Bespoke, Custom-Made and Client-Designed Jewellery Policy

Document code: RJ-LS-06

Version: 3.7

Version date: 27 September 2026

Effective date: 1 October 2026

Issued by: Ralph Jacobs SA (Pty) Ltd (reg. 2019/101093/07) and Ralph Jacobs NZ Limited (company no. 9334729) — see Where We Sell for which company sells to you

Supersedes: all earlier published versions of this document

This Policy applies to bespoke, custom-made, made-to-order, client-designed, client-approved, engraved, altered, remodelled, resized, sourced-stone and client-supplied-material jewellery.

If you are buying from outside South Africa, read this together with Where We Sell and Who You Buy From.

Custom orders are created or sourced for the customer’s selected specifications. They are generally not returnable for change of mind once accepted, sourced, altered, set, engraved or produced, subject always to statutory rights and the country-specific rules in Where We Sell.

This is not only about commissioned work, and it is not only in this policy. The same test appears in section 8A of Terms and Conditions and section 3 of Returns, Refunds, Repairs and Cancellations, because it applies just as much to something you bought from an ordinary product page as it does to a piece drawn from scratch. It is repeated here in more detail for commissioned work.

Most of what we sell is made after you order it, not taken off a shelf. We say so on the product page and in the showroom, because it changes your cancellation rights and you should know that before you pay, not afterwards.

An item is made to your specification where any of the following applies:

• you chose the components yourself through our Ring Builder, Earring Builder or Pendant Builder — you select the setting, then select the diamond or gemstone that goes into it;
• it is made or sized to your ring size or measurements;
• it carries engraving you specified;
• a stone was sourced to your brief; or
• a standard design was altered at your request — a different metal, a changed proportion, a different setting style.

Why this matters, plainly

A ring built from your chosen setting, with your chosen stone, in your size, is not a stock item. There is no second customer waiting for that exact combination in that exact size. If it comes back, it does not return to a shelf — it has to be broken down or re-made, and the stone the next customer wants is rarely the stone you chose.

That is why the law treats these items differently, and it is why we cannot take one back simply because you have changed your mind.

What the law says

For transactions with Ralph Jacobs SA (Pty) Ltd, the seven-day cancellation right under section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act does not apply to goods made to your specifications or clearly personalised. Where that exclusion applies to your order, we tell you before you pay — on the product page and again at checkout.

If your order is delivered in the European Union or the United Kingdom, the 14-day withdrawal right is excluded on the same basis.

For transactions with Ralph Jacobs NZ Limited, New Zealand law gives no general change-of-mind right in any event.

One exception, in your favour. If you bought as a result of direct marketing — an email campaign, an SMS, a direct message, or an approach we made to you personally — section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act gives you five business days to cancel, and that right carries no exclusion for custom goods. It applies to a commissioned piece as it does to anything else.

The five business days run from the later of the day the agreement was concluded or the day the goods were delivered to you — so on a commissioned piece, from delivery. You cancel without reason and without penalty, none of the cancellation charges in section 8 apply, and we refund you within 15 business days.

But if you came to us yourself, this does not apply to you. Section 16 is about being approached, not about changing your mind. The full position, including the seven-day right that applies to stock items and not to commissions, is in the table at section 8A of Terms and Conditions.

What this does not affect

None of the above touches your rights if something is wrong with the item. A made-to-order piece is still covered by your rights if it is defective, unsafe, not as described, or not fit for purpose — including the six-month right under the Consumer Protection Act, and the Consumer Guarantees Act where New Zealand law applies. We do not ask you to give those up.

The customer is responsible for checking all specifications before approval, including:

• ring size and measurement method;
• metal, alloy, colour and finish;
• stone type, size, grade and report details;
• engraving text, spelling and placement;
• design proportions and setting style;
• delivery and timing requirements; and
• whether the item is intended for a specific event or date.

Ralph Jacobs may require written approval of a quote, CAD, design, render, stone, ring size, engraving, production note or final order summary before starting work.

Once approval is given, changes may be refused or charged if work has started, materials have been ordered, stones have been allocated, or supplier commitments have been made.

A render is a computer picture of the design, not a photograph of your piece. It shows the design’s shape, proportions and stone layout. It does not show the hand-setting, bench work and polishing that follow, so the finished piece will not match the render in every small detail, and it should not be compared with it pixel by pixel.

What a render does commit us to. The finished piece must match the design you approved: the same style, stone layout, stone sizes and shapes, metal, proportions and features. A material difference from the approved design is not a tolerance. It is ours to put right.

CAD measurements are made before the piece is made. Metal is lost at every stage after the CAD: when the design is printed or milled in wax, when it is cast, and when it is finished and polished by hand. The amount cannot be exactly the same on every piece. We design in CAD with an allowance for this, so that the finished piece stays strong:

Platinum usually loses less than gold, so it tends to finish closer to the CAD. A band drawn below our range finishes smaller in proportion: for example, a band drawn at 1.7 mm usually finishes at about 1.5 to 1.6 mm.

A finished measurement of 1.8 mm or more, from a CAD in the ranges above, is the normal result of making the piece by hand, not a departure from the design. If a finished measurement matters to you, for example to match a wedding band, tell us before you approve the CAD and we will tell you what we can hold it to.

Handmade and custom jewellery may have reasonable tolerances in dimensions, finish, appearance, colour tone, stone appearance, texture, proportion, engraving and final polish. Tolerances do not permit defective, unsafe, materially non-conforming or materially misdescribed goods.

