at a bench wheel — until the specified finish is reached.	All	Plating and PVD amplify whatever surface they land on.
Electroplating	The piece is made the cathode in an electrolyte bath and metal ions are deposited onto it by an electric current, building a coating whose thickness is set by current and time.	Brass, Zinc alloy, 925 silver, Copper, 316L stainless steel	This is where nickel enters an otherwise nickel-free piece — the conventional barrier layer is nickel, and it sits directly under the surface that touches skin.
PVD and IP coating	In a vacuum chamber, a solid target is vaporised and the vapour condenses onto the piece as a ceramic compound — usually titanium nitride and its relatives — bonded at the atomic level.	316L stainless steel, Titanium	Zinc alloy cannot take PVD.
Gold-filled and vermeil	Gold-filled bonds a karat gold layer to a base metal core under heat and pressure, at a minimum of 5% of total weight.	925 silver (vermeil), Brass core (gold-filled)	Both terms are legally defined in the US — vermeil requires a sterling base and 2.
Enameling	Coloured glass frit or epoxy resin is filled into recessed cells in the metal and then fired or cured until it sets flush and hard.	Brass, Copper, 925 silver, Zinc alloy	Vitreous enamel fires above 750 °C, which rules out zinc alloy and any piece already plated.
Laser engraving and marking	A focused fibre laser removes or discolours a controlled depth of surface material, writing a permanent mark directly from a vector file.	316L stainless steel, Titanium, Brass, 925 silver	Engraving after plating cuts through the coating and exposes the base metal at the mark.

From inquiry to shipment

Six stages run between an inquiry and a shipped carton. Sampling takes about 10 days and bulk production about 25 days; tooling runs before both.

STEP 01
Inquiry
Spec sheet, sketch or CAD in. NDA on request first.
≤ 24 h
STEP 02
Quotation
Material, labour, plating and tooling priced as separate lines.
1–2 days
STEP 03
3D & tooling
CAD signed off before any tooling is cut.
2–5 days
STEP 04
Sampling
Physical sample shipped for approval before bulk.
10 days
STEP 05
Production
In-line QC during the run, not only at the end.
25 days
STEP 06
Ship
AQL inspection report travels with the shipment.
By incoterm

01
≤ 24 h
Inquiry
Spec sheet, sketch or CAD in. NDA on request first.
02
1–2 days
Quotation
Material, labour, plating and tooling priced as separate lines.
03
2–5 days
3D & tooling
CAD signed off before any tooling is cut.
04
10 days
Sampling
Physical sample shipped for approval before bulk.
05
25 days
Production
In-line QC during the run, not only at the end.
06
By incoterm
Ship
AQL inspection report travels with the shipment.

The twelve processes

Each page carries the full parameter table, the production steps, and a direct comparison with the alternative route buyers usually weigh it against.

Casting

PRC-01

Sculptural pendants, signet rings with relief, charms, anything with undercuts

Tolerance: ±0.1–0.3 mm
Min. wall: 0.8 mm
Suits: 100–10,000 pcs
On our floor: Yes

Stamping

PRC-02

Tags, discs, coin pendants, flat signet faces, blanks for further forming

Tolerance: ±0.05 mm
Min. wall: 0.3 mm
Suits: 1,000–500,000 pcs
On our floor: Yes

CNC

PRC-03

Plain and channel-set rings, precision components, titanium parts, prototypes

Tolerance: ±0.02 mm
Min. wall: 0.5 mm
Suits: 1–2,000 pcs
On our floor: Yes

Chain

PRC-04

Twelve link styles in continuous lengths, 0.8–12 mm gauge

Tolerance: ±0.1 mm on link pitch
Min. wall: 0.5 mm wire
Suits: Continuous lengths, cut to order
On our floor: Yes

Setting

PRC-05

Cubic zirconia, moissanite, natural stones — prong, bezel, channel and pavé settings

Tolerance: ±0.05 mm on seat diameter
Min. wall: 0.4 mm around a bezel
Suits: Any quantity

