Custom Engagement Ring: How to Commission One

By Dmitry Strugovshchikov, founder of STRUGA

A custom engagement ring is not a catalogue ring resized to fit — it is a piece built from a blank page around one decision you care about: your stone, your form, your engraving, your budget. At STRUGA the commission runs 3–5 weeks, first email to shipment: brief, sketch, approval, then casting from a wax model in the Bali workshop and DHL delivery worldwide. It is priced to your budget rather than a fixed list, and run directly with the maker — no call centres, no intermediaries.

The brief here is straightforward. A custom engagement ring is one made specifically for your story — your stone, your form, your engraving, your budget. At STRUGA the process runs 3–5 weeks: first email → sketch → approval → cast in our Bali workshop from a wax model → DHL shipment worldwide. Priced to your budget rather than a fixed list, and run directly with the workshop. Every commission is run directly with the maker — no call centres, no intermediaries. This is the step-by-step walkthrough so the ring arrives as the ring you actually wanted.

The engagement ring as a commission — rather than a retail purchase — is the older tradition. Until the early twentieth century almost every betrothal ring was made bespoke by a goldsmith. Industrial mass production reset the default to catalogue work; what STRUGA does is return to the older model, with the technical advantages of contemporary casting and stone-sourcing networks.

- A custom engagement ring at STRUGA is built from a blank page around your stone, form, engraving and budget — not a catalogue ring resized to fit.

- The commission runs 3–5 weeks from sketch approval to shipment; an express track at 2.5–3 weeks is available with a 20% surcharge.

- Entry price is from $180 for 925 silver without a stone, fully bespoke; custom costs 30–50% more than catalogue work.

- The ring is cast from a wax model in 925 silver in STRUGA's Bali workshop and ships DHL Express from Denpasar in 5–10 business days worldwide; shipping is included on commissions over $400.

- Inside-band engraving is included, up to 30 characters on a standard band and 60 on a wide one, in any alphabet.

- Sizing is free within ±2 sizes during the first year after delivery; DARK UNION is the sister line for paired sets.

Custom vs. catalogue — the difference

STRUGA runs two parallel lines: the rings catalogue (existing designs, fixed stones, ready stock) and custom commissions. A catalogue ring is built to an approved design at standard sizes; lead time 5–10 days to ship. Pricing is lower because the work is amortised across multiple wearers.

Custom is a different genre. There is no fixed design. We start from a blank page and your story. What matters to you? Which stone? Are you drawn to a reference from nature (a wave, a rock, a branch), from architecture (a Gothic spire, a bridge cable, a building rib), from geometry (fractal, spiral, crystal)? Should there be an engraving inside the band, and what should it say? It's a thirty-to-sixty-minute conversation, and a sketch is born from it.

Custom costs 30–50% more than catalogue work. The added cost covers the design hours (3–10 hours per sketch round, sometimes more), a one-of-a-kind casting model, and a test cast. In return: a piece that exists in a single instance. No one else wears the same ring.

Step 1 — The first email

Send to contact@strugadesign.com or use the form at Custom Order. What's worth including in the first message:

• Budget. At least a range: "$300–$700" or "up to $1,500." This isn't for negotiation; it tells me whether to suggest gold-and-emerald or silver-without-stone work.
• Timeline. When is the proposal? Less than six weeks: an express track is needed. More than two months: comfortable mode, room to think through details.
• The stone. If you have a specific one in mind, name it. If not, describe the feeling: "something blue like deep ocean," "green and inward-glowing," "no stone at all." I'll suggest options.
• Finger size. If you know it, perfect. If not, no problem — we'll send a sizing kit, or walk you through the home measurement.
• References. Pinterest screenshots, photos of rings from other workshops, photos of jewelry from a museum, a sketch on a napkin — anything. I don't copy (which would be impossible — every piece comes out in our voice), but I read direction from references.

Don't write "make something beautiful, your taste." I can — but it will be my vision, not yours. A custom ring is about you, not about the maker.

