How to get jewelry designs manufactured
Photo by Christopher Burns on Unsplash
For some people, jewelry design is in their blood. For others, it’s an opportunity to expand into a beautiful new market: whether a clothing line, a small boutique, an influencer or a small business owner, expanding your brand into jewelry isn’t just a wise financial decision. Jewelry can represent your brand in a whole new way, expanding and deepening your relationship with your customers.
If you’re moving from a smaller jewelry line with hand-made pieces sold on sites like Etsy or Shopify, your customers will love the fast shipping and steady stock, and your accountants and partners will love the regular, higher margins and ability to plan. If you’re starting your first collection, our expert designers will help you navigate the world of design and manufacture so you have a collection that represents your brand, your mission, and your desired margins.
The team at Insider Creations has worked for years in the jewelry design and manufacturing space. Though we hope you’ll come to us with your jewelry manufacturing needs, we have a few words of advice if you’re looking for quotes. As you begin to survey the at-times overwhelming world of jewelry manufacture, be sure to look for a few key things:
Intellectual property. Does your manufacturer preserve your ownership of your designs and finished or defective products? (Even defective product can be resold by an unreputable manufacturer.)
Sourcing. How does the manufacturer source the materials used to make your jewelry? Can they trace their sources? Are they certified to be environmentally and socially beneficial? Can they produce materials in different materials if you decide to switch from one to another? And, critically, what standards do they meet for production? (Vermeil produced abroad can feature gold plating as little as 1/5 the thickness of our standard plating, something your buyers may not notice until, two weeks in, it tarnishes or rubs off.)
Staffing. Do they follow global standards for staff care, anti-corruption, fair wages etc? If they don’t treat their staff well, it’s likely they’re taking shortcuts on taxes, import duties, and materials as well.
Crisis management. If there is an unexpected holiday, major disaster, trade war, or disease outbreak that impacts the factory, are there other facilities that can handle your order? Is the factory ready with contingency plans for likely events?
Communications. How will your manufacturer communicate with you once you place the order? Will you have access to a website to check on your order and track it once it ships?
Design. Does the manufacturer have the ability to help you redesign or tweak your pieces to achieve certain price points or work in other materials? Do experienced jewelry designers review your designs before production to ensure the quality and stability of the piece? Are there several layers of quality control before each piece is produced and delivered?
Price. Once they have your designs, will they give you a clear price? This one is a little tricky – since our team has jewelry experts, we’re able to adjust pieces slightly to reach your desired price point or margins quite easily. But we’ll always be up front with you about pricing.
Once you have committed to a factory, be sure you have additional details aligned as well. Who will manage packaging, import/export fees and negotiations, fulfillment, and quality care? Who will provide customer support? These smaller but still-important issues can make or break your first collection.