About Us
From Engineering to the Jewellery Bench
The Jewellery Builder was born out of a simple observation: the components most jewellers were buying - mass-produced imports of uncertain quality - weren't good enough.
Charlie McManus spent many years as an engineer before crossing into jewellery design and manufacturing a decade ago. The transition made sense. The skills that make a good engineer - precision CAD design, an understanding of materials, and an intolerance for things that don't quite fit - turn out to make excellent jewellery components too.
Charlie and Becky started their own jewellery business in 2016, bringing those engineering fundamentals to the craft: computer-aided design, lost wax casting, 3D printing and traditional metalwork. Working from their workshop in Broughty Ferry, on the east coast of Scotland, they built a process that produced components to a standard most jewellers couldn't source anywhere else.
About the Maker
The Jewellery Builder is run by Charlie McManus, a professional jeweller with a background in engineering and over a decade of experience in jewellery design and manufacture.
His work combines precision CAD design, lost wax casting and traditional bench skills to produce components that are accurate, consistent and designed for real workshop use.
Why We Started Supplying Other Jewellers
For the first few years, the work was focused on their own jewellery pieces and direct customers. But as Charlie and Becky became more involved in the jewellery community - both in person and online - a pattern became clear.
The settings, rings and findings they were making for their own use were better than most professional jewellers could buy. More consistent. More precisely sized. Cast in sterling and Argentium silver rather than unknown alloys from overseas suppliers. And because everything was designed in CAD, custom variations - a different size, a different profile - could be turned around far quicker than anything made by hand.
In 2022, they opened The Jewellery Builder to offer their designs to the wider jewellery community at a fair price. Since then, the business has grown to supply thousands of jewellers and hobbyists across the UK and worldwide.
Everything Made In Our Workshop
The Jewellery Builder is a full-service workshop. Every piece - from the initial CAD design through casting, finishing and gem-setting - is carried out by Charlie and Becky in Broughty Ferry. Nothing is outsourced - every component is made in-house from start to finish.
That matters for a few reasons.
Quality control is end-to-end. When a component leaves our workshop, we know exactly what it's made of, how it was cast, and how it was finished. There are no unknowns introduced by a third-party supplier.
Metal provenance is guaranteed. We use sterling silver (925) and Argentium silver (940). Both are sourced from reputable UK suppliers. Argentium silver, in particular, is a higher-specification alloy - more tarnish resistant and with greater purity than standard sterling - and we're proud to be a registered maker with the Argentium Silver Guild, holding one of their official maker's stamps.
Custom work is genuinely possible. Because we design and make everything ourselves, custom orders aren't a complication - they're a straightforward part of what we do. A different stone size, a modified shank profile, a bespoke finding: get in touch and we'll quote.
Who We Make For
Our customers range from first-time hobbyists to working professionals:
Professional jewellers use our components to streamline their workflow. Precisely sized settings and shanks mean less time on bench work and more consistent results. When you know a rubover is going to fit a 6mm stone without adjustment, you can move faster and with more confidence.
Hobbyists and beginners find that our precision reduces the learning curve. A well-made component that fits correctly is far more forgiving to work with than something that needs to be coaxed into shape.
Design students use our components to prototype and realise their ideas without having to master every stage of manufacture from scratch.
Whatever your level, you're buying from a UK workshop that understands what you need the component to do because we use the same components ourselves.
Credentials & Memberships
- Guild of Jewellery Designers — member
- Argentium Silver Guild — registered maker with official maker's stamp
- Based in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland
- Supplying jewellers and hobbyists since 2022
Get in Touch
Whether you have a question about a component, need a custom quote, or want to discuss a project, we're happy to hear from you.
👉 Browse our components
👉 Get in touch for a custom quote
All orders are cast to order and dispatched within 2–6 working days from our Scottish workshop.