Table of Contents
- Our Custom Moissanite Design Process
- From Concept to CAD Render
- 3D Prototyping and Sampling
- Stone Selection and Matching
- Custom Design Pricing and MOQ
- Production, Revisions, and IP Protection
- Frequently Asked Questions
Custom moissanite design services turn original jewelry concepts into production-ready pieces that brands can sell as exclusive designs. Stock catalogs compete on price; exclusive custom designs win customers who cannot find the piece elsewhere and are willing to pay premium pricing for something unique. At HOLYCOME, our custom moissanite design team has developed over 480 original jewelry designs for B2B clients since 2019, ranging from subtle modifications of existing bestsellers to completely original bridal collections built from blank-page concepts. This guide walks through our design process, CAD development, prototyping, stone selection, pricing, and production considerations for brands ordering custom moissanite work.
Why invest in custom moissanite design when ready-made catalog pieces are available immediately? Three reasons top the list for our clients. First, exclusive designs reduce direct price comparison—shoppers cannot find the exact same SKU on five competing stores, so pricing pressure drops and margins expand. Second, custom designs reflect a brand's specific aesthetic and customer base rather than a generic factory catalog chosen to appeal to every possible buyer. Third, custom moissanite design creates storytelling content for marketing—brands can share design inspiration, sketch-to-final-photo journeys, and behind-the-scenes narratives that engage customers beyond the product itself.
Our Custom Moissanite Design Process
Every custom moissanite design project follows the same six-stage workflow to move efficiently from concept to bulk production without unnecessary rounds of revision or miscommunication:
| Stage | Timeline | Deliverable | Buyer Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Brief & References | 1–2 days | Design brief document | Provide sketches, photos, target price, inspiration |
| 2. Concept Sketches | 2–3 days | 3–5 hand or digital sketches | Select direction, give feedback |
| 3. CAD Rendering | 2–3 days | 360° 3D renders with dimensions | Approve or request revisions |
| 4. Wax & Sample | 7–10 days | Physical metal sample with stone | Approve sample or request adjustments |
| 5. Bulk Production | 15–25 days | Finished production run | Approve QC photos before shipping |
| 6. Delivery | 3–5 days (DHL) | Packaged order delivered | Receive and review |
Total time from initial brief to delivered bulk order typically runs 30–45 days for new designs, with first samples available roughly 12–18 days from the initial conversation. Expedited timelines are available for time-sensitive launches at a 15% rush premium.
Every custom moissanite design project is assigned a dedicated project manager who speaks fluent English and responds to inquiries within 24 hours on business days. Your PM coordinates CAD designers, setters, casters, and QC staff internally so you communicate with one point of contact rather than juggling conversations with multiple production departments.
From Concept to CAD Render
CAD (Computer-Aided Design) is where custom moissanite design takes precise shape. Our CAD designers use RhinoGold and Matrix software, the jewelry industry standard, to build production-accurate 3D models that specify every dimension, stone seat, prong height, and shank thickness. Buyers can provide input in many forms: hand sketches, photos of inspiration pieces, Pinterest boards, competitor product pages, CAD files from other platforms (e.g., JT, STL, 3DM files), or even physical samples shipped to our office for reverse-engineering.
Initial CAD renders show the piece from front, side, top, and three-quarter angles with precise millimeter dimensions and stone size specifications. Designers can also produce 360-degree rotating renders and video walkthroughs for complex designs. We include up to two rounds of CAD revisions at no charge; major redesigns that change the fundamental concept after two rounds incur a $45 redesign fee.
CAD precision matters. A prong that is 0.2mm too thick covers too much stone and dulls brilliance; a shank 0.3mm too thin bends out of round with daily wear; stone seats cut 0.1mm too deep make stones sit too low and lose light return. Our CAD designers have an average of six years of jewelry-specific CAD experience, and every file passes a senior designer review before moving to prototyping to catch dimension errors before metal is cast.
For brands developing full collections rather than single pieces, we produce CAD design sheets showing how design elements (e.g., a specific prong shape, filigree pattern, or gallery detail) carry across rings, earrings, pendants, and bracelets to maintain visual cohesion. This collection-level design coordination is one of the most valuable services a custom moissanite design partner provides for brands building a recognizable aesthetic identity.
3D Prototyping and Sampling
After CAD approval, we 3D print a wax model using high-resolution resin 3D printers (25-micron layer resolution) to capture even fine details like milgrain edges, filigree, and pavé bead placement. The wax model is then investment-cast in the specified metal (sterling silver for samples unless gold samples are paid for), set with the chosen moissanite stones, polished, and finished to production specifications.
Samples are produced using the same production workflow as bulk orders—same casting, same setters, same polishing, same plating—so sample quality accurately reflects bulk quality. Beware of suppliers who produce "hero samples" using their best setter and polisher (often the workshop owner), as these do not represent what 100-piece or 500-piece production runs will look like when standard production staff make the pieces.
Sample fees are 2× unit pricing for standard silver pieces and 1.5× for gold pieces to cover the setup labor for small runs. Sample fees are fully credited back to the buyer on their first bulk order of that design placed within 60 days of sample delivery and exceeding $1,800. This ensures the sampling process is effectively free for buyers who move forward with production.
For buyers who want to test the design with their own customers before committing to bulk production, we can produce 5–10 pre-production samples at 1.3× unit pricing for product photography, fit testing, and customer feedback. This is particularly useful for brands crowdfunding or launching via Kickstarter where early product images and samples drive initial marketing.
