Jewelry Making Cost Calculator

Jewelry Making Cost Calculator – A Complete Workshop Cost Breakdown

The Jewelry Making Cost Calculator helps you think like a professional studio when pricing a custom piece. Instead of guessing a single number, it separates the job into metal, casting, bench labor, finishing, stone setting, scrap loss and profit margin. You can see how each part of the process contributes to the final making cost.

Whether you are a jeweler building your own price list or a customer trying to understand a quote, this calculator makes the structure visible. The formulas are simplified enough for everyday use but still reflect the way many workshops reason about cost.

The Core Jewelry Making Cost Formula

The calculator is built around a manufacturing subtotal followed by overhead and profit multipliers.

Subtotal represents direct manufacturing cost plus scrap loss. OverheadMultiplier adds workshop expenses such as rent and insurance, while ProfitMultiplier ensures the business earns a margin above its total cost to stay sustainable.

Metal Cost – Final Metal Weight And Metal Price Per Gram

Metal cost is usually the foundation of any jewelry job. The calculator uses either a directly entered metal weight or an estimated weight based on wax weight and metal density.

You can enter MetalPricePerGram directly or use the auto-filled numbers for silver, 14K gold, 18K gold and platinum. These default prices are typical workshop-style values, not live market spot prices, so you can treat them as practical starting points.

Using Wax Weight To Estimate Final Metal Weight

In many modern workflows, a piece starts as a resin or wax model. The final metal weight can be estimated from the wax weight using a conversion factor that accounts for density and casting shrinkage.

The calculator associates each metal with a typical wax-to-metal factor. You can override this factor using the Metal And Wax Helper tab. When the main calculator sees that final metal weight is zero but wax weight is present, it applies this formula automatically.

CastingCost – Base Fee And ComplexityFactor

Casting involves investment, burnout, metal melt, pouring and clean-up. Most casting houses use a base fee per tree or per piece and then adjust for complexity. The calculator simplifies this using a base fee and a complexity multiplier.

ComplexityFactor is lower for simple designs and higher for intricate pieces with sharp edges, deep undercuts or very fine details. In practice, you can start with a moderate casting base and apply a higher factor when you know the job will be extra demanding.

LaborCost – Bench Hours Times Bench Rate

Bench labor covers all the time a craftsperson spends on the piece, including filing, fitting parts, soldering, adjusting prongs and checking the fit of stones. The formula is straightforward.

BenchRate should reflect your hourly workshop value, not just an hourly wage. It can include the cost of tools, consumables and training. The calculator encourages you to treat time as a professional resource instead of absorbing it silently.

FinishingCost – FinishingBase, Complexity And SizeFactor

Finishing and polishing are often underestimated. Larger and more detailed pieces can require substantial time to remove casting skin, refine surfaces and achieve a high polish or intentional texture. The calculator uses a layered formula.

FinishingBase is a standard allowance that you set. ComplexityFactor is shared with casting to avoid double data entry. SizeFactor increases as the metal weight rises, reflecting that heavier pieces usually need more finishing time. A small ring might use SizeFactor close to 1.0, while a heavy pendant or bracelet might push that factor higher.

SettingCost – Per Stone Cost And StoneCount

Stone setting can be priced in many ways. For this general making calculator, the model assumes a typical per stone setting fee and multiplies it by the number of stones.

This is a simplified structure compared to a dedicated gemstone setting calculator, but it works well when you only need a quick allowance for stones being set into a piece you are budgeting. You can adjust the per stone fee upward for complex settings such as micro-pavé or inward for simple bezel settings on small cabochons.

LossCost – Scrap And Refining Loss

During casting, sprue cutting, filing and polishing, some metal becomes scrap or polishing dust. While much of it can be refined, workshops usually price in a loss percentage to cover what cannot realistically be recovered.

LossPercentage is entered as a percentage, so a value of 5 means a 5 percent allowance on metal. High-loss processes or extremely intricate pieces might justify a higher percentage.

OverheadMultiplier And ProfitMultiplier

Overhead and profit are often combined into a single markup, but treating them separately gives more insight. Overhead accounts for workshop expenses that are not tied to a single job, while profit is the surplus the business aims to make.

For example, if Subtotal is 300, OverheadPercent is 20 and ProfitPercent is 30, then OverheadMultiplier is 1.20, ProfitMultiplier is 1.30 and TotalCost is 300 × 1.20 × 1.30, which equals 468. This gives you a transparent path from raw cost to a selling price that supports your workshop.

Interpreting The Manufacturing Subtotal

The manufacturing subtotal is the sum of metal, casting, labor, finishing, setting and loss. It is useful on its own because it tells you how much the job costs before business-level factors are added. If you want to compare suppliers or decide whether to produce in-house, this subtotal is the natural benchmark.

The calculator displays the subtotal separately so you can see how much overhead and profit increase the final price. A dramatic gap between subtotal and total cost may signal that your margins are too high for your market or that your inputs are realistic but your overhead percentage needs review.

Using The Jewelry Making Cost Calculator Step By Step

• Select the metal type for your piece, such as silver, 14K gold, 18K gold or platinum.
• Accept or adjust the metal price per gram, then enter the final metal weight or a wax weight for estimation.
• Enter a casting base fee and choose a job complexity level that reflects the design.
• Estimate bench labor hours and enter your bench rate per hour.
• Set a finishing and polishing base value that makes sense for your studio’s typical finishing workload.
• Enter the number of stones to be set and a per stone setting allowance.
• Choose a scrap loss percentage, along with overhead and profit percentages that align with your business.
• Select the display currency for readability and run the calculator to see the full breakdown and final making cost.