How Jewellery is Made: From Raw Gold to Finished Piece

When you hold a piece of gold jewellery, you are holding the result of a manufacturing journey that may span weeks, dozens of skilled hands, and a sequence of precision processes most buyers never think about.

Understanding how jewellery is made changes how you evaluate what you buy — it explains why handcrafted pieces cost more, why certain designs are more durable, and how the BIS hallmarking system fits into the end of the process.

Step 1: Gold Sourcing and Refining

The journey begins at a gold mine or a secondary source such as recycled jewellery or electronic waste.

Raw ore is processed through a series of chemical and smelting operations to extract gold in impure form.

This goes to a refinery — in India, MMTC-PAMP in Haryana is the most prominent LBMA-accredited gold refiner — where it is refined to 999.9 purity (four nines fine).

The output is standardised gold: grain (small round pellets), wire (pre-drawn for chain making), sheet (flat-rolled), or cast bars.

Jewellers purchase their gold from bullion dealers, banks, or directly from refineries in these standardised forms.

The gold that enters a jewellery workshop is already pure — the alloying happens next.

Step 2: Alloying to the Target Karat

Pure 24K gold is beautiful but too soft for practical jewellery — it scratches and deforms under everyday wear.

Jewellers alloy it by melting the 24K gold with other metals in precise proportions. For 22K (916 hallmark), 91.6% gold is alloyed with silver and copper.

For 18K (750 hallmark), 75% gold is mixed with silver, copper, and sometimes zinc or palladium.

The alloy mix determines not just the karat but the colour: a higher copper proportion gives rose gold its warm pinkish hue; nickel or palladium with lower gold content produces white gold; and the classic yellow gold of South Indian temple jewellery is achieved with specific silver-copper ratios.

Step 3: Design and the Wax Model

Before any gold is shaped, the piece is designed.

Traditional jewellers work from hand-drawn sketches, accumulated pattern books, or from memory — master craftsmen in Rajasthan can execute complex Kundan designs from a lifetime of knowledge without any formal drawing.

In modern jewellery manufacturing facilities, Computer Aided Design (CAD) software creates precise 3D digital models.

These digital files go to a 3D printer loaded with specially formulated castable wax resin, which produces a wax model of the final piece accurate to a fraction of a millimetre.

The wax model is reviewed and approved before any metal is committed. Changes at the wax stage cost nothing; changes after casting are expensive.

Step 4: Lost-Wax Casting

Lost-wax casting is a technique used in India for at least 4,000 years — ancient Indus Valley artisans used it for copper figurines — and it remains the dominant casting method for jewellery today.

The wax model is attached to a central wax "sprue" (a channel that will become the entry point for molten metal), and multiple wax pieces are clustered together on a wax tree.

This tree is placed in a metal flask and surrounded by investment plaster.

Once the plaster sets, the flask is placed in a kiln and heated to 730-750°C. The wax vaporises entirely — this is the "lost wax" step — leaving a perfect negative cavity of every detail.

Molten gold alloy is then injected under centrifugal force or vacuum into the cavity.

The plaster is quenched in water and broken apart, revealing the rough gold casting — now an exact metal replica of the original wax model.

Step 5: Filing, Cutting, and Surface Preparation

The rough casting comes out of the flask attached to the sprue and still carrying casting imperfections — small surface irregularities, minor porosity, and the sprue attachment point.

Each piece is cut from the tree, and the attachment points are filed smooth. Surface blemishes are removed using progressively finer files and abrasives.

This is largely manual work, even in high-volume factories; skilled bench workers handle each piece individually.

For chain jewellery (which is not cast but machine-drawn and linked), this step involves quality inspection of the chain weave and clasp assembly.

Step 6: Stone Setting

If the piece includes gemstones, setting is one of the most skill-intensive steps. The primary setting methods used in Indian jewellery are:

Prong or claw setting: Metal claws are precision cut and pushed over the girdle (edge) of the stone to hold it.

Used for solitaire diamonds and coloured gemstones where maximum light exposure is desired.

Bezel setting: A continuous band of metal surrounds the stone completely. Very secure, popular for daily-wear rings.

Pavé setting: Small diamonds are set closely together in a sea of metal using tiny metal beads (pavé prongs) raised between stones.

Extremely labour-intensive — a skilled stone setter may take a full day to pavé-set a small ring.

Kundan setting: Uniquely Indian.

Refined gold foil (called kundan) is pressed layer by layer around uncut polki diamonds and flat-cut coloured stones, creating a seamless setting without prongs.

The stone appears to float in a bed of pure gold. Only highly specialised craftsmen in Rajasthan and a few centres in North India perform this work.

Step 7: Polishing and Surface Finishing

After stone setting, the piece goes through multiple stages of polishing.

Initial polishing removes larger surface marks using aggressive buffing wheels loaded with polishing compound.

Progressive polishing with finer compounds brings the surface to mirror brightness.

Rhodium plating is applied to white gold pieces to enhance whiteness and protect the surface.

Some designs receive texture intentionally — matte finish, hammered texture, or sandblasting — as the final aesthetic step.

Step 8: Quality Check and BIS Hallmarking

The finished piece undergoes internal quality inspection before being sent to a BIS-recognised Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHC).

At the AHC, the gold is tested for purity using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) or fire assay — two independent methods.

If the piece tests at the declared karat (22K = 916 parts per thousand minimum), it is stamped with the BIS triangle logo, the purity mark (916/750/585), and a unique six-character HUID code laser-engraved on the metal.

This HUID is registered in the BIS database and links the piece permanently to the registered jeweller who submitted it.

Manufacturing Method Comparison

The most important takeaway for a buyer is this: the manufacturing method profoundly affects the price but does not determine quality.

A machine-cast ring with excellent post-casting finishing and precise stone setting can be more durable and better-looking than a sloppy handcrafted piece.

The hallmark certifies the gold; your eyes, hands, and understanding of the manufacturing process certify the craftsmanship.