You do not need production-ready CAD to start a serious conversation with a jewelry manufacturer.

A hand sketch, screenshot, reference image or rough drawing can be enough to begin — as long as it communicates the idea clearly enough for the manufacturer to identify the decisions that still need to be made.

The goal of the first brief is not to solve every technical detail yourself. It is to give the manufacturing team enough information to understand the object, ask useful questions and move the design toward something that can be approved and repeated.

Start with the clearest visual you have

Useful starting material can include:

  • a hand sketch;
  • screenshots or visual references;
  • an existing CAD or 3D file;
  • photographs of a physical sample;
  • a logo, symbol or graphic that should become part of the piece;
  • reference images for proportions, surface character or finish.

If you send references from another brand, explain what you are referencing. It may be the width, silhouette, clasp concept, level of oxidation or general proportion — not the design itself.

That distinction helps keep development focused on your own piece rather than drifting toward a copy of someone else’s work.

Give approximate dimensions

A drawing without scale can represent a pendant that is 15 mm tall or 50 mm tall. Those are completely different objects.

You do not need every measurement at the beginning, but include the dimensions that matter most. For example:

  • ring width and approximate thickness;
  • pendant height and width;
  • chain length if the chain is part of the project;
  • bracelet inner dimensions;
  • stone size;
  • size of a logo or relief area;
  • any critical opening, bail or attachment dimension.

If you are unsure, say so. A manufacturer can help resolve dimensions during development, but knowing which measurements are fixed and which are flexible saves time.

State the material you want

For a TBILISI 925 project, the default conversation is around solid 925 sterling silver, but it is still useful to state the intended material explicitly in the brief.

Material affects weight, construction, finishing and the way the piece feels in hand. If part of the design involves another component — for example a sourced chain, stone, enamel detail or non-silver finding — mention that too so the full object can be considered from the beginning.

Describe the finish in ordinary language

You do not need specialist terminology.

You can say:

  • high polish;
  • satin or brushed;
  • dark oxidized recesses with polished high points;
  • deliberately rough or hand-worked;
  • clean and minimal;
  • aged rather than mirror-bright;
  • enamel in a specific color family.

Good reference images are often more useful than trying to guess the name of a finish.

The important thing is to make the visual intention clear enough that the sample can later be judged against it.

Tell the manufacturer what must not change

Every design has details that are negotiable and details that define the piece.

Mark the non-negotiables early.

Examples:

  • the face of a signet ring must remain a specific size;
  • a pendant must fit an existing chain;
  • a relief motif must keep a certain depth or silhouette;
  • the ring must not become too heavy;
  • a brand mark must appear in a particular position;
  • the piece must fit within a target retail price structure.

A useful development conversation is partly about finding where the design can change without losing what makes it your design.

Include your expected first quantity

Quantity matters even during development because a one-off object and a repeatable production piece are not approached in exactly the same way.

Tell the manufacturer whether you are thinking about:

  • one sample first;
  • a small test run;
  • several designs in one collection;
  • an immediate production order;
  • a piece that should be easy to reorder later.

For small-batch manufacturing, starting quantities can sometimes be around 10 pieces per design where the construction and process make that viable. That is not a universal minimum: the practical starting quantity depends on the piece, finish and setup involved.

You do not need to solve CAD yourself

CAD is a development tool, not an entry requirement.

If you already have a file, it can be reviewed for manufacturing suitability. If you do not, a sketch or reference can be translated into a controlled 3D model during the jewelry CAD design stage.

The important difference is between a model that merely looks attractive on screen and one that considers the real object: wall thickness, edges, relief, attachment points, finishing access and how the piece will be reproduced.

What happens after the first brief

A typical custom-development path is:

  1. Show — send the idea, references and basic requirements.
  2. Develop — resolve dimensions, construction and manufacturing details.
  3. Approve — review the physical sample or prototype where appropriate.
  4. Produce — manufacture the first run against the approved reference.
  5. Preserve the specification — keep the information needed to make future reorders match.

You can see the full sequence on our process page.

A simple brief you can send today

If you want to make the first message easy, include these seven things:

  1. Piece type — ring, pendant, bracelet, earring or other object.
  2. Visual — sketch, image, CAD file or sample photographs.
  3. Approximate size — the dimensions you already know.
  4. Material — for example solid 925 sterling silver.
  5. Finish — polished, oxidized, satin, enamelled or another reference.
  6. First quantity — even if it is only an estimate.
  7. What matters most — the details the final piece must preserve.

That is enough to begin a useful manufacturing conversation. The rest can be resolved deliberately instead of guessed before you contact the workshop.

If you already have a sketch or reference, you can send it to the jewelry team and use the first conversation to identify what still needs to be defined.

Explore the related manufacturing service →