An Olean Jeweler Can Make Your Dreams a Reality

Got an idea for a piece of jewelry and don’t know just how to transform it into a reality? There’s a place on Union Street in Olean that can help with the precision of a larger city jewelry shop.

Three years ago, Terry Klein and his wife, Marianne, owners of  Custom Creations, invested in a system that gives the customer the ability to proof the work before it ever hits the mold. The shop went on to purchase Matrix 3D, a jewelry design CAD-CAM program, and a multi-axis milling machine. The process begins with a customer coming through the door with an idea, say a ring, that they would like. That concept is relayed to the designers on staff – all who have been extensively trained on the program. 

Matrix 3D was created by Gemvision Corp. in Davenport Iowa, a company specializing in technology for the jewelry industry. Custom Creations sent staff members directly to their headquarters for extensive training on Matrix 3D. This technology and training has advanced the creativity and precision of all jewelry designs created by Custom Creations.

“Designing jewelry used to be a tedious and imprecise process’” Terry said. “Traditional methods include hand sketching the item then hand carving the wax model for the customer to approve. If changes need to be made, the process starts over.”

Once the jeweler has designed a piece of jewelry on the Matrix software, which can take anywhere from several hours to several days depending on the design, he can render a 3 dimensional photo of the piece to show a customer how the piece will look before it is made.

“I have been working on the designing software for two and a half years and there are buttons on it that I will never use,” Terry said. “You get used to doing something a certain way and you build on that.”

The next step in creating the piece is to move the design from the computer to the multi-axis milling machine. That will take all the the information from the design and cut that exact design out of a special type of hard wax. When this process is finished we have the prototype of the designed piece. The milling process can take up to several days to complete, depending on the intricacies of the design.

Next, the wax prototype is encased in what is called an investment, a type of high temperature plaster, inside a steel cylinder. The investment goes through a vacuum process to eliminate any air bubbles and to make sure the plaster fills all gaps around the wax mold. The investment must cure for a minimum of 6 hours.

The next step after the investment has cured is to place it in a high temperature kiln for 15 to 21 hours. The temperature is graduated over that time, going from 300 degrees in the initial 3 hours, to 550 for the next 4 hours, 7450 for 6 hours, 1,300 for 5 hours and 800 for 3 hours. During this process the wax mold will melt away leaving  negative impression of the prototype.

The cylinder, called a flask, filled with the hot plaster, is removed from the kiln and placed in a centrifugal casting machine. The process is done very quickly to prevent the plaster from cooling. The gold casting metal, called casting grain, is placed in a crucible and heated with a torch until molten and then quickly spun into the caster. This throws the molten gold into the flask and the gold fills the negative left behind by the wax. The flask is then cooled for 5 to 8 minutes to allow the gold to harden, and the flask is then removed from the caster. The flask is submerged into water to speed up the cooling process. When cooled, the plaster is washed off and the jewelry begins to take form.

After the gold piece is cleaned of all the plaster, it is called a rough cast. The piece now goes through the polishing stage. In the polishing room, the casting is placed on a machine with several buffing wheels. The polishing makes the gold shinny. This process can take up to an hour. Once the polishing is finished, the piece goes into an ultrasonic cleaner. This process removes any polishing compounds that may have been left behind from the wheels.

Once the jewelry has been polished and cleaned, the jeweler can start setting the stones, or doing any engraving that may need to be done. Once all the work is completed, the piece is polished and cleaned one more time before it is delivered to the customer.

The process can be used to help keep that sentimental meaning in a new piece of jewelry, Marianne and Terry said.

“We have taken the wedding band of a lost spouse and melted it down to produce a more fitting piece of jewelry so the survivor can still have that piece close to them,” Marianne said.

“We can use old gold for many new pieces,” Terry added. “We simply remove the stones and melt the piece down in the process and recast it. Using old gold makes the process a little more affordable.

“If (you) want white gold, we can take the gold in on trade and switch it in on white gold,” Terry said. “We can take several pieces and take the stones out of them and make them one piece.”

Custom Creations is leading the trend towards computerized custom design with Matrix 3D Jewelry design software. This state of the art system allows customers to see their design from every angle before it is even made. Details can be seen on screen and in scale so you get exactly what you are looking for. Whether you want to remount an outdated ring or custom design your dream necklace, creating it with CAD-CAM is the most accurate way to do it. 

The staff at Custom Creations works primarily in Sterling Sliver and gold. 

“We can take platinum, but we have to ship it out because it has to be melted in an oxygen-free environment,” Marianne said. “We have a casting company that will do platinum pieces for us. We do not do steel or titanium because we do not have the set up for them at this time. We have hand done things in those metals.”

In anticipation of this exciting new technology Custom Creations has made major changes at their storefront location as well. Marianne Klein has redesigned the store to better serve their design needs. The most important part of the redesign is the new Jewelry Design Studio that allows the designer to sit with the customer to discuss their design more privately. Terry Klein, owner and jewelry designer said in his 35 years in the jewelry business this is the most innovative tool that has come along and will revolutionize the jewelry business.

This new direction also will allow Custom Creations to develop their own jewelry line and they have plans for an Internet store in the near future. This is quite an investment for a small community business but Custom Creations feel confident that this is the right course for them and their customers. Custom Creations is proud and excited to be part of a small group of jewelers nationwide to be able to offer this service to our valued customers. “Give us your thoughts and we’ll design your dreams.”