Step 2 — The sketch round

Within 48 hours of the first email, two or three sketch directions come back. Not a finished render — a 2D outline: top view, side view, inside-the-band view if engraving is planned. With dimensions: band width, stone height above the finger, metal thickness.

The sketches start a conversation, not finish one. You say "I like option 2 but the stone is too large" — I revise. "I like the texture from option 1 but the form from option 3" — I combine. We typically run 3–5 iterations to a final sketch. Sometimes it's one round; sometimes it takes two weeks of refinement.

All revisions are free. The sketch phase is included in the custom price. If somewhere through the conversation we don't see eye to eye, I'll say so plainly — "this isn't a fit, try another atelier." That's happened twice in five years.

Step 3 — Stone selection

After sketch approval the stone search begins. STRUGA works with direct suppliers in Bali (rubies, sapphires, emeralds, spinels), in Sri Lanka (blue sapphires), in Colombia (emeralds via a vetted dealer), and in Brazil (tourmalines, aquamarines, morganites).

I send photos of three to five candidate stones in the chosen cut and size, with prices for each. You choose. I don't push the most expensive — often the middle option is the right call: the quality difference between mid-grade and top-grade is usually smaller than the price difference between them.

If you already have a stone — heirloom, separately purchased, or inherited — this step is skipped. Ship the stone via insured DHL or trackable courier to Denpasar. I photograph it on arrival to record the pre-setting state, and 4–6 weeks later return the finished ring with that same stone seated in the new setting.

Step 4 — Production

The ring is built by hand in our Bali workshop. A wax model is cut exactly to size with every detail included, then cast in 925 silver. The raw casting comes out rough and is filed and shaped; the surface is decided here — high polish, matte, sand, or hammered. If there's a stone, it's seated under a microscope, the most consequential step in the build. Finishing follows: polishing, oxidation for darker surfaces, and any inside-band engraving. A final inspection closes the build before shipping.

Production runs about 3–6 weeks as a working frame, depending on form, stone, and workload.

Step 5 — Shipping and delivery

Finished rings ship DHL Express from Denpasar. 5–10 business days to most destinations worldwide, with full insurance for the ring's value. Shipping is included in the order price for commissions over $400.

The ring arrives in a STRUGA box: a paper sleeve, a rigid card box inside, a suede ring cushion, and a certificate of authenticity signed by the maker. The outer box is neutral — no "engagement" labelling, since often the recipient should not know the contents in advance. For a surprise proposal we ship to the buyer rather than the wearer; the package can also be re-routed to a hotel or workplace.

What a custom engagement ring costs

STRUGA doesn't publish a fixed price list for commissioned rings — the brand works from your budget, not toward a tag. Four things build the number: the weight of silver in the form, the stone and how it's sourced, the complexity of the form, and urgency. Under commission STRUGA can source almost any natural stone you ask for.

Tell us the budget you have in mind, and we'll answer honestly what can be made within it — and what's better left out. Start with a short brief on the Custom Order page.

Payment

A deposit confirms the commission and starts metal and stone procurement; the balance settles once the ring is finished, before it ships. We send photos and a short video at completion — you approve, then the ring ships DHL with tracking.

The deposit is refundable during the sketch phase, less the design hours already spent. Once production starts and materials are committed to your specific ring, the deposit is non-refundable.

Engraving — what fits inside the band

Inside-band engraving is included in every custom commission. The most-requested patterns:

• The engagement or first-meeting date (12.03.2024)
• Initials of both partners (M & D)
• Coordinates of the proposal location (51.5074N 0.1278W)
• A short phrase in any language
• A line of poetry from a meaningful author
• A symbol — a star, a heart, an infinity mark, a musical note
• A partner's fingerprint, traced from a scanned print and laser-engraved

Two engraving methods. Laser-engraved: precise, ideal for fine type and complex symbols. Hand-engraved with a graver: deeper, more "alive," better for larger letters and signatures. I'll suggest the right method for the text.

Length: up to 30 characters for a standard band, up to 60 for a wide one. Any alphabet — Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, CJK characters. For a non-standard typeface, send the font and we convert it to engraving format.

