Bespoke jewellery in South Africa, designed with you and made on our bench.

The cutting-house advantage in bespoke work

Most bespoke jewellery in South Africa is made by a designer or setter who buys the diamonds in already polished, from a wholesaler, then builds the piece around them. That works, but it sets a ceiling on two things: the price (there is a margin on the stone before it ever reaches the bench) and the matching (you take the stones the supplier happens to have). Prodiam starts a step earlier. We are a Johannesburg diamond dealer and cutting house, directed by Darren Etkind; we buy rough at De Beers DBCM viewings and South African tender houses, and we cut and polish the stones in-house at Procut DCW to GIA Excellent cut grade. Only then do we design and build the jewellery. Beginning with the rough is what lets us price wholesale-direct rather than retail, and it is what lets us match stones precisely: a perfect pair of earrings within one colour and one clarity grade, or every diamond along a tennis line cut to agree, a thing a bench buying stones in finished can rarely do as closely.

It also means a single house holds the whole chain. The same people who source and cut the diamond design the piece, cast it, set it and hand it over, so the stone never leaves a documented custody and the certificate travels with the finished work. For a bespoke commission, where the value sits almost entirely in the stones and the making, that short, traceable chain is the difference between a fair price and a marked-up one.

What we make to order

Bespoke at Prodiam is the default, not a premium add-on, and it runs across every category of fine jewellery, not just engagement rings. Each piece is built to your brief, set with natural diamonds we have cut or matched ourselves, and priced on application:

• Rings of every kind, engagement rings, wedding and eternity bands, right-hand and dress rings, and signet rings, in 18k white, yellow or rose gold, or platinum.
• Pendants and necklaces, solitaire, halo, three-stone and cluster pendants on a matched chain, the centre stone supplied with its own GIA report.
• Earrings, stud, halo and drop, with the two centre stones matched into a true pair within one colour and one clarity grade.
• Bracelets, tennis and line bracelets with every diamond cut and matched along the run, plus bangle and station styles.
• Resets and remodels, an inherited or existing stone built into a new piece, or a tired heirloom reworked into something worn again.

If you would rather begin with the stone than the design, you can search our live diamond inventory and see fully-landed ZAR prices on GIA-certified natural diamonds, then have us build the piece around the one you choose. Not sure where to start? Tell us what the piece is for and Darren will point you the right way within 24 hours.

How a bespoke commission is made, step by step

1. 01

   Brief

   We talk through the piece, the kind of jewellery, the stone shape and carat weight, the colour and clarity range, the design direction, the metal, your budget and your deadline, in person by appointment or by video. We respond within 24 hours and agree the brief in writing.

2. 02

   Stone & quote

   We cut or match the diamonds at Procut DCW, or source to your spec, and quote a firm ZAR figure in writing, against the stones, the metal and the making, with VAT shown, before any work begins. If you are supplying your own stone, we read it honestly first.

3. 03

   Sketch or CAD

   A hand sketch for simpler pieces, or a computer-aided design render for anything intricate, sent for sign-off. We revise until you are happy, and a resin or wax fit-check is available for complex profiles before any metal is committed.

4. 04

   Cast

   The approved design is cast in 18k white, yellow or rose gold, or platinum, with any calibrated side stones or matched accents prepared on the bench alongside it.

5. 05

   Set & finish

   Each diamond is set at the bench and the piece hand-polished to a mirror finish, then checked under loupe and microscope for quality control before it leaves us.

6. 06

   Hand-over

   Presentation at Bedfordview by appointment, or insured overnight courier nationwide via Brink’s or G4S. GIA / EGL certification, a written insurance valuation, and full provenance paperwork are included.

Designing around a stone you already own

A bespoke piece does not have to start with a new diamond. A loose stone bought elsewhere, a diamond traded back to you, or an inherited stone in a setting nobody wears can all become the heart of something new. For any stone we did not cut, the commission opens with an honest read: we confirm what the GIA report says, or grade the stone fresh if there is no current report, identify the inclusions on the plot, and tell you candidly what you have. If a lower-tier laboratory has overgraded it, we say so. If the cut sits well below modern targets and a recut would meaningfully change the piece, we tell you what the weight loss and the benefit would be, and leave the decision to you. We sell diamonds for a living, so we read them straight when you bring one in.

Because the stone is yours, we price only the design and the manufacturing, never a centre-stone margin. Resetting a single stone into a new piece runs through our stone-you-own service; reworking a whole inherited piece, where the metal as well as the stone is part of the story, runs through heirloom redesign and remodelling. Either way, the original metal is returned to you, and you decide whether it is refined into the new piece or kept as it is. If a piece simply needs attention rather than a redesign, resizing and repair covers resizing, claw and shank work, and replacing a lost stone on the same bench.

Realistic timelines, and how price is built

Most made-to-order pieces run about three to six weeks from approved design to finished item. Commissions that involve regrading a stone, a recut, or matching a full line of diamonds sit a little longer, usually six to ten weeks. The honest answer is that the bench, not the brief, sets the pace, and we would rather tell you a true date than a flattering one, so bring your deadline to the brief and we will confirm whether it is achievable before you commit.

On price, a bespoke piece is built up from its parts rather than marked up from a ticket. The diamonds usually account for most of the cost, set by carat, colour, clarity and cut against the Rapaport list less a trade discount, converted from dollars to rand, with 15% VAT added; the metal weight and the design and bench work sit on top. Carat price climbs faster than carat weight, and the round numbers (the half-carat, the full carat, the two-carat) carry a small premium of their own, which is why a stone a hair under a magic weight can be the smart buy. You see each element rather than one opaque figure, and the quote is firm and in writing before work starts. For live, fully-landed ZAR figures on specific stones, the source-a-diamond inventory is the place to look.

Where to go next

Everything below is made to order on the Bedfordview bench. Pick the route that fits the piece you have in mind, or simply brief us directly and we will steer you.

• Bespoke engagement rings The engagement-ring commission in full, solitaire, halo, hidden-halo or three-stone, built around a single hero diamond cut on our own bench. →
• A ring around a stone you own Bring a loose, traded-back or separately-sourced diamond and we design and build the ring around it, with no centre-stone margin and an honest read of the stone first. →
• Heirloom redesign & remodelling Inherited rings, retired bands and family stones graded, recut where it genuinely helps, and remade into a piece the next generation will wear. →
• Resizing & repair When a piece needs the bench but not a full redesign, resizing, claw and shank repair, and replacing a lost stone, handled by the same hands that make our rings. →
• Fine jewellery, made to order The wider category beyond rings, pendants, earrings, bracelets and dress pieces, set with natural diamonds we have cut or matched ourselves. →
• The ProJewel range Our fine-jewellery range and recent bench commissions, to brief from directly or take as a starting point for a piece of your own. →
• Choose the diamond shape Round, oval, cushion, emerald, pear, princess, marquise and radiant compared, the first decision before any bespoke design begins. →
• Source the stone first Search live inventory and see fully-landed ZAR prices on GIA-certified natural diamonds, then have us design the piece around the one you choose. →

Bespoke jewellery in South Africa: common questions

Last reviewed: June 2026.