Documentation
The Written Specification
The document nobody asks for, and the one that moves the maker's information advantage to the person who owns the ring.
Written by the Mapple Gems workshop, Surat Β· Updated 26 August 2026
Short answer
A written specification lists what a ring is actually made of β metal and fineness, gram weight, shank dimensions, stone millimetres and material, accent count and size, setting type, profile height, finish and any inscription. With it, any bench anywhere can quote, match or rebuild the piece. Without it, that knowledge sits with whoever made it.
Jewellery comes with documents that look important and answer surprisingly little. A grading report describes a stone, not a ring, and belongs to that stone alone. A certificate of authenticity is a seller's own statement. An appraisal states retail replacement cost for insurance.
None of them tells you how much gold is in the piece, how thick the band is, or what the small stones are. That information exists β the workshop needed all of it to make the thing β but it is rarely written down for the owner.
What it should contain
| Line | Why it matters later |
|---|---|
| Metal and fineness (585, 750, 925) | Matching a future band; a bench knowing what it is heating |
| Finished gram weight | The only independently verifiable component of the price |
| Shank width and thickness at the base | The baseline that tells a bench how much wear has happened |
| Centre stone: material, mm, weight, report number | A head is built to measurements, not to a carat figure |
| Accent stones: material, count, size | Melee is never certified, so this exists only as a record |
| Setting type and prong count | What is being inspected at a bench check |
| Profile height and total width, in mm | Band fitting; and both are fixed at casting |
| Finish, and any inscription | Refinishing correctly; and telling a bench engraving is there |
Two rows carry more weight than the rest. Gram weight, because gold trades on a public daily market and grams Γ fineness Γ the day's price is a floor you can calculate yourself. And accent stones, because melee under roughly 0.2ct is never individually certified in any material β so if it is not written down, nobody can establish it later.
The four moments it earns its keep
Buying. It turns a comparison between two rings from an impression into arithmetic. Put both specifications side by side and the blank cells are the answer.
Repairs. The reason to return to a maker is information rather than skill β the CAD file, the alloy, the melee parcel. Hand a written specification to a good local bench and most of that advantage transfers, which matters if the ring is twenty years old or the workshop no longer exists.
Insurance. A valuation should describe what is actually in the piece. A mixed-material ring valued as all-diamond is a misdescription that can complicate a claim. And revalue every three to five years β with lab grown, the replacement figure may have fallen rather than risen.
Inheritance. This is the one that matters most and is thought about least. Without a record, an inherited ring becomes an anonymous object worth grams Γ fineness. Provenance is the only thing that reliably makes a piece worth more than its materials, and it exists only as information.
From our bench in Surat
Every figure on that list already exists before a ring is cast. It is what the CAD file contains and what the bench works to. Producing a written specification costs a workshop almost nothing β and the reason it is not standard practice across the trade is not cost. It is that a customer holding those numbers can compare, and can take the piece to any bench.
We are not exempt from that criticism: our product pages still do not publish gram weight or shank thickness. We answer both when asked. The general test works on anyone, us included β a seller who will not state gram weight, shank thickness, stone millimetres or accent count either did not make the piece or would rather you could not compare it. Ask whether that is a can't or a won't.
How to ask
Before ordering, one message: "Could you send a written specification β metal and fineness, finished gram weight, shank width and thickness at the base, centre stone material and millimetres, accent material and count, setting type, profile height, total width and finish?"
Any workshop that makes its own pieces can answer that from the file. A reseller generally cannot, which makes the request a verification tool as well as a document.
Two additions worth requesting alongside it. A photograph from underneath, which is the most revealing view of any piece and one almost nobody publishes. And, if you want to settle who made what you are buying, a photograph of a piece part-finished β cast but not yet set. Nobody photographs a half-made ring for a catalogue.
Where to keep it
- Together: specification, grading report, valuation, receipts and photographs.
- Somewhere separate from the jewellery, so one loss does not take both.
- With a provenance paragraph β who bought it, when, where and why.
- Updated when anything changes: a resize, a reshank, a stone swap, a replate.
- Somewhere the next owner will actually find it.
One note on numbers travelling badly: send millimetres, grams and fineness figures rather than words. Ring sizing runs on five incompatible systems β French and European sizes differ by exactly 40 and both are bare numbers β and "hallmark" means an assay-office mark in some markets and any stamp in others. A specification in units survives translation; a specification in adjectives does not.
Frequently asked questions
What is a written specification for a ring?
A list of what the piece is actually made of: metal and fineness, gram weight, shank dimensions, stone material and millimetres, accent count and size, setting type, profile height, total width, finish and any inscription. It is not the same as a grading report or a valuation.
Isn't the grading report enough?
No. A report describes a stone, not a ring, and belongs to that stone alone β the girdle inscription is the only line tying the two together. It says nothing about gram weight, shank thickness or what the accent stones are.
Why does accent stone material need writing down?
Because melee under roughly 0.2ct is never individually certified in any material, so there is no document establishing it. Mixed builds are common and legitimate, but if the record does not exist the information is lost at the first change of ownership.
What if a seller will not provide one?
Treat it as information. Every figure on the list exists before a ring is cast, so any workshop that makes its own pieces can produce it from the file. A seller who cannot either did not make it or would rather you could not compare.
Where should I keep the paperwork?
Together and somewhere separate from the jewellery, so a single loss does not take both. Add a provenance paragraph and update the file whenever the ring is resized, reshanked, replated or has a stone changed.
Ask us for it before you order
We make in our own workshop in Surat, so every figure on the list exists in the file already.
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