The #1 question we get asked most at Nomadés is: “Do you give military discounts?” The answer is no, but we do have a sale, discount or BOGO every month- so yes, in fact, we do give a “discount.”  That question is followed closely by our #2 most asked question, which is: “Have you ever thought about doing “XYZ” charm? (Insert your professional job, duty station, new service branches, aircraft, etc.) Chances are we have all of these inquiries on a list in our charming vault, but there is a lot that has to happen between “great idea” and “debuting this week is: (New National Guard)

A Great Idea:

The first step that must happen in making a charm is a great idea. If you will notice, our charms for duty stations are whimsical in nature and usually represent something from the area. Take for instance Naval Station Norfolk. It’s an adorable little mermaid. Why? Well, you don’t have to be in the Tidewater Area long to realize that the “mermaid” is the city mascot and mermaid statues can be seen everywhere in Norfolk, VA.

That is where the experts come in- YOU!  We are Marine Corps spouses. We’ve been to 29 Palms and Camp Lejeune- we don’t know what whimsical charm idea should be for Cannon AFB. We don’t know that Clovis, NM a dairy cow mecca. We know turtles and cacti. So, if you have a duty station or a military charm you would like to see, give us some ideas. Thanks, Anthony, for the idea, we are excited to debut Cannon AFB sometime soon.

Made in America:

Nomadés designed military charms and spacers are 100% made in America. California and New Mexico to be exact.

Art and CAD Drawings:

Once we have a great idea, we usually gather some sample pictures of what we have in mind (mermaid, corn cob, peacock, apple tree) and send it over to our artist. Our artist specializes in CAD (Computer Aided Design). CAD programs are used to make technical drawings of buildings, cars, tools, aircraft, and jewelry. Most of our jewelry is 3D and the artwork is sent to a 3D printer and “voila” the 3D print is used to make the molds for our sterling silver charms.

Lost Wax Casting:

All the other owners are scared to death that I am about to explain this process because it’s not my wheelhouse AT ALL. Lost Wax Casting is the process we use to make our charms. It is also sometimes called Investment Casting. It is the method by which a metal object is cast by a wax mold. Lost wax casting builds a mold around a temporary wax model. After the mold investment is set, the wax is melted out and forms a cavity where the metal flows in. Using this method captures the fine details in you see in the sterling silver charms. This method has been used since 3000 B.C. to visually capture the stories of ancient cultures in art, jewelry, and glass.

Thankfully, we have a professional silversmith who takes our great ideas and brings them to fruition. Shout out to our amazing foundry!

Trademark:

If the charm requires a trademark, agreement, we send a sample charm to the correct trademark entity for approval. 

Hand Enameled and Stone Insets:

If the charm is enameled or if it has stones inset into the charm, these are done by hand. We have two amazing military spouses who has been doing our finishing since 2012. They are dedicated, creative and detail driven.

Approved Samples:

Melissa, our Director of Charm Design, checks over the samples, notes anything that needs to be corrected or doesn’t meet her quality control expectations and if needed the charm is revised. Once it is approved, we order a small batch from our foundry.

Photos and Promotion:

From the approved sample batch, a charm or spacer is sent to our in-house photographer/social media department. Amber takes product photos, and a release date is scheduled.  

So, as you can see, A LOT goes into making a charm. Here is how you can help us; we would love to have your requests and ideas. If you have a charm idea,request or just want to take the survey, click the link below.

 Charming Survey