Here at Wholesale Diamond & Jewelry Exchange we take pride in making custom jewelry pieces for our customers. Though we specialize in creating custom racing jewelry we can create one-of-a-kind pieces to your specifications of any kind.

Our jeweler, Leanne, has 25+ years of experience in making custom jewelry pieces and she is a master of every aspect of the design process. From a photo, hand drawn image, or even an idea, Leanne hand carves the design into blue wax to create a wax mold of the design (See images 1-3 & 5).

The hand carving process, just as an example based on the average size of our racing jewelry pieces, takes anywhere from 4-5 hours to create one wax mold. Time varies for the hand carving process depending on size, intricacy of details, and dimensionality (See images 1-3).

Leanne opts for a wax mold over a metal mold because a wax mold allows for finer details which really enhances the overall look and quality of each piece.

Once the hand carved wax mold is perfected a rubber mold is then produced (see image 4). The rubber mold enables the creation of multiple wax molds so that each piece can be mass produced in the next step of the process.

After multiple wax molds are made they are then sprued up (jewelers term for putting the molds on a "tree"--see image 6). The tree is then invested into a plaster mold which is contained in a metal flask. The flask is placed into a kiln and heated until the plaster hardens and the wax melts out of the plaster.

The plaster mold is removed from the kiln and is then filled with hot molten metal (metal heated to a blistering 1000 degrees Fahrenheit). The metal replaces areas where the wax molds had melted out within the plaster, a process referred to as vacuum casting. While the metal is still hot the flask is submerged in cold water which causes the plaster to explode leaving the newly created metal pieces.

Each piece is then hand polished and finishing touches are added such as bales for pendants or posts for lapel pins, etc (see image 7). When you order any of our custom made pieces you can expect exceptional quality and the satisfaction of knowing that a great amount of detail went into the creation of each piece.

If you are interested in having a custom piece made or have any questions about our items call (315) 342-4246 during our customer service hours Monday through Thursday 10am to 3pm (EST).