From Sketch to Metal
Inside My Jewelry Design Process

There are so many things I love about being a jewelry designer, but I will forever be amazed and delighted when I see a concept in my mind turn into a physical piece of jewelry in my hand. Over the years, I've shared plenty of pieces while they're still in their infancy, when they're not quite a necklace, ring or pair of earrings yet, but they're more than just pieces of metal. That in-between stage is still one of my favorite parts of the entire jewelry design process.

Every Jewelry Design Starts With a Sketch

I'm often asked about my design process, and the funny thing is that after all these years, it still starts in much the same way: colored pencils, a mechanical pencil and blank sheets of paper. It's the foolproof trifecta that's served me well throughout my career.

When I sit down to design, I start sketching. I play with shapes, sizes, proportions, color palettes and all sorts of combinations without worrying too much about where I'll end up. At this stage, my mind works in broad strokes, and I let as many of those creative thoughts as possible make their way onto the paper.

From a Jewelry Sketch to Metal

Eventually, one of those ideas asks to become something more, and that's when I move from pencil and paper to metal. The torch comes out, flame meets metal, and something that existed only as a drawing begins becoming an object I can actually hold in my hand.

This is where my attention shifts from broad ideas to the tiny details. I start thinking about proportion and wearability, how the piece sits on the body, how the different elements relate to one another and whether what looked beautiful on paper actually works in three dimensions.

Sometimes the Metal Changes the Plan

Sometimes what I envisioned isn't quite right once I begin making it, and that's part of the process, too. I'll adjust a proportion, change a curve or keep working with an idea until the piece feels right. There's a certain kind of freedom in allowing the metal itself to guide me toward the final design rather than insisting that the finished piece look exactly like the original sketch.

That's one of the things I've always loved about designing jewelry by hand. Sketching gives me the freedom to imagine just about anything, but working with the actual materials asks different questions. A piece ultimately has to do more than look good on paper. It has to feel good on a hand, around a neck or hanging from an ear, and it has to work as something a person will actually live in.

How a CMD Jewelry Design Comes to Life Today

When I originally wrote about this process in 2017, CMD had teams on both coasts, and clients could visit our San Francisco Showroom to shop and see some of my sketches hanging on the wall. A lot has changed since then. Today (2026), I design from Asbury Park, New Jersey, and our jewelry is handmade by our production team in Upstate New York.

What hasn't changed is the part I love most. An idea begins on paper, moves into metal and gets refined by hand until it becomes something real. Whether I'm working through an idea for a future collection or thinking through the details of a one-of-a-kind piece, I still get that same feeling when something that lived in my imagination is suddenly sitting in front of me.

More than 20 years into CMD, that transformation hasn't gotten old. I don't think it ever will.

Still sketching,
Colleen

© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.

Published: January 20, 2017
Updated: August 23, 2026