The comparisons buyers actually search for
Every article here answers a question with a number, a standard reference or a table. They are written for people deciding between two specific options — which is what a sourcing decision actually looks like — rather than as general introductions to jewelry.
All resources
What each article settles, in one line. Every one carries at least one comparison table and self-contained FAQs.
| Article | Group | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| PVD or electroplating — which finish should your jewelry use? | Materials & craft | PVD lays 0.3–1.0 µm of ceramic that lasts years; electroplating lays 0.05–5 µm of soft metal that lasts weeks to years. |
| Should your jewelry be cast or stamped? | Materials & craft | Casting holds ±0.1–0.3 mm on $30–120 tooling; stamping holds ±0.05 mm on a $150–2,000 die at far lower unit cost. |
| Stainless steel, sterling silver or brass — which should your range use? | Materials & craft | 316L is 7.98 g/cm³ at 150–190 HV and does not tarnish; 925 is 10.36 g/cm³ at 60–80 HV and does; brass is 8.47 g/cm³ and must be plated. |
| Gold-filled, vermeil or gold-plated — what is the actual difference? | Materials & craft | Gold-filled needs 5% gold by weight; vermeil needs ≥ 2.5 µm over sterling under US FTC rules; gold-plated has no thickness definition at all. |
| How do you tell a real jewelry factory from a trading company? | Sourcing & compliance | Nine checks that separate a manufacturer from a broker — named departments, tooling ownership, micron specs, AQL standards, batch testing, NAP consistency.. |
| What does it actually cost to get a jewelry brand into production? | Getting started | A line-by-line first-run budget: tooling $30–2,500 per style, MOQ 500 per style per plating colour, 10-day sampling, 25-day production. |
| What happens between approving a CAD and receiving the goods? | Getting started | The eight stages of an OEM order with durations, the document to hold after each, and the point where design changes stop being free — CAD sign-off.. |
| Where should you manufacture your jewelry — and why does so much of it come from China? | Getting started | China, India, Thailand, Italy and Turkey on supply base, MOQ, lead time and what to watch. |
| What should you agree before your first jewelry order goes into production? | Getting started | Alloy grade, plating microns, MOQ per colour, tooling ownership, AQL and defect classes, compliance testing, incoterms — the items that cause disputes.. |
Getting started
What does it actually cost to get a jewelry brand into production?
The question behind "how do I start a jewelry brand" is almost always a cash question: how much has to be committed before the first piece can be sold.
Read →What happens between approving a CAD and receiving the goods?
An OEM jewelry order runs in eight stages, of which only the first three can be reversed without cost.
Read →Where should you manufacture your jewelry — and why does so much of it come from China?
Origin is a manufacturing decision before it is a price decision.
Read →What should you agree before your first jewelry order goes into production?
Almost every dispute on a first jewelry order traces back to something that was never written down.
Read →Materials & craft
PVD or electroplating — which finish should your jewelry use?
These two finishes produce the same colour on the day a piece arrives and diverge completely after three months of wear.
Read →Should your jewelry be cast or stamped?
This is the first real decision on any jewelry project, and it is made on geometry and quantity rather than on preference.
Read →Stainless steel, sterling silver or brass — which should your range use?
These three cover the great majority of jewelry produced.
Read →Gold-filled, vermeil or gold-plated — what is the actual difference?
Two of these three terms are legally defined in the United States and carry a minimum you can hold a supplier to.
Read →Sourcing & compliance
Straight to the numbers
Where an article gives the reasoning, these four pages give the figures — cost structure, tooling, and the two compliance regimes that decide which markets a range can enter.
Get a quote in one working day
Send the category, the material and the quantity. You get an itemised price, the tooling cost as its own line, and the compliance route for your market.
- 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.