Stone Selection and Matching
Custom moissanite design work lets you specify exactly which stones go into your piece—not just carat weight, but cut shape, color grade, clarity, and even specific optical characteristics. Standard offerings include:
Shapes
Round brilliant (most popular, most sparkle due to symmetrical facet pattern), cushion, oval, pear, emerald (Asscher), radiant, marquise, heart, trillion, and princess cuts are all available. Fancy shapes carry a 10–25% price premium over rounds because cutting yield is lower and setting is more labor-intensive.
Color and Clarity
Standard bridal-grade D/VVS1 colorless excellent cut is our default recommendation for engagement rings and premium pieces. Near-colorless EF/VVS1 is appropriate for fashion jewelry at slightly lower price points. Fancy colored moissanite (blue, green, pink, champagne, black, gray) is available for birthstone collections, fashion lines, and men's designs.
Color Matching for Coordinated Pieces
When a custom moissanite design includes multiple stones (halos, three-stone rings, earrings pairs, tennis bracelets), we color-match stones within 0.5 color grade and size-match within 0.02mm under controlled 5500K lighting against master reference stones. This ensures earrings look like matched pairs and halos blend seamlessly with center stones rather than showing slight color differences that customers notice once the piece is worn.
All moissanite stones are GRA-certified. Per Wikipedia, moissanite is a silicon carbide mineral first discovered in a meteor crater in 1893 by Henri Moissan; all jewelry-grade moissanite sold today is lab-grown. Per FTC Jewelry Guides, moissanite must be clearly disclosed as lab-created—not diamond—at retail point of sale. We provide FTC-compliant disclosure tags and product description templates with every custom production run.
Custom Design Pricing and MOQ
Pricing for custom moissanite design work includes a few components beyond per-piece production cost: one-time mold fees for designs requiring new casting molds (wax models are produced from the CAD file directly, but production casting requires durable rubber molds for repeated injection of wax trees; mold fees start at $90 for pendants/earrings and $120 for rings, and are fully refunded if the buyer places an order for 300+ pieces of that design within 90 days). CAD and sample fees are credited against bulk orders as described above.
Per-piece production pricing for custom silver pieces generally falls within standard silver pricing ranges once in production, since the main cost premium is in the design development phase rather than per-piece production. Solid gold custom work is priced based on gold weight at time of order plus production labor; gold pricing is locked at PO confirmation to shield buyers from spot price movement during production.
Minimum order quantities for custom moissanite design production: 30 pieces per SKU for silver designs, 15 pieces per SKU for gold. New buyers with custom designs can access a reduced first-order MOQ of 20 pieces per SKU across up to 3 SKUs for their first order, to test designs without heavy inventory risk. Reorders have no MOQ minimum beyond 10 pieces per SKU, as production molds are already created.
All our custom moissanite design work follows ISO 9001:2015 quality management and EU REACH metal compliance standards, with batch-level QC reports for every shipment.
Production, Revisions, and IP Protection
Once a sample is approved, bulk production begins and follows the standard HOLYCOME production workflow: casting, pre-polish, stone setting, assembly, final polish, rhodium plating, final QC, and packaging. We send QC photographs of 10 random pieces from the production batch (showing front, side, back, stamp, and stone close-up) to the buyer before shipment so you can confirm the finished pieces match the approved sample before they leave the factory.
Post-delivery revisions are normal for first production runs of new designs. If small adjustments are needed (e.g., slightly thicker shank, slightly tighter prongs), we implement those revisions at no engineering charge for the next production run. Design changes that require new molds incur new mold fees.
Intellectual property protection is a cornerstone of our custom moissanite design work. All designs developed for OEM clients remain the buyer's exclusive property. We sign mutual NDAs before design sharing, will not produce client-exclusive designs for any other buyer, and will not display clients' custom designs in our public catalog, website, or trade show booths. Design files are delivered to buyers upon request so you retain your own IP backup.
A Canadian bridal brand approached us in 2024 with a sketch for a distinctive twisted-vine engagement ring featuring leaf-motif prongs and a hidden diamond accent under the center stone. Our CAD team refined the design for production practicality (ensuring leaf prongs were thick enough for daily wear while maintaining the organic aesthetic), produced a sample in 10 days, and the client launched the design at a bridal trade show where it generated 42 retailer pre-orders. The design has since sold over 800 units at retail and remains exclusive to their brand. We have developed 21 additional designs for their collection since.
Custom designs can span our full jewelry range including rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and matching jewelry sets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I send you a physical piece to replicate or modify?
Yes. You can ship physical samples to our Dongguan facility and we will reverse-engineer the design into a CAD file, making any requested modifications. Physical samples are returned to you with your first bulk order if requested.
What file formats do you accept for existing CAD designs?
We accept STL, 3DM (Rhino), and JT files from most jewelry CAD platforms. Files should be production-ready (not just visual renders) with correct stone seat depths and wall thicknesses for metal production.
How many rounds of revisions are included?
Two rounds of CAD revisions and one sample revision are included in standard custom design pricing. Additional revision rounds incur modest fees if changes are substantial. Most designs reach approval within two CAD rounds and one sample round.
Who owns the design IP after production?
The buyer retains full intellectual property ownership of all exclusive custom designs developed for them. We sign NDAs before design sharing and do not reproduce client designs for other buyers.
Can you produce just the CAD file and wax without bulk production?
Yes. For clients who have their own casting and production capability, we offer standalone CAD design and wax printing services at fixed rates per design.
Whether you are developing a single signature piece, a coordinated bridal collection, or a full fashion line of exclusive moissanite jewelry, HOLYCOME's custom moissanite design service delivers original designs, production-ready quality, transparent pricing, and IP protection that protects your brand. Contact our design team with your concept—sketch, photo, or even just a description—and we will return initial concept sketches within 3 business days to begin your custom design project.
