Most defects in wholesale jewellery trace back to handovers — where one workshop passes work to another and a detail slips. Our answer is to keep every stage under one roof, with a single specification sheet travelling with the order from cutting room to sealed carton.
Departments and what happens in each
| Department | Work carried out | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Stone cutting | Blocking, brilianteering, calibration, sieve sorting | ~1.2 M stones / month |
| Wax & CAD | 3D modelling, resin printing, mould making | 40+ new designs / week |
| Casting | Lost-wax casting, 925 silver, 10K–18K gold | 1,500 trees / month |
| Setting | Prong, bezel, channel, pavé and invisible setting | 90 setters' benches |
| Polishing | Pre-polish, high polish, satin, matte | Inline, no outsourcing |
| Plating | Rhodium, 18K gold, rose and black finishes | 2 plating lines |
| Quality control | 10× magnification inspection, plating check, function test | 100% of output |
| Packing | Ultrasonic cleaning, photography, poly bag, carton | Same-day from QC |
Equipment we run in-house
- CNC routers and laser cutters for calibrated stones and metal components
- Wax injectors, vacuum and centrifugal casting machines for gold work
- 3D resin printers for fast prototyping of new designs
- Ultrasonic cleaners and steam stations ahead of each packing run
- XRF analyser checking metal composition and plating thickness on site
- Digital micrometers, stone gauges and calibrated carat scales
- Microscopes used for 10× inspection and certificate inscription checks
How an order moves through the building
- Order intake. The PO is turned into a production sheet recording stone grade, metal, gram weight, plating, sizes and packing.
- Stone selection. Stock stones are matched to the sheet on colour, clarity and measurement before they enter the line.
- Production. Casting or stamping precedes setting and polishing; the sheet is stamped at every handover.
- Plating and finishing. XRF verifies plating thickness on a sample from each batch, rather than trusting bath settings.
- Quality control. Magnification inspection covers prong security, stone alignment, plating coverage, clasp or hinge function and hallmark accuracy on every piece.
- Cleaning and photography. After ultrasonic cleaning, pieces are photographed against the PO number for the approval record.
- Packing and dispatch. Pieces go into individual poly bags and inner boxes, with desiccant where needed, in a sealed export carton marked with the PO number.
Sampling and new product development
A separate small-batch line handles new designs so they do not wait behind volume orders. Development runs 48 hours for a first 3D rendering, three to five days for a printed prototype, and seven to twelve days for a metal sample with stones set. The approved sample sheet then becomes the production standard for every later run.
Capacity planning for wholesale programmes
Lead times are stated realistically rather than optimistically: 7–15 days for stock designs, 10–20 days for custom or certified production. Peak season runs August to November ahead of Western holiday retail; in that window orders should be placed two to three weeks earlier than usual, and slots are held for accounts with a confirmed quarterly forecast.
Quality gates at every handover
A stamped production sheet travels between departments, so a defect found in final inspection can be traced to the exact bench and batch. Three gates carry the most commercial weight: incoming stone grading before setting, setting inspection where prong security is settled, and 10× final inspection of plating, polishing and function.
Packing, photography and records
Before sealing a carton, the order is photographed against the PO number and the images emailed to the buyer. The record works both ways: the buyer sees what left the building, and a courier-damaged parcel has dispatch-condition evidence behind it. Packing uses individual poly bags, anti-tarnish paper for silver, inner-box desiccant and a sealed export carton printed with the PO number for customs and receiving.
Capacity, seasonality and honest lead times
Output is roughly 120,000 finished pieces a month, yet total capacity is not the same as spare capacity. Lines sit near full between August and November, when Western retail buyers place holiday orders; two to three working days of extra buffer are quoted in that window, and slots are reserved on a confirmed quarterly forecast. If a date comes under risk, we report it as soon as we know, not the week the shipment is due.