Our Craftsmanship

Facts: 1 of 3

Lost Wax Casting

At Pandora, we use the ancient crafting technique of 'lost wax casting' to create the metal parts of our jewelry.

Facts: 2 of 3

Many pieces to be made

The lost wax casting process works perfectly for larger productions, making it both economical and affordable.

Facts: 3 of 3

For all the detail

Fine details look beautiful on cast jewelry, making lost wax casting perfect for complex as well as minimalist designs.

1. The design process

Comprising six steps that transform ideas into real, tangible prototypes, we begin by identifying current trends, gathering customer feedback and evaluating local market needs. After analyzing the data, we then move onto the creative process, where our design department begins to create mood boards that shape each new collection. Here, the new collection’s general direction and expression starts to take shape. Sketches of individual designs are created, with details continually being added, subtracted or updated to ensure the final design is perfect.

2. Design and sample development

All new jewelry design ideas are shaped into prototypes throughout a lengthy design process with our design team and craftspeople. In the final stage of the design process, the final designs are selected by our Pandora representatives for launch in the new collection.

3. Rubber mould cutting

We create a rubber mold by pressing several layers of rubber around the jewelry master and vulcanizing the form. This chemical process (Vulcan) converts natural rubber into a more durable material through the use of sulfur. The jewelry master is then cut away, leaving behind a rubber mold with an identical hollow impression.

4. Wax model

The rubber mold is injected with molten wax and two metal plates are pressed on either side of the mold to prevent the wax from running out – which hardens into exact copies of the original jewelry master. The wax model is allowed to cool for a few minutes before being removed from the rubber mold. Each rubber mold is very efficient; it can be reused up to 2000 times.

5. Treeing

The wax model is cleaned and attached to a wax tree with a burner, adding more wax models until the tree is full.

6. Burnout ovens

The wax trees are then placed into metal cylinders to create plaster molds. The cylinders are filled with liquid gypsum and heated in a burnout oven for several hours, baking the gypsum into a hard plaster and melting and evaporating the wax. The process leaves chambers in the plaster, shaped as the jewelry master.

7. Casting

The plaster molds then go into a casting machine into which silver or gold alloy is poured. The metal alloy melts down into the forms, replicating the jewelry master.

8. Cleaning

When the plaster casts have cooled down, the metal trees are removed from inside and cleaned to remove any residue.

9. Cutting

The jewelry forms are cut from the tree. Any surplus metal is refined and reused.

10. Grinding

The next step removes the nub of the metal left behind when cutting the piece from the tree, preparing the metal for further refinement.

11. In-line quality control

There are many quality control checkpoints during our crafting process, the timing of which varies from one crafting facility to another. This tends to be where our first check takes place.

12. Assembling, soldering and stone setting

Pandora’s skilled goldsmiths adorn and detail our jewelry designs using a variety of crafting techniques. Different elements are assembled and soldered as necessary to create the finished masterpieces. For instance, fitting clasps on bracelets and necklaces, soldering bails on dangles, adding metal cores inside glass and stone charms or silicone grips inside clips and creating adorable movable features on Pandora Friends charms. Stones are set by hand, either directly in the metal or in the wax model, using many classic settings which secure and showcase them to maximum effect. See the Stone Setting chapter for further information about the different types of stone settings we use.

13. Polishing and tumbling

Every piece of jewelry is polished beautifully before the all-important quality control check. The jewelry is placed in a special tumbler machine to smooth and buff the surface before ultrasonic cleaning removes any residue.

14. Surface textures

This step creates different surface effects on metals, such as high shine and satin effects and diamond pointing, which creates an intriguing texture that is both matte and brilliant without using stones. Originating in the 17th century and reinvented for jewelry in the last century, the technique involves using a diamond-pointed tool to prick the surface of the metal to create the effect.

15. Oxidation and plating

In this step, special finishes are added to selected high-quality metals to create different tones and contrasts. Finishes include oxidisation, e-coating (electric coating also known as electrophoretic painting, electrocoating and electropainting) and plating on our unique metal blends – ruthenium, 14k gold and 14k rose gold.

16. Enameling and gluing

Enamelling is a decoration often used on Pandora jewelry. Colors are mixed in-house and the glossy, hardwearing enamel is applied to the jewelry by hand using a thin needle, or by hand painting for shaded enamel effects. Treated freshwater cultured pearls and lacquered artificial pearls are also set by hand, carefully glued onto traditional peg settings. These processes always take place after polishing and tumbling.

17. Final quality control

All pieces of jewelry go through a rigorous quality control process and it is here they are given the final sign-off as meeting Pandora’s strict standards of quality.

18. Packing and shipping

The final step is packing the hand-finished Pandora jewelry and shipping it around the world, ready for women to wear, style and cherish.