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What you need to know before you order custom made, hand crafted jewellery for women or men

Don’t make any purchase of personalized hand made jewellery until you have read these buyer tips. They are provided to make the buying process easier and should be must reading before you go to a jewellery store or online jeweller.

Demand quality manufacturing. Make sure your custom jewellery design will be created by a fully qualified master goldsmith with training in precious gems and metals.

Ask about manufacturing. It’s best if your custom jewellery is created on site. If it has to be farmed out to another location, you typically end up paying more.

Insist that the jeweller takes the time to answer your questions. It is especially important to understand the value of precious gems and metals and what sets a lower-quality piece apart from a higher quality piece. For example, did you know that there are nine different colours of gold and the most popular these days is white gold?

Ask about the trade up policy. Elite Goldsmiths guarantees that it will honor the original price or the market value (whichever is higher) of any piece you have previously purchased from Elite Goldsmiths. Many competing jewellers and makers of custom jewellery don’t give you the same guarantee.

Buy quality not size. Don't be lured into buying a gem strictly based on its size. You are better off buying a smaller gem of higher quality.

Stick to your budget. Assuming you have a reasonable starting budget for a custom made piece of jewellery ($5,000 or more), there is no reason why you should increase the budget. Your jeweller should show you options that fit with that budget – not pressure you to increase the budget.

Take special care with diamonds. There are a lot of diamonds on the market, especially those marketed by online jewellers, with fractures that have been covered up to hide the flaw. We regularly discover through independent appraisal that diamonds purchased online have flaws and are worth only a fraction of the purchase price.

Insist on a lifetime warranty. Elite Goldsmiths provides a lifetime warranty that comes with just one condition: you must bring in the piece for cleaning and inspection every six months. It’s a small sacrifice to get the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have a lifetime warranty. Plus regular cleaning of your jewellery ensures it keeps the sparkle and beauty it had on day one.

Beware online jewellery scams - Special care should be taken before making any purchase from an online jeweller or online jewellery shopping site. If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. It is not unusual for value to be widely inflated. It’s also not unusual to discover after the purchase that you have a piece with a hidden flaw and that is why the price was discounted. It happens more often then you think.

Have any more questions? Check out our FAQs page or contact us by phone or online. We are here to help.