The receipt, in full

The price, shown.

Most jewelry brands build their business on the gap between what something costs to make and what they can convince you to pay. The gap is usually enormous: 8× to 12× is common in silver, much worse in diamonds.

Mettle operates on a small, deliberate margin — and we publish the whole breakdown on every product page, so you can see it for yourself.

The average silver piece, by percentage

| Line item | Typical share | | --- | --- | | Solid sterling silver | 34% | | Artisan wages | 22% | | Operations & team | 16% | | Production & finishing | 14% | | Shipping & packaging | 9% | | Our margin | 5% |

A $128 rope chain: ~$43 silver, ~$28 in artisan wages, ~$20 operations, ~$18 production, ~$12 shipping, ~$6 margin.

A comparable chain at a legacy jeweler would retail at $250–$400. The difference isn’t better craft. It’s markup, distribution, retail leases, royalties, and an industry that doesn’t expect you to ask.

What "our margin" actually covers

That 5% keeps the lights on: compounded over many orders, it funds new product development, better photography, and (eventually) a small team. It does not fund a flashy office or venture-scale growth targets. We are building a sustainable, mission-driven business, not a rocket ship.

Updates

These percentages are averages. Individual pieces vary — a heavy 8mm solid-sterling chain has a higher materials share, a small engravable bar has a lower one. We publish the per-piece breakdown on each product page. If our overall split changes materially, we’ll update this page and say why.