If you’re an independent jewelry designer whose creative juices flow continuously, but feel lost in a maze asking yourself — “How to get my jewelry designs manufactured?” — without getting screwed or going bankrupt, rest assured that this blog is for you!
So you’ve sketched a piece of jewelry (or more) and taped that piece of paper on your wall thinking, where do I go from here? Don’t fret! We will provide 3 major points you will have to consider in advance in order to turn your unique jewelry ideas into striking, rigid products that will instantly have people drooling to purchase them.
1. DEFINE YOUR JEWELRY DESIGN AND PRODUCTION GOALS FOR YOUR BRAND
A large number of jewelry designers are extraordinarily talented when it comes to creativity and pouring ideas on sketches, but lack the business skills required to reach their desired final destination. And that’s OK!
Who are you producing jewelry for?
Whoever it is, having a defined plan can make all the difference.
What you need first is to create an intricate plan that’s going to clearly define your brand’s why, who do you bear in mind as your ideal customer, and what truly distinguishes your designs from other designers in the industry. If you are just starting, without this roadmap, you will be stuck in a loophole.
If you already have items for sale, you need to determine what jewelry manufacturing goal you would want to achieve to grow further as a brand. If you already have products that are already getting some buzz, let’s just say 925 sterling silver hollow bangles just to imagine a scenario, why not expand this category by presenting a cuff bangle variation? This is very different for each designer or emerging jewelry brand owner, that’s why it’s absolutely essential to define your jewelry production goals in advance to be strategic with your inventory later on.
2. HIRE A SKILLFUL 3D JEWELRY CAD/CAM SPECIALIST
Yes, we have emphasized the word skillful, and with reason. With technological innovations come unlimited opportunities to turn a jewelry idea into a prototype you can touch and feel — well unless you’ve learned to become a professional jeweler yourself (it's a rare breed these days!) and plan to craft your ideas with your bare hands. In such a scenario, you’ll be basically crafting your prototype jewelry model over and over again till your entire expected inventory is met. Yeah, for many emerging designers in the game who aren't trained jewelers, that’s not the most effective or accurate option to go with for both your time and money!
For the most part, you're going to have to dedicate these meticulous tasks to a team of specialists who can take your drawn sketches and transform them into 3D jewelry models using advanced CAD software (Computer-Assisted Design). Once a rendered version of your jewelry is ready, it will be sent to CAM phase (Computer-Aided Manufacturing), in order to be physically recreated in wax or resin by means of 3D printing. No technical skills required from your end here — all you will have to do is touch, feel and try on your own envisioned jewelry piece to assure its exactitude!
3. TRUST THE RIGHT JEWELRY MANUFACTURER FOR QUALITY CRAFTSMANSHIP
This part is like your icing on the cake!
Choosing where you’ll be producing your jewelry is so important that I can’t stress enough. Imagine you are a design architect looking for a career in the automotive industry. How proud would you feel to partake in the design journey of an Italian supercar compared to a cheap Asian commercial vehicle for instance? Both require a designer, right?
But let’s agree that the level of quality, manufacturing and demand from a completely different customer base are miles away from each other. No customer deserves a product that breaks or falls apart so easily, especially in a short timeframe.
The same goes for manufacturing your jewelry. No one deserves to purchase your product out of trust towards your brand, only to go for a jewelry repair session a few months down the road.
This being said for best results: lost-wax casting is the way to go. A reputable casting company will carefully carve your designs into wax, place them into a mold that will undergo extensive heat, then pour the desired alloy in a flask to take formation over the melted wax model.
Jewelry casting has one huge advantage over the old-school assembly line. Okay, Okay, you might save on labor expenses, but not as much on time. The reason why we emphasize this, is because trusting the right caster who knows what he’s doing and delicately carries the entire process makes the world of a difference.
Lastly, comes assembling your jewelry, stone-setting which is a masterful art to accomplish soundly these days, and final polishing so your products can shine as much online as in real life.
At Jeweler Vision, custom jewelry design and manufacturing equal boundless possibilities. We wholeheartedly guide up-and-coming jewelry designers and brands by providing the right tools to embrace their freedom of imagination from concept to product.
We are a 3D jewelry design Montreal based company and a specialized jewelry manufacturer for small to medium businesses. Our studio is a special place where we translate your jewelry ideas into gorgeous, tangible, solidly-crafted jewelry products.
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