The Manufacturing Process

      Having a piece of jewellery custom-designed and made can be an exciting process, but it helps to have an idea

      of what services can be offered by a professional manufacturing jeweller such as Alan Englert of Rainbow’s End.

      The first step is to arrive at exactly the right design to give that “Wow! That looks fantastic!” feeling. Without

      this reaction, a piece of jewellery is a mere object. There are many ways to determine what the customer will

      be thrilled by in a design. Browsing through advertising pamphlets and brochures is a good start, and a couple

      of such photos can be a great help to the jeweller in finalising the concept. Similiarly, an afternoon spent

      browsing shop windows can assist by presenting hundreds of designs for consideration in a short time.

      If nothing is just right, then Alan can start with a blank sheet of paper, and in a short time produce one or several  

      designs that will be close to, or exactly, what the customer wants.

      Once the design is established, Alan can determine which of a variety of manufacturing processes will give

      the best results. The traditional techniques, involving filing, hammering, bending and soldering the metal,

      will usually be the best way to achieve a top-quality result. Alan will happily involve the customer in every

      stage of the manufacture of their jewellery, including consulting with them during the steps of construction,

      allowing them to give feedback on fine points of design and proportion. This is a virtual guarantee of replacing

      "Hope I’m going to like it!" with "I can’t wait to see it finished!"

      For some types of project, especially fitted wedding rings of complex shapes, and signet rings with shaped

      tops, a process of carving in special wax then casting, will be the best solution. As with the handworking

      approach, this process also allows the customer to see the work in progress and amend the design even

      before it is committed to metal. Such involvement can be the difference between anxiety about the final result,

      and excitement.

      Finally, there is another system of manufacture, called CAD/CAM, where an initial, highly-accurate,

      set of drawings are produced, and the jewellery is produced by a computer-driven manufacturing process.

      A full-colour rendered design is produced for the customer’s approval before finally it is produced in metal.