Custom Jewellery design
More than a purchase
This is an Experience
Choosing The Sapphire Merchant to craft your moment defining treasure is an experience of world-class expertise, highly personalised service, and access to New Zealand’s most comprehensive gemstone collection, it’s bespoke luxury you can trust.
Choosing to create custom made with us
How it works
We believe gemstones are the ultimate extraordinary. We’re passionate about finding the perfectly matched custodian for each and every gemstone in our collection. This means understanding your unique needs, vision, and story is paramount to us.
Step One
Step two
Step Three
Step four
Step five
Step six
Step 1
Choose Your Gemstone
With an ever-expanding collection of sapphires and precious gemstones, browse our online store and choose your perfect gemstone. On request, we provide videos of the gemstone on the hand so you can better understand the proportions and how the gemstone would look when set into a ring. If you have specific gemstone requirements and cannot find what you are looking for in our online store, we offer a no-obligation gem brokering service, sourcing gemstone options for you within hours. Contact us for assistance with choosing your precious gemstone.
Step 2
Buy or Reserve your Gemstone
Purchase a gemstone outright, and we include a free CAD design with your purchase. Alternatively, for a fee of $250, we place a reserve on any gemstone in our store while we complete a CAD design for you. This reservation fee is non-fundable and is applied as a credit toward your custom jewellery piece.
Step 3
The Design Process (CAD)
Once you have selected your gemstone, the design process begins. We collaborate with you to understand your vision for your finished jewellery piece. You may have pictures of design ideas, and we can use these as inspiration. Using computer-aided design (CAD) technology, we transform your ideas into a detailed 3D model. You have the flexibility to customise every aspect of your design, and we will guide you through this creative process to ensure your unique vision is realised. Our package offers three CAD revisions, and further adjustments are charged at $50 per revision.
Step 4
The Quotation
Once your design is perfected, a quote is supplied to you. We quote 9k, 14k, and 18k yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, and platinum or silver on request. We can also quote different diamond grades, including natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds if you have incorporated these into your design. This gives you options around the final price and allows you to tailor the finished jewellery piece to your budget.
Step 5
Crafting your Jewellery Piece
Upon confirmation of the quote, the work to craft your custom jewellery piece begins. We have a small team of skilled artisans who work for us to create our high-quality jewellery pieces. The jewellery piece moves through wax moulding, casting, filing, gemstone and diamond setting and polish. This process takes 2-3 weeks.
Step 6
The Reveal
We know how special this jewellery piece is; our simple and elegant packaging reflects this. Choose a white ring box or a black ring box to house your treasure. All documentation is included, and we will wrap your jewellery piece up with love. We use an overnight target signature requested courier for New Zealand-wide delivery with additional insurance cover. For international orders, we use FedEx, which takes 4-5 days to deliver. For further information, read our Frequently Asked Questions →
New Zealand’s Premier gemstone retailer
OUR MISSION
We bring the world’s finest naturally-coloured precious gemstones to New Zealand, travelling direct to source to unearth the perfect match for you. We’re passionate about this mission.
We see precious gemstones as the ultimate extraordinary and finding the right custodian for each gem is not a task we take lightly.
We’ve made it our mission to curate New Zealand’s premier gemstone collection, offering bespoke luxury and a world of choices without the high street price tag.
All our gems are naturally-coloured, most come with a lab report and all come with our personal guarantee.
A truly custom jewellery house
Craftsmanship
& Choice
We’ve spent years hand selecting the most talented craftsmen in the business, ensuring your moment defining jewellery is created with care, precision and excellence by craftsmen we trust.
From the premium metals you desire, to the precious gemstones you’d like included, the world is your oyster! We also have unprecedented access to any diamond through our Global Diamond database. We believe in creating something truly unique to you.
I found my dream sapphire & it was affordable!
“I had a look at the Sapphire Merchant website with a dream, thinking I’ll never be able to afford one... but I was super surprised! I found my dream sapphire and it was affordable! Gemma was a dream to deal with and really knows her stuff. It’s also great to know that all her gems are sourced ethically.”
Kate, NZ.
Bespoke Sapphire Ring
★★★★★
An expert who goes above & beyond
Gemma sourced the most beautiful, high-quality blue-green sapphire for my bespoke pendant. She is an expert who goes above and beyond to find your perfect gemstone.”
Kathryn, NZ.
Bespoke Pendant
★★★★★
Made the process easy & enjoyable
Just recently I purchased my stunning Padparadscha Sapphire. Such an incredible selection of shapes and colours to choose from. Gemma was so helpful in assisting me with my Sapphire purchase, selecting the right one for me. Her knowledge is extensive which made the process easy and enjoyable. Who needs Diamonds when you can have Sapphires.”
Susan, NZ.
Bespoke Ring
★★★★★
My now fiancé absolutely loves her ring
Gemma was extremely helpful in assisting me on my search for the perfect centre piece for an engagement ring. She is very knowledgeable and made the process fun and stress free. The final result wouldn’t be what it is without her input. My now fiancé absolutely loves her ring and the stunning Padparadscha Sapphire from Madagascar blew her away.”
Ollie, NZ.
Bespoke Engagement Ring
★★★★★
I highly recommend her business to anyone
When I found a Tsavorite on The Sapphire Merchant website I was very interested but nervous. I researched the gem thoroughly and everything matched what the Sapphire Merchant website said so I contacted Gemma to start a conversation. She answered my questions fully, including things I hadn’t thought to ask. Once I decided on a stone, we worked on ring designs together. I have now received my beautiful Tsavorite ring. It has been a pleasure working with Gemma throughout the process. I highly recommend her business to anyone.”
Alison, NZ.
Bespoke Ring
★★★★★
intrepid mavericks with a purpose
DIRECT
TO SOURCE
Every gemstone in our collection tells a story, of adventure, of faraway mines, of merchants and future custodians. It is our passion and purpose to uncover these stories and origins and weave them into your experience when you purchase through The Sapphire Merchant.
start browsing our gemstones →
Let's Talk About Your Design
We're here to help! If you have any questions about our process, gemstones, bespoke and exclusive designs, or you're ready to start talking about a design dream of your own, we'd love to hear it! Please contact us below and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
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