When to Order Jewellery for Christmas and Fixed Dates – Mapple Gems

Education

When to Order for Christmas and Other Fixed Dates

Work backwards from the date, and add the resize you are hoping not to need.

Written by the Mapple Gems workshop, Surat · Updated 18 September 2026

Short answer

For a made-to-order piece arriving by Christmas, order by mid-November at the latest — and by late October if the size is uncertain, because a resize adds a return leg and a second customs clearance. For Valentine’s Day, order by mid-January. The three things people underestimate are the resize possibility, December customs congestion, and that production and transit are separate — a checkout estimate usually shows only the second.

Deadline orders fail in predictable ways, and almost all of them are avoidable with two or three extra weeks. Here is how to work the arithmetic backwards.

The arithmetic for a made-to-order piece

Stage	Typical duration
Design brief and CAD approval	2 – 5 days, depending on you
Production at the bench	About 7 – 8 days
Standard transit	10 – 12 days
Expedited transit	6 – 8 days
Customs clearance	Usually within transit; can add days in December
A resize, if needed	Add 3 – 4 weeks — both legs plus bench time

Door to door without a resize: roughly 17–20 days standard or 13–16 expedited. That is the number to build from — then add margin.

The deadline risk is almost never production — it is the resize. Bench time is predictable and transit is trackable. What breaks a fixed date is a ring that arrives correct to specification but wrong on the finger, because the size was estimated, converted between systems, or measured on a cold morning. That triggers a return leg, bench time and a second delivery — and on an international order, a second customs clearance in each direction. Three to four weeks, comfortably absorbed at eight weeks out and impossible at two. So the practical rule is: if the size is anything other than certain, add a month to your own deadline, and send the inner diameter of an existing ring in millimetres rather than a converted size. That single measurement removes the main failure mode.

Order-by dates, working backwards

Christmas, size certain: order by mid-November with expedited shipping.
Christmas, size uncertain: order by late October so a resize still fits.
New Year proposals: late November, for the same reason — the resize window sits over the holiday shutdown.
Valentine’s Day: mid-January, or early January if unsure of size.
A wedding: 10–12 weeks before, not four. Bands almost always need a resize or a contour fitting once the engagement ring is worn alongside.

Why December specifically is harder

Three compounding factors, none of them about the workshop.

Carrier volume. Global parcel networks run at peak from late November, so a route that clears in ten days in September can take fourteen in December — without anything going wrong.

Customs staffing. Clearance is generally quick, but December volumes and holiday schedules make a hold more likely and its resolution slower. If duties are payable on delivery rather than prepaid, a parcel can sit at a depot until they are settled — and depots close over the holidays.

Delivery attempts. Jewellery requires a signature. Over a period when people travel, a missed attempt can cost several days, and redelivery slots fill.

The fix for the second and third is straightforward: choose a landed price with duties prepaid, and arrange a delivery address where someone will definitely be present.

If the deadline is already tight

Say so at the enquiry, not at checkout. Knowing there is a fixed date changes what a workshop recommends — some designs are quicker, and some can be simplified without changing how they look.
Choose a design that is already in production form rather than a new CAD build.
Take expedited shipping. On a tight timeline it usually buys more days than anything else available.
Accept a slightly loose fit rather than risking tight — a loose ring can be worn carefully and resized in January; a tight one cannot be worn at all.
Consider proposing with a plain band and designing the ring together afterwards, with no clock running.

A note on shipping promises

A checkout delivery estimate is almost always transit only — it starts when the parcel is handed to the carrier, not when you place the order. For a made-to-order piece that omits the production time entirely, which is where the misunderstanding usually starts.

Ask for the two numbers separately: production days and transit days. Any workshop can give both. A seller who quotes only one is usually quoting the carrier’s estimate rather than their own.

Keep reading

Frequently asked questions

When should I order a custom ring for Christmas?

By mid-November with expedited shipping if the size is certain, and by late October if it is not — because a resize adds three to four weeks including a return leg and a second customs clearance in each direction. Door to door without a resize is roughly 17–20 days standard or 13–16 expedited.

Why is December slower for international jewellery orders?

Carrier networks run at peak from late November, customs holds are more likely and slower to resolve, and signature-required deliveries fail more often when people travel. Choosing a landed price with duties prepaid and an address where someone will be present removes most of that risk.

How far ahead should wedding bands be ordered?

Ten to twelve weeks, not four. Bands almost always need a resize or a contour fitting once they are worn alongside the engagement ring, and that fitting is what consumes the time — production itself is about a week.

Does the checkout delivery estimate include production?

Usually not — it is transit only, starting when the parcel is handed to the carrier. For a made-to-order piece that omits bench time entirely. Ask for production days and transit days as two separate numbers; any workshop can give both.

Tell us the date at the enquiry.

If it is tight we will say so, and suggest what can be adjusted — which is far more useful early than at checkout.

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