1. Metal: Metals are charged at a per gram rate, with expected total weights and prices calculated.
   

   Below are our actual rates per gram for worked metal in various purities as of 10/10/2009.
   Please note that precious metal prices and currencies fluctuate daily, so the actual rate will be recalculated for your project at the time of order.

   On the 10th October 2009,
   Metal rates on the US market are Gold $1049/Oz and silver $17.70/Oz (www.kitco.com)

   We practice the following prices for
   Precious Metals: US Dollars / Gram:

   Silver925	$0.86
   9k	$16.5
   14k	$22
   18k	$32

   * Prices include metal wastage



2.  Gemstones: Gemstones are charged on a per carat (1/5th of a gram) basis, and each variety is listed separately. As with metals, total weights and prices are calculated and listed.
   
   To estimate the weight of gemstones, please go here: Gemstones Size to weight Table.
   To estimate the weight of diamonds : Diamonds Size to Weight Table
   
   Gemstones weight Calculator :Online calculator: (dendritics.com).
   * When using this calculator you might wonder what is the height of your stone in order to fill the form:
   The height of a stone is gennerally 65% of its diameter if it's round, or 65% of the smallest diameter if the gemstone is oval or rectangular.
   Ex: Oval 12x10mm => height =10 mm x (65/100) = 6.5 mm
   
   
   Important remarks concerning gemstones and diamonds prices:
   
   It is not rare that our customer comes back to us after ready our quotation and mention about our prices for gemstones or diamonds being higher than the wholesale prices he can get on the market for mix parcels.
   Our gesmtones and diamonds prices are prices of stones set into a finished jewelry product.
   
   The major point is that we have rejections in color, size and clarity to handle. A parcel of diamonds sorted to be set into pave setting will leave between 15% (when our supplier did the sorting job well), and up to 30% of the diamonds on the side. Whether we have to bargain a price on selection and return the rest of the stone, or whether we have to keep the rest of the parcel in stock, the result is that diamonds set on jewelry cannot be compared with diamonds sold on the market in a mixted parcel.
   
   Also we will never insist enough on the fact that we are selling a finished jewelry product where we handle ourselves most of the design interpretation and technical problems in order to produce the best possible jewelry product within the customer's specifications that are not always realistic.
   This attenion and this time and talents employed in the unique purpose of makig a product as charming, elegant and sucessful as possible cannot be sold too cheap because they are costly. We are in research for quality; for thoses looking for best price only, China and India are better places to go: There you will find some people doing best price.
   It won't look like what you wanted but it will be very cheap...and it will look very cheap as well.
   
   We are playing the card of full price transparency and we expect our customers to play the game in a fair way. We give full price details to help our customers building up their future collection and being able to make precise price projections while developing thier designs.
   
   
   
   
3. Rhodium: Rhodium plating is an important part of the costs in making silver jewelry. On a large and flat piece it can represent up to 25% of the costs.
   
   Rhodium electroplating is used to give a chromium aspect to Silver Jewellery and White Gold Jewellery.
   On Silver it will project the piece against oxydation and scratches, acting as an anti-tarnish and resistant shield.
   On White Gold Jewelry it will also give a color that is expected by the consumers, because 18k white gold is not white but slightly yellow. (Read more about electroplating and electro-polishing).
   
   Another alternative to eletroplating finishes (Rhodium or gold) is the gold filled finish which is still cheaper than massive gold jewelry but more durable than electroplating where the gold layer does not exceed 3 to 5 µm.
   Please check this link to know more about gold filled jewelry
   
   
   

   Rhodium / White Gold This is the real color of white gold 18K. It can be nice with a ruby or hot colors, but it is generally preferable to cover the gold with a layer of rhodium. What is the point using gold then? The answer is "Durability": Gold is a noble metal in the sense that it doesn't get oxidized by acids. Silver jewelry will eventually end up tarnishing even with a good 5 µm rhodium electroplating. Unless otherwise specified we use 3µm rhodium plating.

   
   
   
   


4. Labor: Labor fees will very based on the complexity of the design.
• During the prototyping stage, the labor fee is an estimate. For the final production of a quantity order, labor is usually a little bit cheaper then our initial estimates.
• Once prototypes are exactly as customers envisioned, we will be able to quote an exact price for a larger quantity order.
  
  


5. Prototyping Fee: The prototyping fee is a fee that we charge for making the first jewelry piece manufactured of any design to offset the costs of development as well as for covering the time we spent on research in case the customer doesn't proceed with a larger order of a particular model. Once the prototype has been completed, this fee will be waived on all future orders of the design. Typically this fee will vary from $100 up to about $300 for very complicated pieces utilizing multiple components.
   
   
   
6. You have a full collection to develop:
   When you received a first quote you might feel that it will be costly to develop a full collection.
   This is the moment to ask for our Intellectual Property Agreements contract for the protection of your designs. Tthen you should send us, maybe not all but, at least a few designs (6 to 10) so that we can consider the global project and an offer in order to complete the work in a cost effective way.
   
   
   
7. Please consider the Manufacturer’s point of view when analyzing our quotations:
   The main problem with starting a new design is that the manufacturer will not make make much profit on the jewelry samples compared to the time involved in making a new jewelry design.
   At this point the success of a design is not known until the client starts to take orders in jewelry shows or through his marketing operations.
   
   When our customer already made orders for productions with us and when we can see the success of our cooperation, then we can bet on future orders while quoting new prototypes for him.
   Only then we can share the risks about our customers' new designs by making them at cost if we need to, just to facilitate the creative part of the job and get to production stage rapidely with  many designs.
   It doesn't matter if we lose money during the prototyping stage, trying to get it perfect, because we know it will sell.
   
   

How to read the quotation:

1. UNIT PRICE:
   An estimation of the production unit price.
   
   
2. HOW MANY PIECES FOR SAMPLES (for silver jewelry only):
   The more the pieces are small, the more we need to impose a minimum quantity of samples to be made.
   Large pieces would require only 1 sample, but the smaller they get the more we need to calculate average values on the labor timeframe, and metal use, etc, not mentioning the fact that particular chains, stones, findings might be available for orders with minimum quantities.
   Ssilver jewelry is often intended for mass production, so we need to make our calculations based on more than one single piece (labor and time consuming, metal weight, etc).
   Also our customer might need to see the variations of small details from one piece to another other and define with us the limits of variations according to his standards. This is important for QC purposes as well as for the calculation of production price in case we hae to prepare ourselves for more rejections.
   
   
3. PROTOTYPING FEE:
   The last amount corresponds to the 3D design, the wax printing, the silver master and eventual laser engraving on it, eventual pave setting preparation on the masters and the molds where all the details will be imprinted including eventual logos, etc.

This page is relative to jewelry design, wax modeling, wax printing from CAD softwares like JewelCAD and Rhinoceros. Our jewelry designers working by hand or on computers help in the modeling of custom jewelry. We are jewelry manufacturers in thailand making gold jewelry design and production of jewelry lines in our jewelry factory. We do custom made jewelry and offer design services in order to provide a complete solution to our customers overseas.