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. Knowing which stage an order is in — and which document should be in your hands before it closes — is what separates an order that arrives as specified from one that arrives as interpreted.
The eight stages
| Stage | Duration | Output | Reversible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 · Manufacturability review | ≤ 24 h | Written notes on wall thickness, undercuts, post diameter and finish conflicts | Yes |
| 02 · Quotation | 1–2 days | Metal, labour, coating, finishing and packing priced as separate lines; tooling quoted separately | Yes |
| 03 · CAD sign-off | Your decision | A dimensioned drawing with tolerances, approved in writing | Last free change |
| 04 · Tooling | 2–20 days | Mold or die, cut against the signed drawing | No — cost committed |
| 05 · Sampling | 10 days | A physical piece in the production material and finish | Changes now cost tooling time |
| 06 · Production | 25 days | In-line QC during the run rather than only at the end | No |
| 07 · Inspection | Before packing | AQL report against the standard named in the purchase order | The lot can be held |
| 08 · Packing and shipment | By incoterm | Packing list, commercial invoice, HS code, inspection and test reports | n/a |
Review, quotation, sampling and production durations are ours. Tooling depends on the mold type — 2–4 days for silicone, 10–20 for a progressive steel die — and stamping dies are cut in our own wire EDM room rather than queued at an outside die shop, which is what keeps a revision inside days.
What you should be holding at the end of each stage
Every dispute on a production order is really a dispute about which of two remembered versions was agreed. The documents below cost nothing to ask for at the time and are unobtainable afterwards.
| After stage | Document | What it prevents later |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation | Itemised quote with tooling on a separate line | Amortised tooling reappearing inside the unit price on every reorder |
| CAD sign-off | A dated, dimensioned drawing with tolerances | Arguing about dimensions against a render that has none |
| Tooling | A written statement of who owns the tooling | Paying a second time to move the design to another supplier |
| Sampling | An approved physical sample, one retained on each side | A finish dispute with no reference object to hold it against |
| Production | The plating or coating specification in microns | Thickness quietly reduced to hit a target price |
| Inspection | AQL report naming the standard, the level and the defect counts | "Strict QC" turning out to mean nothing on arrival |
| Shipment | Packing list, invoice, HS code, and test reports where required | Customs delay, or duty assessed against the wrong heading |
The full pre-production version of this list — specification, commercial terms, quality and compliance — is in the first order checklist.
What can run in parallel, and what cannot
The calendar in the first section is 40–58 days before freight, and most attempts to compress it target the wrong stage. Sampling and production are where buyers try to save time, and both are exactly where lost time is cheap compared with what skipping them costs.
Genuinely parallel with tooling and sampling:
- Packaging development — boxes, pouches, cards, inserts
- Label, barcode and care-card artwork
- Booking the compliance laboratory and agreeing who pays for which batches
- Appointing a freight forwarder and settling the incoterm
- Photography planning against the approved sample
Strictly sequential, and no schedule survives pretending otherwise:
- A die cannot be cut before the drawing is signed — it is cut against the drawing
- A coating colour cannot be approved before a sample exists in the production material, because the same colour reads differently on steel, brass and silver
- A plating or coating batch runs one colour at a time, which is why MOQ is counted per colour
- Stone setting cannot begin before the castings or blanks are finished and polished
- An AQL inspection cannot be performed on a lot that is already packed and sealed
The largest real saving available is booking compliance testing while tooling is being cut, rather than after inspection. It removes 1–3 weeks from the critical path and costs nothing but a decision made earlier.
Where orders actually go wrong
| Stage | Failure mode | Cost of catching it late |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturability review | Wall thickness below the process minimum | Tooling reworked — days plus the cost of the die |
| Quotation | Coating quoted as "18k gold plated" with no micron figure | Visually identical pieces that diverge after weeks of wear |
| CAD sign-off | Approved from a render instead of a dimensioned drawing | A whole run out of tolerance, argued about after arrival |
| Sampling | Sample skipped to save ten days | The first physical object anyone sees is the 500th piece |
| Production | Size or length distribution never stated | The correct total quantity in an unsellable mix |
| Inspection | AQL agreed as a word rather than a number | No agreed basis on which to reject the lot |
| Shipment | Findings sourced outside the tested batch | A compliant body on a clasp or post that fails testing |
Six of these seven are settled before any metal moves. Defect classes, inspection stages and remedies cover the seventh.
How the sequence changes for ODM and private label
The eight stages above describe OEM production from your own design. Two other routes run a different number of stages, and the difference is mostly in how much happens before tooling.
ODM inserts a development stage between the brief and the quotation: concepts, then CAD developed to your price point. It adds 5–10 days and one clause — who owns the resulting design, and for how long it is exclusive to you. Private label deletes stages 03 to 05 outright. Nothing is tooled because everything is already tooled, so the sequence is selection, quotation, a branding sample, and production.
| Route | Stages | To first delivery | Tooling cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| OEM — your design | 8 | 6–9 weeks + freight | Per style |
| ODM — developed from your brief | 9 | 7–10 weeks + freight | Per style |
| Private label — already tooled | 4 | 4–5 weeks + freight | None |
Calendars exclude freight and assume no sample revision. Air freight adds 5–10 days, sea 25–40.
Questions on this
Each answer stands alone and can be read without the rest of the article.
How long does a full OEM jewelry order take?
6–9 weeks from signed CAD to goods ready, before freight: up to 24 hours for the manufacturability review, 1–2 days to quote, 2–20 days of tooling depending on mold type, 10 days sampling and 25 days production, then inspection and packing. Air freight adds 5–10 days and sea 25–40. Each sample revision adds a further 5–10 days, which is the most common reason a quoted calendar and an actual one differ.
Can tooling start before the CAD is signed off?
No, and it should not. A mold or die is cut against a specific dimensioned drawing, so starting before sign-off means cutting steel against a design that can still change — and the cost of that change lands on whoever authorised the early start. Sign-off is the last point at which a change is free, which is exactly why it deserves a dimensioned drawing rather than an approving email against a render.
Who owns the mold or die after it is paid for?
Whatever the purchase order says, which is why it needs to say something. Buyer-owned tooling means no second tooling charge on a reorder and the ability to move the design elsewhere; supplier-owned tooling means neither. This is a one-line clause at quotation stage and an expensive negotiation once the tooling exists and the design sells.
Can I change the design after seeing the sample?
Yes, but the cost depends on the size of the change. Surface finish, plating colour and packaging can change without touching the tooling. Dimensions, wall thickness or geometry mean the mold is modified or recut, which costs part or all of the original tooling fee and adds 2–20 days. Cosmetic changes cost days; geometric changes cost the die.
Why does each plating colour need its own production batch?
A plating or coating batch runs a single colour at a time — the bath chemistry or chamber target is set for that colour and changing it means a full changeover. That is the mechanical reason MOQ is counted per style per plating colour rather than per style: three colours of one design is three batches, not one batch of mixed goods.
What does a physical sample tell you that a CAD render does not?
Weight, balance, surface quality, clasp tension, how the coating colour actually reads on the production alloy, and how the piece sits on a body. A render is geometry with a material assigned to it; none of those properties exist in it. It is also the only reference object available if the production run later has to be judged against what was approved.
Not answered here? All buyer questions →
Sources
Where the standards and legal limits quoted above are published, so a reader can check them at the issuer rather than taking this article's word.
Put this into a quotation
Send the design, the material and the quantity. You get an itemised price with the tooling separated out, the plating specified in microns, 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.