Choosing a jewellery manufacturer: ten questions to ask before your first order

1. Who actually makes the piece, and who owns the factory?

Trading companies and manufacturers are both legitimate, but they carry different accountability. Ask where the piece is made, who owns the premises, whether any step is subcontracted, and whose name is on the invoice. Ask whether you can visit or take a video tour.

It matters in law as well as in practice. Under the Australian Consumer Law an importer can be treated as the manufacturer when the actual maker has no Australian place of business, so ask which entity would answer to you for a fault.

2. How is gold stamped, and who stands behind the fineness?

Hallmarking is not mandatory in Australia, so the purity guarantee rests with the manufacturer or importer. AS 2140 sets out marking by fineness, such as 375, 585 and 750.

Ask which marks go on each piece, whether small items are stamped, and what the supplier will do if a piece tests under its stamp. Ask whether chains and findings match the grade of the piece.

3. What reports come with the diamonds, and what do they cover?

Ask which laboratory, such as IGI or GIA, and whether each report is for a loose stone or for the finished piece. A jewellery report for a multi-stone piece usually gives total estimated weight and colour and clarity as ranges, not a grade for every stone.

Ask whether the report is included in the price, and how the supplier keeps lab-grown and natural stones separate and screens small stones. Then verify each report number on the laboratory's own site.

4. What are the minimum order and lead times, in writing?

Get stock pieces and custom orders quoted separately. For each, ask for the minimum per design and per order, the lead time, and the event that starts the clock: deposit received, sample approved, or design signed off.

Ask what happens if the date is missed. A lead time with no remedy is a hope.

5. How long is a quote valid, and how does the gold price move it?

Gold prices change daily. Ask for a validity period on every quote, the currency, and how a price movement after the validity period is handled. Ask whether stones and metal are priced separately.

Then ask for the payment terms: deposit, when the balance is due, and what trade terms exist after a track record is established.

6. How is GST handled?

Ask whether the supplier is registered for GST, whether prices are quoted ex or inc GST, and who is the importer of record and pays duty and import GST on goods arriving from overseas.

You need a valid tax invoice to claim a GST credit on a purchase over $82.50 including GST, and a supplier has 28 days to give you one on request. A supplier who cannot issue a proper tax invoice is a cost to you, not a saving.

7. What is the returns, re-size and repair policy?

Separate faults from change of mind. Under consumer guarantees your customer comes to you, and the law gives a supplier a right to recover from the manufacturer for some guarantee failures, a right that cannot be contracted out. Ask how your supplier handles a fault found after sale: how long you have to report it, who pays freight, and the turnaround.

For re-sizing, ask which designs cannot be re-sized, such as eternity bands, full tennis bracelets and some bezel pieces, and what the charge and turnaround are.

8. Who insures the goods in transit?

Ask who carries the risk from dispatch until delivery, what value is insured (cost or retail), which carrier is used, whether a signature is required, and how long you have to report loss or damage. A shipment of gold and diamonds should never travel on a supplier's say-so alone.

9. What is the sample policy?

Ask whether samples are free or paid, whether the cost is credited against an order, and how long you have to return them. Ask whether a sample is representative of production in weight, finish and stone quality, and whether you may test it. A sample is only useful if the production run matches it.

10. How can I verify the certifications you claim?

Treat a claim as a starting point. The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) publishes a public member register at responsiblejewellery.com, searchable by company, showing membership status and certification status. A 'Member' has joined and is expected to achieve certification within two years. A 'Certified Member' has passed an independent third-party audit against the relevant RJC standard. The Code of Practices (COP) is the main standard: 45 provisions covering legal compliance, due diligence, labour, health and safety, and truthful marketing. Lab-grown producers can be certified to a separate Laboratory Grown Material Standard, and there is a distinct Chain of Custody certification. Certified members recertify every three years.

RJC certifies companies, not products. Its logo should not appear on a piece or imply that a piece is certified. Check the status is current, because RJC can suspend a profile for overdue audits.

The Kimberley Process applies to rough diamonds. It exists to keep conflict diamonds, rough stones used by rebel movements to fund war against governments, out of legitimate trade, and mined rough shipments need a certificate. It does not cover lab-grown rough diamond, which Canada's customs rules, for one, classify separately with no certificate required, and it does not follow a stone once cut and set. A Kimberley Process claim therefore says nothing about a lab-grown stone and only part of the story for a natural one.

For anything else, such as ISO certificates, ask for the certificate number and the issuing body, then check with that body.

SVN Diamonds publishes its trade terms on this site and is happy to be asked these ten questions in writing.