Custom Designs

The Jewelry Exchange of Maryland takes pride in offering custom designed jewelry to our customers. We understand the desire to own or give unique 'one-of-a-kind' wearable art.

Your creation can begin with something as simple as an idea, or a sketch. We will then work interactively with you to carry your idea through to completion.

Many retail outlets offer 'custom jewelry' or some variation on the theme, but true custom jewelry is an original design transformed into wearable art. It is not 10's, 100's or 1,000's made from a mold with minor changes in stones or details to make it 'custom.' Custom 'one-of-a-kind' should be just that, one piece of jewelry created from an original mold which is then destroyed.

How we transform ideas into reality – Traditional

Until the advent of computer aided design, most custom jewelry was created using the lost wax process. This involved the hand carving of a wax model. Rings started out as a wax tube of the correct finger size and pendants as a sheet or block of wax.

Following the completion of the model, wax wires (or sprues) are attached to suspend the model above a casting base. A metal container is then placed on the base and an investment (casting material) is poured around the model and sprues and left to harden. Once the investment is set the base is removed and then placed into an oven and exposed to extreme heat. Once all traces of the wax model are burned away, molten metal (your choice of gold, platinum, or silver) is poured into the mold.

Once cooled, the mold is removed and the rough casting is then hand worked to create the final piece of jewelry. During the finishing process the details decided during the design process are applied to the casting - stones are set, enamel applied, and final finish work is completed.

How we transform ideas into reality – Computer Assisted Design

The Jewelry Exchange of Maryland features a state of the art computer design and photographic studio. With it we are capable of designing a custom piece of jewelry from nothing more than an idea scribbled on a note pad or even just concept in your mind. Our experts can bring the ideas to life on the computer screen for you to see and be a part of the design process. Have an old ring that you were thinking of changing the center stone in, but you're not sure what stone you want? Not a problem. With our photographic equipment we can bring the image of your ring on the screen and then show you how it will look with a multitude of choices in stones. There is no reason to be surprised or afraid of custom work anymore. We make it fun, affordable and a reality.