How to Design Custom Jewelry

Custom Jewelry: How to Design and Create a One-of-a-Kind Piece

Custom jewelry means something different depending on who you ask. At Jewelry by Johan, it means sitting down together, in-person or virtually, and building something from nothing. A piece that didn't exist before you. Since 2008, we've been helping people design custom jewelry online through a process that's collaborative, guided, and built around what actually matters to you. Whether you're searching for how to design custom jewelry, trying to figure out how to get custom jewelry made, or just exploring what's even possible, this guide walks through all of it: the options, the process, how our jewelers bring each piece to life, and what makes working with us worth your time.

Explore our custom jewelry design page to get a feel for what we do.

What Does Custom Jewelry Mean at Jewelry by Johan?

Custom jewelry, as we define it, means designing a piece from the ground up. You're not choosing from a display case or swapping out a stone on a preset ring. You're making decisions about materials, structure, finish, and form until what's on paper becomes something you'd actually want to wear forever.

More Than Personaliztion

Engraving a name inside a band or resizing a ring is personalization. Custom design is a different thing entirely. It starts with a consultation, moves through sketching and CAD modeling, goes through client review and approval, and only then goes into production. You see exactly what you're getting before any metal is touched.

Jewelry That Tells Your Story

People come to us for a lot of reasons. Some are designing alternative engagement rings that don't look like anything you'd find at a mall. Others are creating memorial rings that incorporate a loved one's ashes or a stone from a piece of their grandmother's jewelry. Some want to commemorate a milestone. Some are redesigning an heirloom that's been sitting in a drawer for years because it doesn't feel like them. Whatever the reason, the common thread is meaning, they want something that holds a specific story, not just a general idea of one.

What Are the Options for Custom Jewelry?

One of the most common questions we hear is some version of: "I have an idea, but I don't know if it's possible." Most of the time, it is!

Start With a Jewelry Template or a General Idea

Incorporate Unique Materials

This is where things get interesting. We work with materials that most traditional jewelers won't touch. Best of all, we practically wrote the book on many of them, since we were one of the first jewelers to attempt making jewelry from exotic materials. Authentic Gibeon meteorite. Naturally-shed deer antler. Reclaimed wood. Crushed or whole gemstones set into inlays. Client-supplied materials like cremation ashes, a piece of a parent's wedding ring, a guitar string, or a stone from a meaningful place.

The sky genuinely is the limit here. We've incorporated materials people never thought could end up in a ring, and we've done it in ways that are structurally sound and visually striking. If you have something meaningful you want worked into a piece of custom jewelry, bring it up. Chances are, we've worked with something similar.

Choose Metals, Finishes, and Stones

On the more traditional side, we work in yellow gold, white gold, and rose gold, as well as platinum and palladium. Titanium is one of our specialties for anyone looking for something lightweight and durable. We work with a wide range of gemstone cuts and types, from diamonds to sapphires to less common stones that suit a more unconventional design. Finish options range from high polish to brushed, matte, sandblasted, and hammered, and profile shapes vary widely depending on the look and feel you want.

If you want to go deeper on materials and construction, we have dedicated pages covering metals, ring profiles, ring finishes, and more on our materials page.

How to Design Custom Jewelry With Us

The custom jewelry design process at Jewelry by Johan is straightforward, but it's also thorough. Here's how it works.

STEP 1: Free Virtual Consultation

STEP 2: Design & CAD Rendering

STEP 3: Handcrafted Production in the USA

STEP 4: Delivery in 3 - 7 Weeks

How Do Jewelers Make Custom Jewelry?

The process of making custom jewelry starts long before anyone picks up a tool. Concept development comes first, understanding what the piece needs to be, how it'll be worn, and what it needs to hold up to over time. From there, CAD modeling lets us plan with precision, catching any structural issues before fabrication begins.

Material sourcing and preparation happens in parallel. Working with meteorite, dinosaur bone, antler, or reclaimed wood requires different handling than working with gold or platinum. These materials have their own properties, and preparing them for inlay takes experience that most traditional jewelers simply don't have.

Once materials are ready, fabrication begins, whether that's casting, hand fabrication, or a combination of both. Inlays are integrated carefully, stones are set, and the piece is finished by hand. We also have our own, proprietary coating which protects materials like wood or deer antler from moisture, bumps, or scratches. A part of our lifetime guarantee is that we’ll repair this coating at no cost if it ever gets damaged.

Final quality checks happen before anything ships. It's a process that requires both technical skill and genuine care for the work. We’ve kept our standards high since 2008, ensuring that you’re getting something built to last.

How to Get Custom Jewelry Made

Getting started with a custom jewelry project is simpler than most people expect.

Schedule a free virtual consultation and talk through your ideas with one of our design consultants. If you already have a sense of what you want, you can also fill out our custom jewelry request form and share inspiration photos, meaningful materials, or any details that give us a starting point. From there, you review your CAD design, and ask for revisions or approve it. If you ask for revisions, we’ll repeat the process until we get it right. Once approved, we move into production. Your finished piece arrives in a few weeks.

We guide clients through every step of that process. You're never left guessing about where things stand or what comes next.

Where to Buy Custom Jewelry Online

There are a lot of options out there, and it can be hard to know what to look for. A few things worth paying attention to: Does the jeweler show you a CAD rendering before production starts? Do they have documented experience working with alternative and unconventional materials? If you're sending in a personal item, ashes, a family stone, something irreplaceable, do they have a clear, secure process for handling it? Are they transparent about timelines and pricing? Is the piece actually handmade and not imported? Can they back that up?

At Jewelry by Johan, we’ve been doing this since 2008. We specialize in the kind of work that requires both design expertise and hands-on craftsmanship. Our reviews reflect a consistent track record of clients who came in with an idea and left with something they wear every day. We still hear back from clients 10+ years later, telling us that they still love the rings they got from us when we first started! If needed, we’ll clean and refinish your rings at no cost if you send it back in. We want you to be taken care of, for your mind to be at ease.

Start Designing Your One-of-a-Kind Piece

Custom jewelry is where artistic skill, material knowledge, and personal meaning meet. If you've been thinking about a design, whether it's a custom engagement ring, a wedding band with meteorite or wood inlay, a memorial piece, or something that doesn't fit any existing category, now is a good time to start that conversation.

Schedule a free virtual consultation or submit a custom jewelry request to get the process moving.

Custom Jewelry Inspiration

Looking for a starting point? Browse our collections to see what's possible and get a sense of the range of work we do.