Buyers new to custom work often read a quote as one line: the piece costs X. A real quote is a stack of numbers, each driven by a different lever, and understanding which lever moves which line is what lets you negotiate, compare shops, and decide whether a design is viable at a target retail price.

Metal: weight times spot, plus alloy loss

Metal cost starts with the finished weight of the piece. The foundry weighs the casting after sprue removal, multiplies by the live metal price, and adds a percentage for casting loss—typically 10 to 15 percent, because sprues and buttons are not recoverable at the same purity. White gold costs more than yellow at the same karat because palladium is priced above the copper and silver it replaces. Platinum costs roughly double gold at equal weight, because platinum is denser: the same ring in platinum weighs more than the same ring in 18k gold, even before the per-gram price difference.

Stones: carat, cut, treatment, and cert

Stones are a separate line, and they move independently of metal. A center diamond or moissanite is priced by carat, cut grade, clarity, and certification. Melee for a pavé halo is priced by weight, and small stones on a halo add up fast: a halo of twenty 1.5 mm melee can cost as much as a smaller center stone. Treatment status changes the price dramatically—a heated sapphire and an unheated one of similar color are not the same product, and the quote should name which one is in the piece.

Labor: bench time by step

Labor is where two quotes can diverge for the same design. It breaks into steps: CAD or wax model, casting and cleanup, fitting, stone setting, finishing, plating, and QC. A simple solitaire is fast through most of those steps. A micropave halo with a hidden pendant underneath it is slow in setting and slow in finishing, because the polisher has to work around dozens of tiny stones without scratching them. Labor is quoted either as a flat fee per piece or as an hourly estimate; for repeat orders, the per-piece labor drops because the bench knows the job.

Tooling and pattern cost

The first unit of a custom design carries a tooling charge: the CAD file, the mold, the sprue tree, the first wax. That charge does not repeat on order two—unless the design changes. Buyers should treat tooling as a one-time NRE and ask explicitly whether the second and third orders re-charge it. A shop that re-charges tooling on every PO is either rebuilding the mold or padding the invoice.

MOQ and unit price

Unit price falls as quantity rises, because tooling and setup are amortized. A one-off custom piece carries the full NRE. A run of fifty spreads it fifty ways. The price break between one unit and ten units is usually larger than the break between ten and fifty, because the fixed costs—design approval, first article, mold cut—are already absorbed by the tenth unit.

Why two shops can quote the same piece so differently

A 30 percent gap between two quotes on the same design is usually not a markup war. It is a difference in what is included. One shop quotes the casting and setting only; the other includes polishing, plating, QC, and a certificate sleeve. One uses palladium white gold; the other uses nickel white gold at a lower metal cost. One quotes a GRA-certified moissanite; the other quotes an uncertified stone at half the price. The line items on the quote are where the gap explains itself. A quote without line items cannot be compared, and the cheapest one is rarely the cheapest once the hidden lines surface.

Freight, insurance, and taxes

Above the four production lines, the delivered price adds insured freight from the workshop to the buyer, any customs or duty on cross-border shipments, and the applicable sales tax or VAT on the retail side. For wholesale orders, buyers usually handle freight themselves through a broker; for one-off custom pieces, the workshop arranges it. Either way, it is a line that should be on the quote, not discovered at the end.

Reading a quote correctly

A good quote separates metal, stones, labor, and tooling on four lines, names the alloy and karat, names the stone treatment, and states the lead time. A quote that collapses everything into one number is a quote you cannot compare against another shop, because you cannot see which line is padded. For buyers sending us a custom quoting request, we build the quote on those four lines so the comparison is possible—and so the reorder price, which drops the tooling line, is clear on day one. A reorder should always be cheaper than the first order by roughly the tooling amount; if it is not, ask why.

Gemstone grading terminology used here follows the Gemological Institute of America’s gem encyclopedia.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the custom OEM process work?

Send a reference, sketch or CAD file. We quote, produce a 3D render, then a wax or resin model for approval before casting. Nothing goes to bulk without written sign-off.

How long does a custom sample take?

About 20 days for a new CAD model, including one revision round. Repeat designs reuse the existing mold and ship in 3–5 days.

What is the custom MOQ?

100–300 pieces per design depending on the mold and stone setting complexity.

Do you sign NDAs for private label?

Yes. Private-label clients get an NDA and exclusive mold use for the agreed term.