The first bespoke commission is the hardest. Not because the design work is necessarily complex, but because the process around it is unfamiliar. What does the client expect to receive, and when? What do you need from them before you can begin? What happens if they want to change direction after you have started?
These questions have practical answers.
Taking the brief
A complete brief answers four questions: what is the piece, who is it for, what does it mean, and what is the budget?
What is the piece. The category (ring, pendant, bracelet), the occasion if there is one, the metal preference, and whether stones are involved. If stones: what type, what size range, and whether the client has a stone they want to use or wants you to source one.
Who is it for. Not for intrusive reasons, but because a ring for a slim, active finger requires different design choices than one for a wider finger worn mainly at a desk. The design serves the wearer. You cannot make good choices without knowing something about them.
What it means. Bespoke commissions are almost always made to mark something: an engagement, an anniversary, a milestone. Understanding that context shapes the design conversation in ways the specification alone cannot.
What is the budget. This is not something to extract reluctantly at the end of a design process. It belongs at the beginning. A client with GBP 1,500 needs a different conversation than a client with GBP 6,000. Knowing the number early stops you designing something beautiful that cannot be made within what the client can spend.
Design sessions
In practice, the brief becomes clear through a conversation rather than a written questionnaire. A call or in-person meeting, thirty to sixty minutes, where you ask the questions above and share reference images.
Pay attention to how the client responds to references. What they say they want and what they respond to when they see an image are often different things. The image responses are more reliable. Someone who says “simple and modern” and then lights up at a heavily textured reference is telling you something the words did not.
Record the agreed direction in writing after the session. “We agreed to explore a pear-shaped stone in a rubover bezel, yellow gold, slim shank, no side stones” is a brief. “Modern and elegant” is not.
Approval stages
Two approval stages are sufficient for most commissions: the design approval and, optionally, the production approval.
Design approval. A rendered image from your CAD model, with the key dimensions noted, is the standard. The client sees what they are commissioning before any casting is ordered. They sign off in writing before production begins. This protects both sides: the client knows what they have approved, and you know what you were asked to make.
Production approval. For expensive or complex pieces, a 3D print or wax model of the casting gives the client something to hold. They can check the size on the finger, see the proportions in person, and raise concerns before metal is poured. Changes at this stage are still possible, though they cost design time. After casting and finishing, changes are repair work, not redesign.
Deposits and payment
A deposit to begin and a balance due before delivery is the standard structure. The deposit covers your time regardless of whether the commission proceeds; it also signals commitment from the client.
The deposit is non-refundable for design time already spent. State this clearly in writing before any work begins.
A common structure is a third at brief and two-thirds at production approval or completion. The proportions matter less than having something in writing that both parties have agreed to.
What to put in writing
A short agreement, one to two pages, signed before the design session begins, is not bureaucracy. It is a document that makes conversations about changes and timelines straightforward.
It covers: what the client is commissioning, the deposit and payment terms, how many design rounds are included, who sources the stone if stones are involved, the expected timeline, and what happens if the commission is cancelled.
Without it, “I expected unlimited revisions” is a position a client can take because nothing contradicts it. With it, the conversation has a reference point.
The most common mistake
Agreeing to start before the brief is complete. This happens when a client is enthusiastic and you do not want to slow the momentum. The result is design work done for a brief that later turns out to have been different from what either of you thought.
A clear brief before any work starts costs a conversation. A brief that becomes clear through several rounds of revision costs design time, usually yours.
The most straightforward version: agree the brief, confirm it in writing, take the deposit, then start. In that order.