Jewellery CAD design and technical drawings
Jewellery CAD design turns a sketch or a painting into a model a workshop can make. Gemlea Creative Atelier draws a piece first, in plan and section with the tolerances a setter needs, then models it in CAD, so it can be turned and checked on screen before any metal is cut and go into production from the same file.
What jewellery CAD design services cover
For a designer or brand, CAD work is usually two things that are often bought separately and work best together:
- Technical drawings: plan, elevation and section, with dimensions, metal, stone sizes and setting details.
- The CAD model: a 3D file built to be printed or milled for casting, every wall, seat and claw at a size that can be made.
Jewellery technical drawings
A technical drawing is a drawing a workshop can build from: plan, section, and the tolerances a setter needs. It records what a sketch leaves open: the finger size, the gauge of a shank, the height of a setting, the size and number of every stone and how each is held. The CAD model follows the drawing rather than replacing it, so those decisions are made once, on paper.
Technical drawings also travel. They are what a quote is made against, what a second workshop needs if production moves, and the record of a design when it is reordered years later.
What makes a jewellery CAD file manufacturing-ready
A model that looks right on screen can still fail at the bench. A file is ready for production when it can be cast, finished and set as drawn:
- A closed, valid solid with no gaps or overlapping surfaces, so it prints or mills cleanly.
- Wall and shank thicknesses that survive casting, polishing and resizing in the chosen metal.
- Stone seats cut to the measured stones rather than nominal sizes, with room for the setter’s tools.
- Claws, bezels and galleries strong enough to hold the stone and fine enough to look as designed.
- Allowance for the metal lost in finishing, and for how the piece will be sprued and cast.
- The ring size or dimensions stated, and variants of size, stone or metal built from one master.
From sketch or gouache to production
Most designs reach CAD from a sketch; some arrive as a gouache paint-up a brand has already approved. Either way the order is the same: the drawing settles construction, the model is built against it and checked against the stones it was drawn for, and the approved file goes to printing or milling, then to casting and a first sample.
Design, gem sourcing and production sit at the same table at Gemlea, so a drawing and the stone it was drawn for never have to be introduced to each other twice. The stones, the file and the first sample are looked at by the same house.
Working from your own CAD file
Designers who model their own work can send the file as it is. A sketch, a technical drawing, a CAD file or a sample, with the metal and the size of the run, is enough to start: Gemlea replies with what it can see in it, what it would change, and what a first sample would take.
How it works
- 01
The brief
A sketch, a paint-up, a drawing or an existing file, with the metal, the stones and the size of the run.
- 02
The technical drawing
Plan, section and tolerances, so the questions of construction are answered on paper before modelling starts.
- 03
The CAD model
Built against the drawing and the stones, then turned and checked on screen before any metal is cut.
- 04
Wax and sample
The approved model is printed or carved in wax, cast, and made up as a first sample to be handled.
- 05
Into production
Once the sample is right, the same file carries the run.
Questions
What is jewellery CAD design?
Jewellery CAD design is modelling a piece in computer-aided design software so it can be checked on screen, printed or milled in wax or resin, and cast in metal. A good model is built for manufacture: correct thicknesses for the metal, stone seats sized to the real stones, and the dimensions a workshop needs.
Do you make technical drawings as well as CAD?
Yes. Jewellery design at Gemlea Creative Atelier means technical drawings and CAD: a drawing a workshop can build from, in plan and section with the tolerances a setter needs, and a CAD model that follows it, so the piece is checked on screen before any metal is cut.
Can you take my sketch or paint-up into CAD?
Yes. Gemlea Creative Atelier takes a concept from initial sketches through technical drawings and CAD to a full, commercially minded collection. An approved gouache paint-up is a strong starting point, because the colour, proportions and stone layout are already settled before modelling begins.
What is the difference between a CAD render and a paint-up?
A render is made from the CAD model and shows exactly what the file is, which makes it the right check before casting and a useful product picture. A paint-up is painted by hand in gouache and shows what the piece is meant to be. Paint-ups, technical drawings and CAD sit together in Gemlea Creative Atelier.
Is a CAD file enough to manufacture jewellery?
Only if it was built for manufacture, with thicknesses right for the metal, seats sized to the actual stones and the dimensions stated. A technical drawing alongside it lets a workshop check the file and quote against it. Send Gemlea an existing file and the reply names what can be seen in it, what would change, and what a first sample would take.
How much does jewellery CAD design cost?
Every piece of work at Gemlea is quoted to its brief, and no prices are published. Fees, minimums, lead times and NDAs are agreed project by project, because a single model and a collection with variants in several metals are very different pieces of work.