How Long Does a Jewelry Order Take From RFQ to Shipment

Most buyers plan an order from the wrong date. They count from the day they write the RFQ; the factory counts from the day the sample is approved. Those two dates can be six weeks apart, and nothing in between belongs to production.

This is a walk through the six phases that actually sit between an enquiry and a carton leaving the warehouse — and through the two phases where you, not the factory, hold the clock.

Six phases, and who owns each one

1. Brief and quote. You send dimensions, materials, finish, logo method, packaging, destination market and volume. This is usually a day or two, and it is the phase a complete brief shortens most — see how to brief a manufacturer.
2. Sampling. About 15 days on the metal and box lines. This is where wax modelling, 3D printing, casting, stamping or die making happens, followed by the finish. The mechanics are in why sampling takes 15 days.
3. Your approval. Undefined, and it is the most expensive undefined number in the schedule. Every day here is a day the production clock has not started.
4. Bulk production. About 45 days for stainless steel jewelry and boxes, closer to 25 for bead strands because they are strung rather than cast or plated. Why it takes that long is set out in why bulk production takes 45 days.
5. Inspection, packing and export handling. Covered in the quoted production time where the quote is honest about it; ask which freight terms that puts you on, EXW Shenzhen or DDP.
6. Freight and customs. Not production time at all, and not in anyone's 45 days. See shipping, costs and customs.

The number to write on your own plan

If you want a single figure to plan backwards from:

RFQ date + 15 days sampling + your approval time + 45 days bulk + freight and clearance.

The only variable you do not control is your own approval delay. Everything else is either fixed by the product or fixed by your brief.

Two places you can recover days without paying for them

• A complete first brief. Dimensions, materials per component, finish method with a target thickness, logo method and placement, packaging, destination market. A second round of questions usually costs a week, and it is charged to your schedule rather than to anyone's invoice.
• Approving on the day the sample arrives. The sample does not sit in a queue; it sits in your inbox. Buyers who send feedback in writing the same week, bundling all the changes rather than dribbling them, routinely take two weeks out of a programme.

The third thing that helps is not really a saving: approving a sample you have already specified properly. A sample that arrives because the brief was precise will not need a second round.

What actually moves the date

Three of the commonest causes of a slipped ship date have little to do with the factory's speed:

• Design changes after tooling starts. A change to the shape or the finish after the die is cut restarts a step, not adjusts it. This is the single most expensive change in the industry and it is entirely avoidable.
• Late artwork for cartons and print. Packaging print is part of the order and waits for nobody. Either give print-ready artwork with the brief or put the carton print on a separate date.
• A holiday in the middle. Chinese New Year shuts a production cluster for a week or more, and the six weeks before it are when every factory in the region is trying to finish. Plan for it rather than discovering it — seasonal deadlines goes through the calendar.

How to hold a factory to the plan

Ask for three dates instead of one date: when the die will be ready, when the sample will ship, and when bulk production will finish. A supplier who can give you those three and update them as they move is giving you a schedule. A supplier who gives you one number and never revises it is giving you a slogan.

Then put the dates in the order confirmation in writing, with what happens if the sample ships late for their reasons rather than yours. That clause does more for your schedule than any chasing.

Where we stand

We will state three dates per order in writing — die ready, sample out, bulk finished — and we answer enquiries within 24 hours, which is the part of the schedule you control. What we will not do is compress plating cure time or start your bulk around a holiday, because both produce a problem that arrives later than the date you were trying to hit.

To see which parts of a quote move the date, see what changes a supplier's quote, and for the ones you cannot change, minimum quantities and lead times.

Does the 45 days include shipping?

No. It covers production and, where a quote states it, inspection and packing. Freight, customs clearance and holiday shutdowns sit outside it. Ask a supplier to break the number into phases and you will see exactly where it stops.

When does the bulk clock start?

At sample approval, not at order confirmation. If you approve the sample in writing on the day it arrives, the bulk clock starts that day. If you take two weeks to approve, it starts two weeks later, and nothing about the production itself has changed.

Can we start bulk before the sample is approved?

You can, and you generally should not. Without approval you are paying for a production run against a drawing, which is where the expensive rework comes from.

What if we need the goods for a fixed retail date?

Work backwards from that date and book the sampling, not the bulk. Sampling is the phase most often left out of a launch plan, and it is the one with the longest fixed cost.

How long does a reorder take?

A repeat of an approved design without a new die starts bulk earlier, but it still has plating and inspection ahead of it. Ask us for the three dates on the specific reorder rather than assuming it is a shorter clock.

Do you hold stock so we can reorder fast?

No. We manufacture to order and hold no inventory, so every reorder begins at the sampling stage. If your model depends on same-week replenishment, that is a different kind of supplier from us — see services and minimums.

Next step

Send the brief with all six items above and ask for the three dates. We will give them in writing for your order. Contact FSC CRAFT.

Related: Why sampling takes 15 days · Why bulk production takes 45 days · What a lead time quote leaves out · Seasonal delivery deadlines

← Why Bulk Jewelry Production Takes 45 Days

Why Jewelry Boxes Have a 500-Piece MOQ →

Part of the wholesale page: The full clock, RFQ to shipment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which date should an order be planned from?

Sample approval, not the RFQ. Production is counted from the day the sample is signed off, so a plan built on the RFQ date starts late before anything has gone wrong at all.

What does the 45-day figure cover?

Production from the approved sample, including finishing, inspection and packing. It does not cover tooling for a new design, the freight, or the time your own approvals take, and those are the three gaps in most plans.

How long does the enquiry itself take?

A day if the brief is complete, and up to two weeks if it is not. Inquiries are answered inside 24 hours, so the wait is usually on our side waiting for dimensions, finish or quantity to be decided.

What this means for your order

If you are still deciding, one thing decides this for you: how complete the brief is at approval, since the clock that matters starts there and not at the first message. Everything else on a quote page is presentation.

Where this falls short reading one lead-time figure as a promise, because the number that sets your ship date is the total of the milestones behind it.

What to send us A rough brief is enough to start, and we will come back with an honest step-by-step date.