Every piece is different, as is every customer, but in speaking with the experts, there are some things you can do to make sure that you love your custom jewelry piece for years to come.
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You know the commercial—thebrone where the lady begins to slipbron that ring, this necklace, thosebrearrings. Dramatic music plays inbrthe background, the tempo getting fasterbrand faster until she’s finally wearing thatbrperfect, glittering accessory she has alwaysbrwanted. It’s a fantasy we all know well,brwhether you want to be the one receivingbror the one giving.br
Now imagine that the jewelry in questionbris so special, unique and original that nobrone else ever has or will ever have anythingbrlike it. Welcome to the world of custombrjewelry.br
“Everyone has an idea of the perfectbrring, the perfect everything,” says DavidbrBenavides of Markham Fine Jewelers inbrSouthlake. Maybe you’re ready to go custom for yourself or someone else. Custombrjewelry design is an absolutely touchingbrone-of-a-kind way to tell a loved one howbrmuch he or she is cared for—even if thatbrloved one is you.
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IS CUSTOM FOR YOU?
So when should you start thinking aboutbrdesigning your own special sparkler? “Ifbrsomeone is looking for certain uniquebrdesigns and has personal preferences inbra certain piece of jewelry, we advise thembrto consider custom,” says Ali Zameer,brcelebrity jeweler for Marc Samuels Jewelersbrin Grapevine.br
Some examples? You have an idea inbrmind for a necklace or ring, but you can’tbrseem to find anything that looks like it.brMaybe you like certain features of onebrbracelet and aspects of another, and you’dbrlike to put them together in one piece.
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Many jewelers will be able to modifybrexisting designs to fit your preferences. “You can take one of our mountings in the store, and if you want to putbra different stone in it, we can do thatbrby having a mounting remade, but thebrpiece has already been designed,” saysbrBenavides.
A custom jeweler can bring your jewelrybrdreams to life. Perhaps you’ve been holdingbronto an heirloom piece of jewelry or stonesbrthat you would like to reuse in somethingbrnew. If you’ve seen something sparklingbrin a magazine, or something that you lost,brcustom is a good way to go. And the bestbrreason to go custom? When you’re readybrto create something that is completely one-brof-a-kind.br
Whatever fantasy jewelry you have inbrmind, keep in mind that a custom-designedbritem can cost substantially more than onebrthat already exists. Depending on the complexity of the design and how long it takesbrto get it made, a custom design can costbrup to three times more than one that hasbralready been created.
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FIND AN EXPERT
In looking for a jeweler, try to take abrlook at the designer’s previous work,brand be sure you find someone who hasbra style you like. If you prefer your designs clean and minimalist, you won’tbrwant to choose a designer known forbrmore traditional or over-the-top looks.brYour designer is the expert in this situation, and his or her finishing touchesbrwill be seen in the final product. Besides, you’ll want to rely on your designer to fill in any details you aren’tbrset on.br
As far as sketching out your futurebrone-of-a-kind bauble, you may alreadybrhave a definite idea of what you want.brEven if you don’t, you can create anbr“inspiration bank” of images you like.brYou can fill it with jewelry, old photos,breven pictures of flowers. Even if you’rebrnot an artist, try to sketch out whatbryou’re looking for.br
“The technology is so advancedbrthat, whatever you can think of—if youbrcan picture it or draw it—we can do it,”brsays Benavides.
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HOW CUSTOM WORKS
In custom jewelry, the customer andbrdesigner work together to build a design of the piece they’d like. Metals arebrchosen, and types of stones are se-brlected.br
The designer then creates a rendering—a full-color, lifelike image of whatbrthe design will look like once completed. Old-school designers do this kindbrof work by hand, but today, most jewelers let a computer do the drawing forbrthem. No matter what, you should expect to be able to see a rendering, sobryou can make adjustments if necessary.
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“If, for some reason, they wanted it a little thinner or thicker,bror they want to add a couple of stones here or take a stonebraway, we can do that all on the computer,” says Benavides.br
From there, the machines take over, creating a life-sizebrwax model of the piece. “Literally, the customer can put thebrwax on to see if they like it. It is the ring, just in wax,” saysbrBenavides. If you have changes, those are made and a newbrmodel is created, until the customer is happy with the model.br
Then the jewelry is cast in metal, stones are placed, andbrany finishing touches are applied. The process takes at leastbra month—and often much longer, depending on how manybrchanges have to be made throughout the process.br
When asked for his favorite and least favorite parts of thebrcustom jewelry experience, Zameer says: “The worst part, Ibrwould think, will be the time it takes to actually get it done.”br
It’s worth it to be patient, he says, to see your designbrcome to life. “You are actually bringing someone’s dream tobrreality,” says Zameer. “The best part is when they see theirbrdream piece, and they can touch and feel it.”br
Benavides agrees that this is the best part of custom de-brsign work. “It’s nice when you meet somebody who says, ‘Itbrdoesn’t exist but in my head,’” says Benavides. “The momentbrthey first look at the finished piece, seeing their imaginationbractually take life. That’s what I love most.”
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BE AWARE OF EXPECTATIONS
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If you’re planning on requesting something to be made from a photo, be aware that it may not look like an exact reproduction. “If you’re duplicating something out of a picture, it will never look the same side by side,” says Benavides. “It’ll bebrclose. There’s always going to be that element that the designer has done that you can’t replicate.”
SELECT SENTIMENTAL STONES WISELY
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When it comes to using heirloom gems or reusing gems, make sure to check the quality of the stones, and ask yourself if you might want something that has a little bit more sparkle. “It’s pretty common that a customer wants to use something that has sentimental value, but the diamonds may not bebrthe nicest quality or may be a different color than what they’re looking for,”brsays Benavides. For this reason, he adds, mixing and matching a variety ofbrstones can also be a problem.