Polishing

PRC-06

Mirror, satin, brushed, bead-blast and matte finishes on any metal

Tolerance: Removes 0.01–0.05 mm
Min. wall: Adds no material — thin sections can be polished through
Suits: Any quantity
On our floor: Yes

Plating

PRC-07

Gold, rose gold, rhodium and black finishes on brass, zinc alloy and silver

Tolerance: ±20% on deposited thickness
Min. wall: n/a
Suits: Batches of one colour

PVD

PRC-08

Gold, rose gold, black and gunmetal on stainless steel — the finish for everyday wear

Tolerance: ±0.1 µm on coating thickness
Min. wall: n/a
Suits: Batches of one colour

Gold-filled

PRC-09

Ranges sold on gold content, US market pieces where the terms carry legal meaning

Tolerance: Gold-filled 5% by weight; vermeil ≥ 2.5 µm
Min. wall: 0.4 mm
Suits: 500–20,000 pcs

Enamel

PRC-10

Logo colour, flags, pattern work, colour-blocked ranges

Tolerance: ±0.1 mm on fill depth
Min. wall: 0.3 mm cell wall
Suits: 500–20,000 pcs

Frosting

PRC-12

Sparkle without stones, frosted-then-plated ranges, and pieces that mix a textured face with polished bevels

Tolerance: Fixture- and geometry-dependent, validated per drawing
Min. wall: Adds no material but displaces it — thin sections can bruise or bow
Suits: Any quantity, but per-piece time does not fall with it

Engraving

PRC-11

Brand logos, size and material stamps, serial numbers, personalised text

Tolerance: ±0.01 mm positional
Min. wall: Marks 0.005–0.1 mm deep
Suits: 1–50,000 pcs
On our floor: Yes

Common misconceptions

FAQ

Common questions

Each answer stands alone and can be read without the rest of the page.

Should my design be cast or stamped?

Cast it if the form is three-dimensional, organic, or has undercuts a die cannot release. Stamp it if the shape is flat or shallow and the quantity justifies cutting a steel die. Stamping holds a tighter tolerance (±0.05 mm against ±0.1–0.3 mm), carries fewer labour operations and a lower scrap allowance, and costs far less per piece once running — but the die costs $150–2,000 against $30–120 for a casting mold, and it cannot be modified afterwards.

Which process holds the tightest tolerance?

CNC machining, at ±0.02 mm, because material is cut away under computer control rather than formed or poured. Stamping holds ±0.05 mm and lost-wax casting ±0.1–0.3 mm. Where a cast or stamped part needs a tighter feature than the process allows, the usual answer is a secondary machining operation on that feature rather than a change of primary route.

What is the minimum wall thickness for cast jewelry?

0.8 mm for lost-wax casting — below that, molten metal fails to fill the cavity reliably and the piece comes out with misruns. Stamping goes down to 0.3 mm because it forms sheet stock rather than filling a cavity, and CNC to 0.5 mm limited by tool deflection rather than material flow.

Which process needs no tooling at all?

CNC machining. It cuts directly from stock using a program generated from the CAD file, so there is nothing to pay for up front beyond programming and setup. That makes it the right route for the first hundred pieces, for designs still being revised, and for hard metals like titanium — and the wrong route above a few thousand pieces, because machine time is charged per piece and does not fall with quantity.

How long does the whole process take from inquiry to shipment?

Quotation within one working day, CAD and tooling 2–5 days, sampling about 10 days from an approved 3D file, and bulk production about 25 days after sample approval. Shipping sits outside those figures and depends on the incoterm. A progressive stamping die adds 10–20 days before sampling can begin.

Can one order use more than one process?

Almost every order does. A necklace is a cast or stamped pendant plus machine-made chain plus a plated finish plus laser engraving — four routes on four machines. What matters commercially is that each route carries its own setup, so consolidating an order into fewer routes and fewer finish variants lowers the unit price more than negotiating on any single line.

Not answered here? All buyer questions →

Not sure whether casting or stamping fits your design?

Send the sketch or the CAD file. We reply with both routes priced side by side — tooling and unit price separated — and a straight answer on which one the design actually wants.

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.

WhatsApp direct support@oemjewelrylab.com