If you ask several jewellery retailers how their first production order went and you’ll get a number of very different answers. Some will tell you it was fine. Most will mention the time they trusted a low quote, placed the order, and ended up with stock that looked nothing like the sample, or worse, arrived three weeks late for the Christmas season.
Here’s what catches people out: the problems rarely surface on the first order. Manufacturers tend to perform well when they’re trying to win your business. The cracks appear later when you’re trying to restock a bestseller quickly, when you need a small tweak to an existing design, or when you’re managing multiple deadlines and need a supplier who actually responds to emails.
I’ve put this together for businesses that are either building their first jewellery line or are tired of dealing with a supplier that isn’t working for them. It covers sourcing country, the OEM vs ODM decision, what to confirm before you commit, the costs that sneak up on you, and the mistakes that are very easy to avoid once someone points them out.
Choosing the Right Country
Different countries have developed real specialisms over decades. It’s not marketing, it’s just how manufacturing ecosystems work. The skills, the tooling, the supply chains – they cluster around certain product types in certain places.
- China – fast fashion pieces in brass, stainless steel, and titanium. Great if you’re after low unit costs on high-turnover product.
- India is where you go for high-end gold work (22k gold necklaces, diamond sets) The craftsmanship tradition there for those categories is genuinely hard to match.
- Italy remains the gold standard (no pun intended) for fine chains and bracelets. If the construction of the chain matters to your customers, Italy’s reputation is worth paying for.
- Thailand has become one of the leading exporters of lightweight 925 sterling silver jewellery, with particularly strong capability in precious and semi-precious stone setting. The quality-to-price ratio for silver is hard to beat.
One thing worth mentioning: if precious metals are involved, always check the current silver, gold, or platinum spot price before you request a quote. Metal costs feed directly into factory pricing, so a quote from two weeks ago might not be valid today. It’s a basic step, but it saves a lot of back-and-forth.
Be Clear on the Designs: OEM or ODM
Before any pricing conversation, you need to know whether you’re working with an OEM or ODM structure. Mixing them up wastes everyone’s time.
OEM means you own the design. The factory manufactures to your specification. They’ll need a CAD file, but if you don’t have one, most factories can convert a sketch or image. A mold is created, a sample produced, and once approved, full production begins. It costs more upfront, but the design is exclusively yours. Some factories will waive the mold fee if you waive exclusivity rights.
ODM means the factory already has the designs and molds ready. If they run a wholesale catalogue (Silver JD is a relevant example), you browse their range and order production quantities of whatever suits your business. No mold fees, no development phase. Many businesses start with ODM to test designs before investing in custom OEM work.
How to Evaluate a Jewellery Manufacturer
Jewellery manufacturers don’t accumulate Google reviews the way the hospitality industry does. Most clients are businesses who don’t advertise their supply chain. So you have to look for other signals.
Third-party ethical audits (Sedex, RJC, Amfori) are a good indicator. So is how frequently they update their catalogue (a stale one suggests a factory that isn’t investing), and whether they hold memberships in recognised trade bodies like the NAJ. Beyond credentials, watch how they communicate during the development phase. Do they respond promptly? Do they flag problems before deadlines pass? A few weeks of emails tells you a lot about what the relationship will look like at scale.
What You Need to Pin Down Before Production Starts
Before committing, get clear answers on: MOQ per design, the sampling process and cost, lead times, mold fees, payment terms, custom packaging availability, and whether the design will be exclusive to you. These details vary so much between factories that comparing quotes without them is nearly meaningless.
MOQ in particular is trickier than it looks, it shifts depending on mold complexity, materials, stone usage, and whether the project is OEM or ODM. The only reliable number is one quoted against your specific brief. Once you have all these variables from multiple suppliers side by side, the comparison becomes a lot more straightforward.
Import Duties, Hallmarking & Additional Costs
None of these appear in the factory quote, but they all land on top of it. For jewellery entering the UK, duty is based on HS code classification:
- HS Code Silver (General): 7113.11.0000
- HS Code Gold (General): 7113.19.0000
- HS Code Platinum (General): 7113.19.50
- HS Code Stainless Steel: 7117.19.0000 (imitation jewellery of base metal)
Silver jewellery currently attracts around 2% duty on the declared value. Add in sampling, engraving (typically 15–30p per piece), hallmarking, and delivery, and the gap between factory price and landed cost adds up fast. Hallmarking is a legal requirement for precious metals above certain weight thresholds in the UK. Confirm the factory can handle it before production starts. REACH test reports are available too, but involve a third-party lab and an additional fee.
Simplifying the Import Process
One approach that works well is working with a UK-based wholesaler or manufacturer that owns its own overseas factory. You get the pricing and capability of overseas production with the commercial relationship handled domestically, which simplifies communication, invoicing, and importing considerably.
Common Mistakes When Choosing a Jewellery Manufacturer
Choosing on price alone is the most common one. Inconsistent finishing, weak stone settings, and communication that falls apart mid-production are all patterns that tend to follow the cheapest quote. The savings rarely survive first contact with the actual product.
The other is skipping the sample. Photos look fine until the pieces arrive and the stone settings are softer than expected, or the clasp fails after a few weeks. A physical sample before committing to a full run isn’t optional – it’s just how the process is supposed to work. Clear communication, realistic timelines, and proper sampling reduce the majority of production problems before they have a chance to develop.