Manufacturing jewelry from client-supplied gold — how settlement works

The consigned-metal model (toll manufacturing) means ownership of the metal never passes to the manufacturer. The client supplies the gold — as bullion, grain, scrap or old pieces for remelting — and the manufacturer produces the batch and invoices the service only: casting, machining, stone setting, finishing, and optionally plating and engraving.

For a brand this means one thing: the order price no longer depends on gold quotations. Only the labour cost changes, and that is predictable for months.

• The brand buys raw material from its own supplier — often on better terms than through an intermediary, and at a moment of its own choosing.
• There is no currency or metal-price exposure between the quote and delivery. With a production cycle of several weeks and a volatile gold market, that is a real line item, not a detail.
• The manufacturer does not tie up working capital in metal. A batch requiring 300 g of gold means tens of thousands of złoty per order — money that stays with the client rather than being priced into the service.
• The settlement is verifiable to the gram: input weight, output weight, loss, returnable scrap.

This is where most misunderstandings start, so put everything on paper before the metal moves.

• Input weight. Weighed on receipt, on a scale of adequate accuracy, with a protocol signed by both parties, recording the fineness and the physical form of the metal.
• Process loss. Unavoidable in casting, turning and polishing. Its size depends on the shape and the number of operations — a thin-walled, heavily polished form loses more than a compact body. The limit is agreed as a percentage in advance; anything above it is on the manufacturer.
• Returnable scrap. Sprues, filings, polishing sludge and filter content are gold too. Record what goes back to the client and in what form — unmelted scrap or refined grain — and who pays for refining.
• Alloy additions. 585 or 750 gold needs copper, silver, zinc or palladium. Agree who supplies the master alloy and whether its weight enters the settlement of the finished piece, because it enters its mass.
• Surplus. Returned in metal on delivery, or carried over to the next order. Both are fine, as long as the choice is deliberate.

A handover protocol with weight, fineness and physical form is the minimum. Add insurance for transport and storage of the consigned material — the manufacturer holds an asset that is not its property, and it pays to know whose policy covers it.

Separately: hallmarking duties do not disappear because the metal was consigned. A gold article is still subject to the same assay-office rules and the same hallmarking procedure, and responsibility for placing it on the market rests with the brand. Warn your own accounting too — the metal is not a purchase from the manufacturer, so it appears neither in their costs nor in the value of the service invoice.

• For single pieces. Logistics, weighing, protocols and scrap settlement cost more than the saving on metal. For one ring it is simpler to buy the finished piece from the manufacturer's own material.
• When the origin of the material is uncertain. Scrap of unknown fineness needs assaying, and metal contaminated with lead or tin can ruin an entire casting charge — along with the flask and the rest of the gold in the furnace.
• When the deadline is very tight. Receipt, analysis and remelting of the supplied material add days before casting can start.

Sequence matters. First calculate the requirement: finished piece weight × quantity, plus casting allowances, plus the agreed loss. Only with that number should you approach the metal supplier — buying by feel ends with a second delivery mid-production or dead capital in the safe.

In parallel, prepare 3D files or a physical master, fix the fineness and colour of the gold (white gold needs rhodium plating, which adds an operation and affects later servicing), and put one checkpoint in the schedule: a prototype in silver or brass, approved before the gold charge. A few days at this stage are cheaper than reworking a batch made of metal already paid for.

At Argentum, gold production runs exclusively on the consigned model — with a full weight protocol and scrap return. Terms for silver and titanium are described separately on our gold production and custom production pages.