COMMISSION
How a commission works.
You send us a photo, or an idea. We paint it by hand under a microscope, fire it into glass at 1,470°F, and you see it twice before it ships — once as a design, once as the finished piece.
THE PROCESS
Five steps, two approvals.
- 01
Send us a photo, or an idea.
A clear picture, a few words, the exact text you want, an element you love — and anything we should know: the ear that sits differently, the gray that came in late.
- 02
We send you a design. You approve it.
Before any paint touches metal, you see how we intend to paint it. Changes at this stage are free and unlimited — it is far cheaper to change a design than a fired piece, for both of us.
- 03
We paint.
By hand, under a microscope, on silver or 18K gold. Fired between layers — a single piece may enter the kiln a dozen times. Photographs of it in progress come to you along the way.
- 04
We send you the finished piece. You approve it again.
Photographed in the studio, before it's packed. If something needs adjusting, we adjust it — free, as long as it doesn't contradict the design you approved.
- 05
It ships.
Tracked and insured, worldwide. About six weeks from the day you approve your design — express from four.
You approve it twice.
Most made-to-order jewelry asks you to trust a description. We would rather show you the piece.
The first approval is a design, before any paint touches metal. It settles the style — how the face, the flower, or the word reads at this size, what we bring forward, what we let go.
The second approval is the finished piece, photographed in the studio before it is packed. If something needs adjusting, we adjust it, free, as long as it isn't a change that contradicts the design you already approved.
That limit is a physical one, not a policy. Enamel can be added to. It cannot be taken away.
BEFORE YOU ORDER
What it will look like — and what it won't.
These pieces are small. A pendant is about an inch across; a signet face is smaller than that. The painting is done by hand, under a microscope.
At that size, the honest style is closer to watercolor than to photography. We do not paint every hair. Nobody can at this scale — and anything that claims to has been printed, not painted.
What we do paint is the shape of the face, where the colors meet, the markings that make them them, and the color of the eyes.
If you want it pushed toward realism, tell us at the start. We can build more direction into the fur — the way it lies, the way it breaks around the muzzle. It changes how we paint from the first layer, so it has to be decided at the beginning rather than at the end.
FIRED, NOT POURED
No two are alike.
Depth
Turn it in the light and the color moves. Layers of glass do that — each firing sits under the next. A poured resin surface stays flat however you tilt it.
Curve
Fire pulls the surface into a shallow lens. Look across the piece at a low angle and you can see it — the meniscus the kiln left behind.
Breath
One or two bubbles, held inside the glass. They are not a flaw; they are the record of 1,470°F, and no two pieces hold them in the same place.
Hardness
A fingernail leaves nothing on fired glass. Drawn across resin, it leaves a mark. This is the fastest test there is.
Difference
The same design, painted twice, produces two different objects. Yours will not look quite like anyone else's — and that is the part a machine cannot give you.
A design is where a piece begins, not where it ends. The fire has its own hand in it.
PRICING
What it costs, and what moves the price.
FOR THE MOMENT
950 Silver
From $329
Pendants from $329, rings from $380 — the exact price is set by the size and finish you choose, shown before you pay. One payment when you order. Refundable in full within 24 hours; 80% after you've seen your design; once you approve the design, it goes to the kiln and can't be refunded.
FOR GENERATIONS
Solid 18K Gold
From $2,000
Begins with a $150 design fee that covers the painter's time and is credited in full toward your piece. You approve the design, we quote the full price in writing, and nothing is cast or fired until the balance is settled.
THE FINE PRINT
The three things people ask first.
How long does it take?
About six weeks from the day you approve your design — painting, firing between layers, your final approval, then shipping. Black coats, merle, tabby, and any face where three or more colors meet take longer, and we'll tell you at the start if yours is one of those.
For a date that matters — a wedding, an anniversary, a birthday — give us three months and we'll work backwards from it with you.
Changes and revisions
At the design stage — free and unlimited, including trying a different photo. Nothing physical exists yet, so this is the stage to be difficult; it costs nothing but time.
Your design approval is the point where the shape is locked: the carving and the mold are made from the design you approve. From then on the form cannot change — colors and small details still can.
At the finished-piece stage — adjustments are free, as long as they don't contradict the design you approved. We can deepen a color, strengthen the fur direction, or sharpen a marking. We cannot change the shape, the composition, or the photo.
Watching it being made
Your commission is photographed as it goes — the drawing, the first layers, the piece coming out of the kiln. Those photos come to you along the way. You don't have to ask.
If you'd like them put together as a short film to keep, tell us at the start and we'll make you one.
Ready when you are.
Start with a photo, or just an idea. We'll take it from there.