A wedding band passed down three generations, a pendant from a grandparent, a brooch only one sibling can inherit — heirloom jewelry carries meaning that no store-bought piece can match. The good news is that it’s now possible to replicate heirloom jewelry with remarkable accuracy. At our Glendale studio, we combine 3D scanning, jewelry CAD, and lost-wax casting to recreate treasured pieces, whether you need an exact copy, a restored version of a worn design, or several duplicates for family members.
Why People Replicate Heirloom Jewelry
The requests we see most often fall into a few categories. Several heirs and one piece: replicas let every sibling or grandchild receive the same ring or pendant. Protecting the original: many clients wear a replica daily while the original stays safely in a deposit box. Damage and wear: decades of use soften engraving and thin out prongs, and a replica can restore the design to how it looked when it was new. And sometimes the piece is simply gone — lost or stolen — and the family wants it back in some form.
Step 1: 3D Scanning the Original Piece
When the original is available, replication starts with a high-resolution 3D scan. Structured-light scanning captures the complete geometry of the piece without touching or altering it — filigree, milgrain, engraving, and stone settings are all recorded as a digital model. Polished metal and gemstones are highly reflective, which can challenge a scanner, so we sometimes apply a removable matte spray or supplement the scan with macro photography and hand measurements. You can read more about our process on our 3D scanning page at https://ecadcam.com/3d-scanning/
Step 2: Rebuilding the Design in Jewelry CAD
A raw scan is a starting point, not a finished model. Our designers rebuild the piece in jewelry CAD software, using the scan as a precise reference. This is where restoration happens: worn prongs are brought back to full height, softened engraving is re-cut digitally, and details the decades have erased are redrawn. It’s also where modifications come in — the replica can be made in a different ring size, with a different center stone, or in a different metal than the original, all without touching the heirloom itself.
Step 3: Wax Printing and Lost-Wax Casting
Once the CAD model is approved, we 3D print it in castable wax or castable resin. The wax pattern is invested in plaster, burned out in a kiln, and cast in the metal of your choice — sterling silver, gold, or platinum. After casting, the piece is cleaned up, polished, and set with stones. Because the process mirrors how fine jewelry has been made for centuries, the finished replica has the same feel and durability as a traditionally made piece. Details are on our jewelry services page at https://ecadcam.com/jewelry-services/
Can You Replicate Jewelry That Has Been Lost?
Yes. If the piece is gone, we can model it from photographs, insurance appraisal photos, and family descriptions. A photo-based reconstruction won’t be scan-accurate, but an experienced jewelry CAD designer can get remarkably close — close enough that most families tell us the recreated piece is indistinguishable from their memory of the original.
How Much Does It Cost to Replicate an Heirloom?
Costs vary with complexity, but the digital work — scanning and CAD modeling — typically runs in the low hundreds of dollars for most rings and pendants, with intricate multi-stone pieces costing more. Casting cost depends mostly on metal weight and current market prices: silver is very affordable, while gold and platinum scale with weight. One advantage of the digital workflow is that additional copies are much cheaper than the first, since the model only needs to be built once — useful when several family members each want one.
Recreate a Treasured Piece with eCadCam
With more than 22 years of experience in 3D scanning, CAD, and casting, our Los Angeles-area studio handles heirloom replication from first scan to finished piece. Visit us at 4212 San Fernando Rd, Glendale, CA 91204, call 213.489.1173, or request a quote online — and bring that family piece back to life.