Sizing — how to do it right

The most common custom mistake: a ring that arrives the wrong size. To avoid:

1. Measure an existing ring. If your partner already wears a ring on the intended finger, measure its inner diameter in millimetres with a calliper. Send me the number; I'll convert to our size grid.
2. Order a sizing kit. A free plastic strip with the size grid, mailed by ordinary post (5–14 days delivery) anywhere in the world.
3. Wrap a paper or thread strip. Wrap the finger, mark where the ends meet, measure the length, divide by 3.14. Less precise than the other two methods but workable.

For a surprise proposal where measuring the partner's finger isn't possible, we cast at a typical size (16.5–17 for women, 19–20 for men) and offer one free resize within ±2 sizes during the first year.

What custom can't do

The honest "no" cases:

An exact copy of another designer's piece. Sending a photo of someone else's ring with "make this one" — that's a no. We can work "in the same direction" but with a STRUGA voice and modified geometry. Direct replication isn't part of the practice.

Brand replicas. Tiffany Setting, Cartier Trinity, Bulgari B.zero1 — registered trademarks. We don't reproduce them.

Stones of unverified origin. A stone arriving without provenance documentation, where the provenance points to a sanctioned conflict zone (post-coup Myanmar, certain African sources without certification) — declined. We'll explain plainly.

Casting from "your" raw metal. Occasionally clients ask: "I'll send a gold bar; cast the ring from that." Technically possible but we don't do it — the alloy purity can't be guaranteed without smelting analysis. STRUGA uses metal from our own vetted suppliers only.

What a brief usually looks like

Most commissions begin the same way: a stone or a feeling, a budget, a date. Some clients arrive with a clear picture — a particular colour, a texture, a form they've seen and want reworked. Others arrive with only a direction and let the sketches narrow it down.

The common thread is that the ring is built around one decision the client cares about — the stone they chose, the texture that means something, the form that reads as theirs and no one else's. The brief is short. The work is in getting that one decision right.

FAQ

Is a custom engagement ring just a resized catalogue ring?

No. A catalogue ring is built to an approved design at standard sizes and ships in 5–10 days. A custom commission starts from a blank page and your story — no fixed design, no fixed stone — and costs 30–50% more because the price covers the design hours, a one-of-a-kind casting model, and a test cast. The result exists in a single instance.

Is a custom commission the same as a replica of a designer ring?

No. STRUGA can work in the same direction as a reference but with its own voice and modified geometry. A direct copy of another designer's piece, or a brand replica such as Tiffany Setting, Cartier Trinity, or Bulgari B.zero1, is declined — those are registered trademarks and not part of the practice.

Is the deposit the same as a non-refundable payment?

Not at first. The deposit is refundable during the sketch phase, less the design hours already spent. It becomes non-refundable only once production starts and metal and stones are committed to your specific ring.

How long does a custom engagement ring take to make?

3–5 weeks from sketch approval to shipment. An express track at 2.5–3 weeks is available with a 20% surcharge. Allow an additional 5–10 business days for international DHL transit.

Can the ring be commissioned fully remotely?

Yes. The vast majority of STRUGA's custom commissions run entirely by email and WhatsApp, with a video call on request. Sizing, stone selection, and design approval all happen remotely.

What is the entry price for a custom engagement ring?

From $180 — 925 silver without a stone, fully bespoke form. That is a complete custom build: sketch round, casting from a wax model, hand finishing. Not a stamped or scaled piece.

What stones can be set in a custom ring?

Sapphire, ruby, emerald, morganite, aquamarine, tourmaline, labradorite, opal, black spinel, moonstone, Seymchan meteorite, lab-grown alternatives, and white or coloured diamonds. Heirloom and inherited stones can be supplied for setting in a new commission.

What if the ring doesn't fit when it arrives?

Sizing is free within ±2 sizes during the first year after delivery. Ship the ring back via tracked mail, the workshop adjusts it, and ships it back. Larger size changes or design modifications are quoted separately.