CUSTOM ENGAGEMENT RING OR WEDDING BAND DESIGN FEE

Distinction Jewelry uses highly-specialized CAD software to create rings designed for beauty, wearability, and durability. It's a time-consuming, skilled task using expensive software and computers, and we sometimes pay to license design components as well. In the past, we've been able to do this custom work without up-front payment, because it was very rare for a client not to follow through with a purchase. Unfortunately, we've recently seen an unsustainable uptick in the number of people who are incredibly enthusiastic about all aspects of what we're creating for them, right up until it's time to purchase, but then abrupt radio silence or the revelation that the purchase isn't planned until many months in the future… after which we never hear from them again. 

While we hate to do this, these cases have forced us to start charging design fees up front. There have been too many times when we've worked all day or long into the night, even multiple days, to design and render for someone who doesn't follow through. We are now charging a portion of our labor cost for design work before we commit significant time to it. The amount you pay up front will be credited to you for your ring purchase.

This fee is for our labor and is non-refundable even if you decide not to purchase a ring. It does not grant you copyright, reproduction rights, exclusivity, or other intellectual property rights over the eventual design, which remains the property of Distinction Jewelry. You are, however, free to retain the renders that we produce for you. We can and likely will list the design or a derivative of it for sale on our site. This is because $300 is only a portion of our investment in creating beautiful, unique designer rings and we don't ask any one client to cover that individually. 

We greatly appreciate your understanding, and we apologize that the behavior of others has forced us to take this measure.