Why Finished Pieces Weigh More or Less Than the Quoted Weight

Metal is priced by the gram, so weight is where custom jewelry disputes actually happen. The quoted weight was an estimate, the delivered weight is a fact, and the gap between them is nobody's fraud — it is the difference between a model and a bench.

Why the CAD weight is an estimate

CAD knows the model. It does not know the bench. It cannot model the filing that makes two parts fit, the metal the polishing wheel removes, the seat cut into a bearing, or the weld wire added at each joint. Fabricated construction adds its own drift in both directions: hand-forming wire and sheet stock rarely lands exactly on the modelled profile, and joints add metal the model never contained. A CAD weight is a good starting point and a poor promise.

Where the grams actually go

Weight moves in both directions, and buyers usually only watch one. Polish and fitting remove metal — on a mirror finish the removal is real and measurable. Seat cutting removes metal at every stone. On the other side, joint wire at each weld adds metal, and a workshop that chooses heavier stock for workability adds it by design: a wall that machines and finishes cleanly is sometimes heavier than the model's wall, because the model's wall was drawn at the minimum that looks right, not the minimum that works.

Why "exact weight" is not an honest promise

A supplier who guarantees exact grams is pricing the model, not the piece. Any quote that carries a weight should carry a tolerance band with it — stated as a range on the quotation, not a number discovered at delivery. The width of an honest band depends on the construction: a turned form and a hand-fabricated form do not drift by the same amount, and the quotation should say which regime applies.

How to compare quotations fairly

Three bases have to match before any two weight figures can be compared. The alloy basis — 18K carries nearly a third more gold per gram than 14K, so the alloy choice moves metal cost more than most design decisions do. The stone treatment — stones in or out of the stated weight. The finish — a heavy mirror polish and a brushed finish do not leave the same grams behind. The alloy comparison covers the first; the other two are questions to ask, not assumptions to make.

What to write into the order

A weight tolerance band. Who absorbs the variance — and the honest answer is usually shared within the band, not the supplier's problem alone. And the measurement basis: weighed before or after setting, before or after final polish. Defined once, weight stops being a dispute and becomes a line item.