A piece of jewelry is not finished simply because it has been cast and set.
Polishing and finishing are critical stages of fine jewelry manufacturing and can dramatically affect the appearance of the final piece.
deBebians provides wholesale jewelry polishing and finishing services as part of our custom manufacturing capabilities for retailers, designers, brands and qualified trade professionals.
High quality finishing is a process.
Once a piece comes out of casting, it must be evaluated and prepared before the final polish.
The goal is to remove manufacturing marks, refine surfaces and prepare the jewelry without unnecessarily changing the proportions or design details that were established during CAD and manufacturing.
Pre-polishing prepares the jewelry for later manufacturing stages and the final finish.
This process can include refining surfaces, removing casting texture and preparing areas that will ultimately be visible after setting and final polishing.
Care is especially important around fine details, pavé areas, edges and other design elements that can be softened or distorted by excessive polishing.
One of the most important parts of our process is knowing when a piece should not simply move forward.
A casting may initially appear acceptable, but issues such as porosity can become more obvious once the piece begins pre-polishing and the surface is opened up.
When we discover a manufacturing defect that compromises the quality of the piece, our approach is not to hide it underneath a final polish.
The piece may need to be corrected or manufactured again.
We would rather redo work than knowingly allow a manufacturing defect to become part of the finished jewelry.
Depending on the piece and metal, finishing may include:
• Surface preparation
• Pre-polishing
• Final polishing
• Cleaning
• Detail refinement
• Rhodium finishing where appropriate
• Inspection of visible surfaces
• Review after setting
• Final quality control
The appropriate process depends on the jewelry and its design.
Quality control should not be reserved only for the final few minutes before a piece is shipped.
A problem discovered during CAD is easier to correct before manufacturing.
A problem discovered during casting should be corrected before setting.
A problem discovered during pre-polishing should be addressed before the jewelry moves into its final stages.
This approach reduces the temptation to simply "make it work" after too much time has already been invested in the piece.
Customers may never see the CAD file, casting tree or work performed at a jeweler's bench.
They see the finished jewelry.
The polish, edges, setting, symmetry and small details all contribute to how the piece is ultimately perceived.
For wholesale clients, the quality of the jewelry we manufacture reflects on their business as much as it reflects on ours.
That is why finishing and final inspection remain an important part of our manufacturing process.
deBebians can provide polishing and finishing as part of a larger manufacturing project that may include CAD design, casting and production, diamond and gemstone sourcing, stone setting, micro pavé and engraving.
Our goal is to provide jewelry businesses with a dependable resource capable of supporting multiple stages of production.
