How Custom Medals Are Made — The Complete 12-Step Process

Custom medals are made in twelve in-house stages: design and artwork, mould making, zinc alloy die-casting, deburring and polishing, riveting and assembly, electroplating, colour filling (enamel), printing, laser engraving, final assembly with the ribbon, three-stage quality control, and packaging. The metal is melted at 385°C and injected into a steel mould on an 88-ton press, then polished, plated through a nine-bath line, colour-filled, and inspected before it ships. Every one of those steps happens under our own roof in Huizhou — we do not outsource any stage.

Artwork takes 24 hours. Mould cutting runs 3–5 days, and a physical sample is usually ready 3–7 days after artwork approval. Bulk production then takes 7–15 days depending on quantity and finish, with quality control and packing inside that window. Shipping adds 3–5 days by express courier, 7–12 days by air freight, or 25–35 days by sea freight. Plan on 4–5 weeks total for an air-freight order and 8–10 weeks for sea freight.

Die casting injects molten zinc alloy at 385°C into a steel mould on an 88-ton press. The liquid metal fills fine cavities, so it reproduces 3D relief, sculpted detail and cut-outs, with a minimum wall thickness of 2mm and line widths down to 0.3mm. Die striking (also called stamping or coining) presses a flat metal blank between two dies instead, which suits simple flat silhouettes in brass or iron but cannot build depth. If your design has layered relief or openwork, die casting is the only route.

Zinc alloy (Zamak 3, 5 or 7) is our standard for die-cast medals. It melts at 385°C and flows like warm honey, which is why it captures fine detail and 3D relief that other metals cannot. Its density is 6.7 g/cm³. Brass at 8.9 g/cm³ and iron at 7.8 g/cm³ are stamped instead — brass for a heavier premium hand-feel, iron for budget, high-volume runs with softer edges. Aluminium and stainless steel are also available for specific applications.

100 pieces per design for a fully custom die-cast medal. That threshold exists because the steel mould is a fixed cost that has to spread across the run — it costs the same whether 100 pieces or 100,000 pass through it. Because we hold moulds on file, a reorder of the same design skips the tooling charge entirely and costs meaningfully less per unit.

Yes, and we recommend it. After artwork approval we cut the mould, run a trial shot, and courier a physical sample to you for sign-off. Sample approval typically takes 3–7 days, most of which is courier transit. Approving quickly is one of the few lead-time levers fully in your hands — it accounts for roughly a fifth of the total schedule. Once you approve, bulk production starts.

The six faults we catch most often are cracks, water marks, porosity, plating blisters, enamel impurities and paint pinholes. Cracks and porosity are casting faults — usually too few ejector pins, or blocked mould venting that traps air. Water marks trace back to a mould cavity that was not polished smooth. Plating blisters come from parts entering the plating line dirty, or moisture trapped under the seal coat. Enamel impurities mean the paint booth was not clean enough, and paint pinholes mean the compressed air carried water. Each one is caught by an in-process QC gate rather than at final inspection.

No. Mould making, die-casting, polishing, plating, enamel filling, printing, laser engraving, ribbon production, assembly, quality control and packaging all happen in our Huizhou factory. Outsourcing is common in this industry and it is the root of most quality disputes — the plating shop blames the casting shop, the casting shop blames the mould maker, and the buyer waits. With every stage in-house there is one accountable party, and specifications cannot drift between handoffs.

Soft enamel dispenses liquid paint into recessed cavities so it dries slightly below the metal lines — you feel the ridges when you run a finger across it. Minimum fill width is 0.3mm. Imitation hard enamel uses a thicker paste and then polishes the whole face flat, so colour and metal sit level; the minimum fill width widens to 0.5mm and the extra polishing stage adds cost. Both cure on the same two-stage schedule: 60–70°C for 60–90 minutes as a semi-cure, then 100°C for 60 minutes as the full cure.

Plating is a nine-bath sequence: degreasing, ultrasonic cleaning, an alkaline copper base at about 500 seconds, acid copper for 20–60 minutes, then the final colour layer, a tunnel-oven bake at 100°C for 40 minutes, and an anti-tarnish oil seal. Available finishes include gold, nickel silver, copper, rose gold, chrome, black nickel, platinum, matte variants of each, antique gold/silver/copper, rainbow vacuum plating and two-tone combinations.

It depends on the design, not on preference. If your artwork has 3D relief, sculpted detail or cut-out/openwork elements, zinc alloy die-casting is the only route — molten zinc at 385°C on an 88-ton press fills cavities down to a 2mm wall and 0.3mm line. If your design is flat or low-relief (a simple badge or coin), brass or iron stamping costs less at very high volume. Both start at a 100-piece MOQ, and we hold your mould on file so reorders skip the tooling charge.

Yes. Every mould is archived under your account after the first run. When you reorder the same design, we retrieve it — no new tooling charge, and the medals match the originals exactly because the same plating line, enamel team and QC process handle the repeat. This is why clients reorder the same medal three years apart and the batch still matches.