The promise
Most trade casting services take seven to ten days for "fast" service. We don't. We organised the bench around a 3-day cycle and we hit it consistently.
- Quote in 24 hours. Fixed price, broken down (metal + casting fee + shipping). Not "starting from."
- Cast in 3 working days. From confirmed quote to piece on your bench.
- Insured EU shipping within the week. Most of Europe gets the cast piece the next working morning after dispatch.
- No minimum order. One piece, ten pieces, fifty — same workflow.
For the inside view of how we hold a 3-day cycle, see Trade casting in 3 days — what's actually happening at the bench.
Metals available
Each metal runs on its own crucible — no cross-contamination between alloys.
| Metal | Crucible temp | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 18kt yellow gold | ~1020°C | Standard EU 75% Au alloy. Available in three tones (warm, neutral, pale). |
| 14kt yellow gold | ~1080°C | EU 58.5% Au. The most common cast for trade volume work. |
| White gold (18kt or 14kt) | ~1450°C | Palladium-based alloy, no nickel. Rhodium plating offered as a finishing service. |
| Rose gold (18kt or 14kt) | ~1020°C | Copper-toned. Tones available from soft pink to deep rose. |
| Platinum (Pt950) | ~1850°C | Separate flask cycle, 5–7 day turnaround. Quoted distinctly. |
Customer-supplied gold accepted. Ship us scrap or refined material; we test the alloy before melt and document the weight in/out. Saves 0.3% per gram on the metal cost vs. our own stock.
CAD requirements
We accept .STL, .3DM (Rhino native), and .OBJ. For complex parametric geometries, .STP/.IGES also work — ask us.
Wall thickness: minimum 0.6 mm reliable, 0.4 mm possible with care. Below 0.4 mm flagged for review.
Sprue points: if you've placed them, we'll work to your placement. If not, we'll add them based on the geometry — typically at the heaviest section, away from visible surfaces.
Common pitfalls that cost a day:
- Water-traps (closed pockets that don't fill cleanly) — we'll suggest a vent
- Overhangs without supports — adds time at the wax-cleanup stage
- Mismatched mating surfaces (for two-part designs) — better caught at CAD than at the bench
A deeper guide is on the way at /trade/casting/cad-to-cast/.
Process
- Upload. CAD file lands in the trade portal before 12:00 for same-day quote. Larger jobs (10+ pieces) handled the same way.
- Quote. Fixed price by end of day, valid 14 days. Metal-fixing date stamped on the document.
- Confirm. Approve the quote, deposit (or trade-account terms), file enters the queue.
- Cast. Day 1 wax printed. Day 2 burnout, casting, devest. Day 3 cleanup, inspection, weight, photographs.
- Ship. Out by 16:00 of day 3, insured, tracked. EU next-working-morning typical.
Pricing — transparent, not hidden
Pricing is published, not negotiated. Three components:
- Metal cost — priced at the metal-fixing date stamped on your quote. London PM fix or Comex spot, plus our published spread.
- Casting fee — per-piece, by complexity band. Simple solitaire mount: lower band. Pavé halo with shoulder stones and underbasket: higher band.
- Shipping — banded by destination zone and insured value.
Full per-gram and per-piece tables on /trade/pricing/. Volume discounts at 5+, 20+, 50+ pieces per month for trade-account holders.
Quality control
Every cast piece is:
- Weight-checked against CAD-predicted weight (within 0.05g typical variance)
- Surface-inspected under 10x magnification
- Photographed — full piece + close-up of any concern area
- Documented in the trade portal, alongside the original CAD file
Reject rate at first inspection is consistently under 2%. Anything flagged goes back to the next available cycle at our cost — we tell you the same day, so you know before you've started setting.
Shipping
- EU: Brink's, DHL Premium, FedEx International Priority, depending on value. Most destinations next working morning after dispatch.
- UK: Same carriers; customs paperwork pre-filled.
- Non-EU: Brink's or Malca-Amit. Quoted up front including any duties payable on arrival.
- Insured: to declared value. Loss replaced or refunded.
Apply for a trade account
A trade account gets you: trade pricing (vs. one-off pricing for non-account jobs), a dedicated point of contact, faster quote turnaround, and 30-day terms after the first three jobs.
Required: company name, country, VAT/BTW number, contact name and email. Apply on /trade/.