Getting images engraved onto silver - advice much needed

[joshd1410]

Hello! I've got a customer who wants drawings of their cats' faces engraved onto some kind of bracelet. There are 5 different faces in total which are all to be engraved onto one single piece of silver sheet, almost like a name plate but with cat faces instead of letters!

I've contacted a local engraving place and explained the task and the quote they came back to me with seems a tad excessive. They've quoted £18 set up for each of the faces and a seperate £25 fee for "sharp diamond engraving".

Obviously they are completely entitled to charge what they feel is right for the task and I respect that. I honestly had thought that it would be much cheaper though.

Now I'm by no means a source of knowledge on engraving machines or their functions at all so I wanted to ask for some advice. Is there a cheaper way of getting this done? What would the best way be to do it? In my mind I had the idea that all 5 faces could be one single image which could be loaded into the software of the engraving machine and engraved on the bar all at once. I also would have personally thought that this task would have been more suited to a laser engraver but could be wrong. Anybody got some words of wisdom for me here? Maybe a recommendation of somewhere that could do this sort of thing for me. Also what could I reasonably expect to pay for this?

Thanks in advance for any advice and happy holidays!

[handmadeblanks]

Hello! I've got a customer who wants drawings of their cats' faces engraved onto some kind of bracelet. There are 5 different faces in total which are all to be engraved onto one single piece of silver sheet, almost like a name plate but with cat faces instead of letters!

I've contacted a local engraving place and explained the task and the quote they came back to me with seems a tad excessive. They've quoted £18 set up for each of the faces and a seperate £25 fee for "sharp diamond engraving".

Obviously they are completely entitled to charge what they feel is right for the task and I respect that. I honestly had thought that it would be much cheaper though.

Now I'm by no means a source of knowledge on engraving machines or their functions at all so I wanted to ask for some advice. Is there a cheaper way of getting this done? What would the best way be to do it? In my mind I had the idea that all 5 faces could be one single image which could be loaded into the software of the engraving machine and engraved on the bar all at once. I also would have personally thought that this task would have been more suited to a laser engraver but could be wrong. Anybody got some words of wisdom for me here? Maybe a recommendation of somewhere that could do this sort of thing for me. Also what could I reasonably expect to pay for this?

Thanks in advance for any advice and happy holidays!

Hi,

Have you tried searching Instagram or Etsy for personalised jewellery or photo engraving? There seems to be so many people who can do what you need.

[Dennis]

If you have a sharp image then photo etching or laser engraving would be a way forward. It will be expensive which ever way you choose, but try Getty Titanium for laser engraving in the first instance:
https://www.getistockists.co.uk/article/geti-engraving-service-information.html

[ps_bond]

I don't think that price sounds excessive - invariably the data you get to work with is not a format that can be used without more work and the subsequent cost doesn't sound too bad. If you've asked for 5 different faces then that's 5 different lots of set-up times, but if you want them all done on one piece you might get away with it. Worth asking at least. However, is this a trade jewellery engraver or a high street trophy engraver?

Stippled & laser engraved seem to lend themselves more to photo reproduction - once you start looking at hand cut bulino then the quoted prices won't seem high any more :D

[joshd1410]

I don't think that price sounds excessive - invariably the data you get to work with is not a format that can be used without more work and the subsequent cost doesn't sound too bad. If you've asked for 5 different faces then that's 5 different lots of set-up times, but if you want them all done on one piece you might get away with it. Worth asking at least. However, is this a trade jewellery engraver or a high street trophy engraver?

Stippled & laser engraved seem to lend themselves more to photo reproduction - once you start looking at hand cut bulino then the quoted prices won't seem high any more :D

It's a high street engraving shop and so far they've been the only enquiry I've made. I'm almost certain that if I go to the customer with that price it won't be well received but I want to know if it's worth looking around a bit more. The items that I actually sell are in a price range where it seems silly to spend that much on getting them engraved. I may just have to suggest that he tries another seller/business because as much as I want the custom I'm really not set up for engraving work seeing as I don't have a machine myself! He was referred by another customer of mine so thought I would do what I can. Ah well will tell him what I've found out and he can decide for himself I suppose. Thanks for all the replies and info, much appreciated.

Merry christmas all!