Artwork → Metal → Finish
Flat logo or sculpted shape? Solid colours or a gradient? A magnetic marker or a standalone piece? These questions help narrow the manufacturing route before you commit to tooling.
01 / Shape comes first
A useful starting question, not a complete specification. Stamping relies on press force, and too much force cracks the metal, so stamping is limited to simple relief. Die casting pours molten zinc alloy into a two-part steel mold, so it can carry deep relief, undercuts, cut-outs and full 3D. That physical limit is why thin goes to iron and thick goes to zinc alloy.
Flat ball markers, badges and other shallow-relief pieces. A steel die presses the relief in, then a blanking die cuts the outline: crisp lines, wear-resistant, and iron is attracted to a magnet. Watch-out: only simple relief; too much press force cracks the metal.
Shaped hat-clip bodies, thicker medals, openers and three-dimensional detail. Molten zinc alloy fills a closed steel mold, so relief, undercuts and cut-outs are possible. Watch-out: zinc alloy is not attracted to a magnet like iron — the attachment is designed as an assembly.
02 / Choose how the artwork appears
Filled colour, whether soft enamel or imitation hard enamel, is the same operation: colour is dispensed into recesses and baked. Print is a different route for artwork the fill cannot reproduce. Each card gives how it works, what it suits and the limit to check before you approve.
How: colour is dispensed into the recesses after stamping or casting, then baked. Suits: company pins, event and collector badges — the industry’s mainstream process. Limit: one recess, one colour; optional epoxy dome for protection.
How: soft enamel plus a barrel polish that grinds the metal flush with the colour, so the surface is smooth. Suits: company, commemorative and collector badges that want a smooth face without cloisonné cost. Limit: same one-colour-per-recess rule.
How: enamel powder is fired at high temperature, then stoned flat and plated. Suits: medals, police and military insignia, premium commemoratives; the colour does not fade. Limit: the slowest and most costly route; confirm that a “hard enamel” quote means true cloisonné.
How: artwork is printed directly on the metal face, usually under an epoxy dome. Suits: gradients, photographs and lettering too fine for a filled recess — the two cases where filled colour cannot be made. Limit: a flat surface; discuss the protective coating and intended use.
How: the piece is finished by plating alone — mirror polish, antique or satin effects, laser engraving. Suits: minimal logos and briefs where the metal itself is the point. Limit: relief and finish carry the whole design, so approve them on a sample.
Filled colour needs a metal wall around each colour area. If two colours in your logo touch with no metal line between them, the piece cannot be filled — it goes to print, or the artwork is redrawn with separating lines. This is the first thing we check on your file.
Soft enamel or imitation hard enamel?
Buyers mix these two names up most often. Both dispense colour into the recesses and bake it. Soft enamel stops there, so the colour sits below the metal lines and you can feel the edges. Imitation hard enamel adds a barrel polish that grinds the metal flush with the colour, so the face is flat and smooth.
A textured, tactile face suits the brief and cost matters — pins, event badges, markers.
A smooth face is wanted without the cost and lead time of fired cloisonné.
The artwork has gradients, photographic detail or lines too fine to fill.
03 / Plating sets the metal colour
The plating layer is what your buyer sees and touches, and it decides how the piece ages. The same part is shown here in twelve finishes so the differences can be compared side by side. Digital colour reference; physical plated samples are available on request. A finish name is not a specification for precious-metal content, coating thickness or corrosion performance — agree the finish against a sample.
Gold · antique gold · satin gold · imitation gold · pearl gold · real gold plating
Silver · antique silver · nickel · antique nickel · black nickel · satin nickel · pearl nickel · chrome · satin chrome
Copper · antique copper · bronze · antique bronze · antique pewter · antique zinc
Two-tone plating such as nickel + gold or nickel + copper · electrophoretic black · mirror polish · laser engraving
How plating happens
Polished blanks are hung on racks and lowered into the plating bath; the colour changes as the layer builds. Plating is carried out by an external plating workshop, so the agreed sample is the specification. Antique effects add a darkening and hand-relief step after plating.
The visible colour, the feel, and whether the piece tarnishes or rusts over time.
Colour against the swatch, then the plated sample of your own part — including edges and recess walls.
04 / Design the attachment with the piece
Marker thickness, contact area, magnet placement and the clip opening all matter. Check retention and removal on an assembled sample; material choice alone does not establish performance.
Both change how firmly the marker sits on the magnet.
Approve the assembled fit, not the two parts separately.
05 / From tooling to colour
Mold making → stamping or casting → trimming and polishing → plating → colour. Plating is carried out by an external plating workshop. The exact sequence depends on the specified process.
Before we quote, send these details
Not sure which route fits? Send your artwork with the brief. We can discuss the manufacturing route and the details that need confirming before tooling.
Artwork, intended shape and approximate finished dimensions.
Quantity, destination and the date the goods must be in hand.
Colour, attachment and packaging preferences — or tell us what you are unsure about.
Start with a brief
Include quantity, destination and your required in-hand date. Commercial terms are confirmed in the quotation.
Prepare your enquiry
Share the product, quantity, destination and in-hand date. If the design is still taking shape, tell us the intended product and the questions you need answered.
