Creating A Memory With Custom Design Jewelry

After my husband passed away several years ago, it has been just my daughter and I. She was so young when it happened that she really only has a few fleeting memories of him. She graduated high school this year and I wanted to give her something special as a gift, something that would almost be from the both of us. There had been an I.D. bracelet he had worn, a gift handed down by his father and grandfather before him, and although I didn’t think it was something my daughter would wear, I wondered if there was some way I could incorporate it into a piece of handmade jewelry.

There was a jewelry store nearby that offered custom design jewelry, so I brought the bracelet down with me and told the craftsman what I was thinking about. He said he could definitely incorporate the bracelet into a new piece of custom jewelry and all I needed to do was come up with a jewelry design. He caught me off guard with how convenient and easy it would be, and when I explained that to him, he laughed and told me he gets that a lot.

“People think custom design jewelry involves weeks of sketching and model making, all to get the right look,” he said as he turned on his computer. By quickly scanning an image of the bracelet, he brought up a computer aided design program and began to show me all the possibilities that I had. Seeing just how easy this could be, I started thinking about creating two pieces of custom design jewelry. I explained what I was thinking about, and in just a matter of minutes, he had both looks up on the screen for me.

Then came the part that I thought would be the deal breaker: the cost. The figure he quoted me was surprisingly within the range of my budget, and I knew the only reason it was more than I thought was because I decided to get two pieces of handmade jewelry instead of one. The final custom design included a bangle that used pieces of the ID plate itself and a necklace featuring links from the original chain.

It was a pretty emotional night when I gave her the gifts. She had never known about the original bracelet but loved the fact that she had two pieces of custom design jewelry that came from it. A day does not go by where she isn’t wearing at least one of those pieces of handmade jewelry.

A Brief Summary of Custom Design Jewelry

When you are considering creating a custom design jewelry piece, you will inevitably make it to the stage of the three dimensional computer drawing. This is often referred to as a CAD. This drawing is what bridges the gap from your imagination to the jeweler's tools. You can explain something until you are blue in the face, but if you do not have a clear and concise visual to go along with it, your jeweler may as well be guessing as to what to make for you. Since the software for these drawings has developed so well in recent years, it is becoming easier for jewelers to give the customers exactly what they want with very little room for error.

Custom design jewelry is a sight to be seen. When you see something that has been carefully made just for the person who is wearing it, you can tell. It will be unlike anything you have ever seen before because it is one of a kind. Since it is so affordable now, you may as well partake in the fun!

When you are in the initial stages of the custom jewelry design, make sure you show your jeweler a lot of pictures. The goal is to get the CAD drawing as close to your vision as possible on the first try. You can then make some revisions to the drawing afterwards.