Custom Jewelry Design

Some people walk into a jewelry store, see the ring, and know. Others look at every case in the state and never find it, because the piece they are picturing has not been made yet.

Custom design is not a luxury add-on and it is not necessarily more expensive than buying from a case. It is a different route to the same destination: you decide the design, the stone and the budget, and the piece is built around those three things instead of around what a manufacturer guessed would sell.

Diamond Designs has been designing custom pieces in Orange, Connecticut since 2002.

The Process

1. Consultation. We talk about what you have in mind, what you are working with, and what matters most: the stone, the design, the budget, the date it has to be ready. Bring photos, screenshots, sketches, anything. There is no such thing as too vague a starting point.

2. Stone selection. We source the diamond or colored stone to your specification, or we work with a stone you already own. You see the actual stone before anything is committed.

3. Design. Your piece is modeled in 3D and you receive photorealistic renderings from every angle. You get an initial design plus two rounds of revisions, three CADs in total, so the details are settled on screen where changing them costs nothing.

4. Your approval. Nothing is cast until you approve the final design and the final price.

5. Casting and setting. The piece is cast, finished and hand set by a bench jeweler. This is the stage where craftsmanship shows and where it cannot be rushed.

6. Final fitting. You see the finished piece, we check the fit, and we adjust anything that needs adjusting before it goes home with you.

What It Costs to Start

• A $250 design fee covers your initial CAD and two revisions. It is non-refundable, and it is credited in full toward the purchase price if you go ahead with the piece.

• A 50% deposit is taken when you approve the design and production begins. The balance is due on completion.

• Quotes are valid for seven days. Diamond and precious metal markets move daily, so beyond that a quote may need to be refreshed.

In other words, if you commission the piece, the design fee is not an extra cost. It is the first $250 of the ring. It is retained only if you decide not to proceed, because the design work has already been done.

What Can Be Made

• Engagement rings, from a classic solitaire to a design that exists nowhere else

• Wedding bands, including bands contoured to fit an existing engagement ring

• Anniversary and milestone pieces

• Redesigns of inherited jewelry, keeping the stones and giving them a setting that gets worn

• Matched sets, where a pendant or earrings echo an existing piece

• Rebuilds, where a piece is too far gone to repair and better remade

Working With Stones You Already Own

An heirloom ring that sits in a drawer is doing nothing for anyone. The stones in it are usually perfectly good, and often better cut than their age suggests.

We regularly take stones out of a piece nobody wears and reset them into something worn every day. The sentimental part survives. The dated setting does not.

Before any stone is removed we examine it and tell you honestly whether it is sound enough to reset. Old stones sometimes carry chips and inclusions that make removal risky, and you will know that before we start, not after.

Prefer to Design It Yourself?

If you already know the setting and the stone you want, our online ring builder lets you pair them and see the result immediately, then bring it to us to be made. Custom design and the ring builder are two doors into the same workshop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is custom more expensive than buying from a case? Not necessarily. You control the stone and the metal, which is where most of the cost sits, so a custom piece is often built to a budget more precisely than a ready made one.

What does the $250 design fee cover? Your first CAD and two revisions. It goes toward the purchase price if you commission the piece, and is retained if you do not.

What if I want more than two revisions? Tell us and we will quote the additional design time before doing it. Most pieces are settled well within the two included rounds.

How long does it take? Plan on several weeks from first consultation to finished piece. If you have a date, tell us at the first meeting and we will tell you honestly whether it is possible.

Can I see the design before it is made? Yes. You approve photorealistic 3D renderings before anything is cast.

Can I cancel once work has begun? Once production starts the piece cannot be resold, so custom orders cannot be cancelled or returned after that point. The design stage exists so that nothing gets to production before you are certain.

Can you copy a ring I saw online? We can design something inspired by it. We will not reproduce another designer's protected work, and any jeweler who offers to should worry you.

Do you work with my own diamond? Yes, whether it is loose or currently set in another piece.

Have something in mind? Call (203) 799-7999, email info@dia-designs.com, or book a design consultation. Bring your ideas, your stones, or nothing at all.