How long does custom jewelry take? For most custom pieces at our Glendale studio, the honest answer is two to four weeks from first conversation to finished, wearable jewelry. A simple band can be ready in under two weeks, while an intricate multi-stone engagement ring may need five or six. Below we break down every stage of the custom jewelry timeline — CAD design, wax printing, lost-wax casting, and finishing — so you know what happens at each step and where the time actually goes.

The Custom Jewelry Timeline, Step by StepEvery custom piece we make follows the same six stages. The ranges below reflect typical turnaround at a full-service jewelry shop; tell us your deadline when you order and we can usually say within a day where your piece will land.

1. Design Consultation (1–3 Days)

We start with whatever you have: sketches, photos, inspiration boards, or an existing piece you want to reinterpret. If you are replicating or modifying an heirloom, we 3D scan the original so the new model matches it exactly. By the end of this stage we have agreed on the design direction, metal, stones, and budget.

2. Jewelry CAD Modeling (2–5 Days)

A jewelry CAD designer builds your piece as a precise 3D model, sized to your finger, with seats cut for the exact stones you have chosen. This is where the design becomes buildable: wall thicknesses, prong dimensions, and shank profiles are all engineered so the piece casts cleanly and wears well for decades.

3. Renders and Revisions (1–4 Days)

You review photorealistic renders of the model from every angle. One round of small tweaks is normal and usually adds a day; several rounds of major changes can add a week. Approving the model is the biggest schedule milestone — nothing physical happens until you sign off.

4. Wax or Castable Resin Printing (1–2 Days)

The approved model is printed in castable wax or resin on a high-resolution printer. These printers hold detail finer than a human hair, so filigree, pave seats, and crisp edges come through cleanly in the casting.### 5. Lost-Wax Casting (2–4 Days)

The printed pattern is invested in plaster, burned out in a kiln, and cast in your chosen metal — sterling silver, gold, or platinum. After casting, the piece is cut from the sprue and cleaned up, ready for finishing.

6. Finishing and Stone Setting (3–7 Days)

Filing, sanding, polishing, rhodium plating where needed, and finally stone setting. Setting is skilled handwork and the most common place rushed jobs go wrong, so we protect this stage even on tight deadlines.

What Can Slow Your Custom Jewelry Timeline Down?

A few things reliably stretch the schedule: multiple rounds of major design revisions, hard-to-source center stones, unusual metals or finishes, and the November–December holiday rush, when every jeweler’s casting and setting queues get long. If you are ordering an engagement ring for a specific date, build in at least a week of buffer.

How to Keep Your Custom Jewelry Project on Schedule

Come to the first meeting with clear reference images, know the ring size before CAD starts, choose your metal and stones early, and consolidate feedback into a single list for each revision round. Every decision made up front removes a round-trip later — and that is usually the difference between three weeks and five.

Ready to start a custom piece? Learn more at https://ecadcam.com/jewelry-services/ or request a quote from eCadCam in Los Angeles — call our Glendale studio at 213.489.1173 and we will map out your timeline before any work begins.