The BeadInvoice magazine
Pricing, process and paperwork for independent designers who take custom jewelry commissions and remount work in the US.
Nine working guides, written for the designer who quotes the piece, cuts the wax and answers the phone. Every one of them starts from a question a client or a bench has already asked, and finishes with the paperwork that settles it.
practical guide
Metal is the one line on your quote that changes hourly. Here is how to build a quote that survives a spot price swing between the deposit and the casting, without eating the loss yourself.
comparison
Reusing a grandmother's ring feels generous and sells the story, but old metal carries porosity, unknown alloys and liability. A side by side look at cost, risk and finish quality.
mistakes to avoid
Most commission disputes trace back to one skipped signature. A walk through the failure points from CAD render to final polish, and the approval gates that stop each one.
regulation and compliance
US sellers face FTC jewelry guides, warranty statements on invoices and lab grown disclosure rules. Here is what has to appear on your paperwork and what is simply good practice.
case study
A studio taking heirloom remounts moved from handshake starts to a signed deposit at intake. What changed in cash flow, in cancellations, and in the kind of client who said yes.
trends and outlook
When the stone costs a fraction of what it once did, the labor line becomes the visible number. How designers are restructuring quotes as material and craft trade places.
checklist
An intake done badly turns a chipped girdle into your problem. A concrete checklist for receiving, documenting and insuring a stone that belongs to someone else.
numbers and benchmarks
Consultations, sourcing, CAD revisions and shipping all eat the day. A structured way to find your real billable ratio and set a shop rate that covers the hours nobody pays for.
field report
A week by week account of a compressed custom build, where the schedule broke, what the rush fee had to cover, and the decisions that kept the ring on the finger in time.
Want the quoting side of this handled for you? Book a BeadInvoice walkthrough for your studio.
Every commission question on this site eventually comes back to one thing: whether the quote you gave still covers the metal you have to buy. The pricing guide sets out the method, from finished weight and casting loss to the hold date that keeps a spot swing off your own books.
How do I price a custom engagement ring when the gold market moves every single day?
Then work outward: the eight other pieces in The Bench Ledger each take one part of it further, and every one links back here.
