Last updated: October 2026
By Jack Lv, General Manager — 925 sterling silver and GRA moissanite manufacturing in Foshan since 2011
Sampling is the step that turns an agreed specification into a physical object you can approve, and it belongs before bulk production because correcting a sample costs a fraction of correcting a shipment. At Nabest a sample takes 5 to 7 days, bulk production runs 15 to 20 days after approval, and the sample charge is deductible in full from the bulk order.
A specification on paper is a description, and a sample is the object. Between the two sit all the things a description cannot settle: how deep a setting sits, how a surface catches light, whether a clasp feels solid in the hand, whether a curve reads the way the drawing suggested. A sample resolves those questions while the piece is still one unit of work.
The economics are simple. A change made at the sample stage is a conversation. A change made after a bulk run is scrap, a rework line and a missed season. Sampling is not a formality you can compress away when a launch date is tight; it is the cheapest control you have over what finally arrives.
Sampling also protects the second order. Once a piece is approved and sealed, it becomes the reference the factory repeats, which is why the quality of the sample and the way it is recorded decide the quality of everything that follows.
The sequence below is the path a design normally takes. Each stage produces something the next one depends on, so skipping a step tends to move the cost rather than remove it.
| Step | What you supply | What the factory does | What you get back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brief and specification | Design intent, size range, stone choice, finish and target quantity | Checks feasibility and returns a price, quoting within 24 hours Monday to Saturday | A quotation with the specification written into it |
| Drawing or reference | A CAD file, sketch, photograph or a physical reference piece | Turns the reference into a workable drawing and flags anything that will not cast or set cleanly | A drawing to approve before any metal is cut |
| Sample making | Approval of the drawing | Prepares the tooling, casts, sets the stones and finishes the piece | A physical sample, made in 5 to 7 days |
| Pre-shipment views | Confirmation of the delivery address and courier | Photographs and video of the finished sample before dispatch | Visual detail of the piece as it will arrive |
| Your inspection | Calipers, a scale and a loupe | Answers queries and records any change you request | A decision to approve the sample or request a revision |
| Approval and freezing | Written approval, plus the changes if any | Seals the approved piece as the master sample and keeps it against the bulk run | A recorded standard for production |
A sample charge covers the work involved: tooling if the design is new, the metal and stones in the piece, the labour to make it, and the shipping to send it. It is not a penalty and it is not hidden margin on the order. It exists because a sample is a one-off that consumes setup time, which is also why a factory can keep an order minimum low without charging for a full run.
The term that matters is whether the charge is deductible. At Nabest the sample charge is deductible in full from the bulk order, so the money spent testing a design comes back when you commit to it. Ask for that in writing, and ask what happens if you approve a sample and then do not place the bulk order, because that condition changes the effective cost of the sample.
Two related questions are worth settling at the same time. First, whether a revision after your own feedback carries a further charge, and how many rounds are included. Second, who pays the courier for the sample, because sample freight sits outside the production schedule and often outside the quoted price.
Once you approve a sample it becomes the standard, and the standard should be frozen before bulk production begins. Freezing means the approved piece is sealed, labelled with the order reference and kept as the reference against which later production is compared. It is the physical version of the specification, and it is far easier to point at than to argue about.
Ask what the factory keeps and where. Nabest seals the approved sample and keeps it for the run, and photographs every shipment before dispatch, so a disagreement at delivery is settled against a piece rather than a description. Between the sealed sample, the agreed drawing and the pre-shipment photographs, the bulk order has three checkpoints instead of one.
Where a change is agreed after approval, the sealed sample should be replaced rather than amended verbally, so there is never a version of the standard that exists only in an email thread.
The factory time for a sample at Nabest is 5 to 7 days, and bulk production is 15 to 20 days after approval. Courier time is additional, so build the launch date from the day the sample is approved rather than the day it was requested.
The two delays you control are the drawing and the feedback. Say what you want once, in a list, on the drawing, and the sample clock stays predictable.
Yes, in almost every case, because a sample is a one-off that consumes tooling, metal, labour and shipping. The question worth negotiating is not whether it is free but whether the charge is deductible, how many revision rounds are included, and who pays the courier.
You can ask, and some factories will agree for an existing design they already run. For anything new it is a poor trade, because the cost of correcting a specification after a bulk run is many times the cost of correcting a sample, and a bulk run consumes the season you were aiming at.
Factory time for a sample at Nabest is 5 to 7 days, and bulk production then runs 15 to 20 days after approval. Add courier time at both ends, and remember that the sample clock restarts if the drawing or the feedback changes.
Say so as a single list of changes, referring to the drawing where possible, and ask which changes affect the tooling and which can be done by hand on the sample. Changes that touch the mould restart the sample, while changes to finish or stone can sometimes be corrected without new tooling.
Yes, and for a first order it is the lower-risk route, because there is no new tooling and the design already runs. You can still have the piece finished in your chosen plating and, if the design allows, carry your logo, while the sample charge is deducted from the bulk order as usual.
Send your design, size and quantity — factory quote back within 24 hours. Reference: General enquiry