Metal marks. Our gold and platinum pieces are stamped with their fineness, for example 375 or 9ct for 9 carat gold, 750 or 18ct for 18 carat gold, and 950 for platinum, together with ZA. These are our own marks, stating the fineness of the metal we used. They are not an independent assay-office hallmark, and South Africa does not require one. Where a piece is sold into a country that requires an official hallmark, such as the United Kingdom, it is hallmarked there before it is delivered, as the law of that country requires. The fineness we stamp is the fineness of the metal the piece is made from. Solder is different: to join metal without melting the piece, solder must melt at a lower temperature, so it has a different make-up, may be of a lower fineness, and can contain other metals. A repair or resize therefore adds a small amount of solder that is not of the stamped fineness. This is normal jewellery practice and does not change what the piece is.

Where a stone is sourced for your piece rather than taken from our own holding, section 6A of Terms and Conditions applies in full — availability, substitution, pricing and holds.

The three points that matter most on a commission:

• The stone is not ours until it is bought. It is listed from a specialist third-party inventory, is available to other buyers at the same time, and the listing is not updated in real time. A stone can be sold elsewhere between your choosing it and our ordering it.
• If it is gone, we offer a replacement of at least equal grading and value, or better — never lower. You may accept it, or cancel that part of the commission and be refunded in full. We will not set a stone you have not agreed to.
• A hold lasts 24 hours and depends on the supplier granting it. It does not reserve the price beyond that period, and we do not hold a stone’s price for you unless we have said so in writing.

We recommend specifications that give a piece a reasonable working life in the way it will be worn. The main ones are:

If you want a design below our recommendation, we will tell you plainly what the risk is, suggest an alternative, and, if you still want it, ask you to sign a Design Specification Risk Acceptance before we start. It sets out, in writing, the specification you chose, our recommendation, and each risk you are accepting. We would rather have that conversation before we make the piece than after.

Why V-prongs on points. The point of a pear, princess or marquise is the thinnest and most exposed part of the stone, and the part most likely to chip or break if it is knocked. A V-shaped prong wraps and covers the point. A dotted or cat claw holds the stone but leaves the point exposed. If you prefer the look of a dotted or cat claw on a point, or fewer claws than we recommend, we will explain the risk, and we make it only after you sign the risk acceptance.

The acceptance is explained in Warranty and Care section 7. It never covers poor workmanship.

Inspections at least every six months. A piece made below our recommended specification must be inspected at least every six months, so that wear, a bent band or a loosening claw is found and put right early. The general inspection is always free, in our store or sent in by courier (you pay the courier and insurance both ways); anything beyond it is charged by JewelFix, and we tell you the price first. We record the dates on your acceptance and remind you when one is due. Any work found necessary is quoted first. See Warranty and Care section 5.

If the customer supplies stones, metal, heirloom jewellery or components, Ralph Jacobs may inspect them and may refuse work if the risk is unsuitable.

The customer must disclose known defects, treatments, repairs, cracks, chips, brittleness, provenance concerns and ownership issues. Ralph Jacobs is not liable for undisclosed weaknesses or inherent risks in client-supplied materials except where the law imposes liability.

We tell you about any unusual risk before you accept the design, and we ask you to acknowledge it in writing. That is what section 49 of the Consumer Protection Act requires, and it exists so that you know the risk before you commit.

Customer-supplied stones, metal, heirloom jewellery, trade-ins, remodelled jewellery or used jewellery may trigger second-hand goods, stolen-goods, precious-metal, customs, AML/CFT, sanctions, provenance or insurance controls depending on the source country and transaction structure.

Your own gold (South Africa only). If you give us gold to use towards your piece, we do not cast with it. We test its purity, refine it, and credit you by weight and purity at our internal rates, which we quote to you in writing before you agree. The credit is applied to your order. Because the gold is refined, there is no leftover metal to return. Gems in the pieces you hand over are removed and returned to you, or used in your design, as you choose. We accept your own gold in South Africa only, for orders with Ralph Jacobs SA (Pty) Ltd. Taking it in is recorded as the law on second-hand goods and anti-money-laundering requires, and we ask for your identity document. Ralph Jacobs NZ Limited does not accept customers’ gold.

The customer warrants that any design, drawing, image, logo, engraving, mark or instruction supplied by the customer may lawfully be used for the order.

The customer indemnifies Ralph Jacobs against third-party intellectual-property claims arising from customer-supplied content, to the extent permitted by law and only where the indemnity has been properly drawn to the customer’s attention.

The CAD files are ours. The CAD files, renders, drawings and design development we create, including for your commission, belong to Ralph Jacobs SA (Pty) Ltd, which designs and makes our pieces. We do not release or sell the CAD files. The renders we send you are for approving your order, and you may keep them and share them for personal use. If your commission is based on a design, sketch or image you gave us, you keep whatever rights you had in it, and we use it only for your order.

Section 13A of Terms and Conditions governs cancellation, and applies to commissioned work in exactly the same way it applies to a piece built on the website. It sets out the four situations in which you cancel at no cost, and the charge at each stage of production where none of them applies — from payment fees and a fixed administration charge before anything is committed, to the full committed cost once casting, setting or engraving has begun.

Commissions reach the committed stage quickly. Design and CAD time begins on approval, and a stone sourced to your brief is bought. By the time you see the first render we have usually committed real money.

A cancelled commission is not released to you. You are refunded anything paid above the committed cost, and credited what we actually recover on an unset stone returned to inventory intact. Statutory rights are unaffected.

This Policy does not remove statutory remedies for defective, unsafe, materially non-conforming or materially misdescribed goods.