Whether you’re looking to have a piece of jewelry etched with a special date, a glass customized to commemorate a life event, or anything in between, these best engraving services are a good place to start your search. This South Carolina-based engraving shop not only takes on local projects, but it also will work with customers across states to bring them the custom-engraved piece that they’re looking for. Whether it’s engraving items you already own, like canteens or camera straps, or helping customers pick from the wide range of items on offer, Bolder Engraving will work with customers to help realize their creative dreams. Bolder Engraving has won major points with its customers for quickly drawing up design proofs and delivering a finished product of impeccable quality. The group’s professionalism, and the pride the owner puts into the company’s work, are also part of the reason this engraving shop touts five-star reviews across multiple online platforms. This shop specializes in machine engraving, which will satisfy customers looking for perfection and a quick turnaround time. (One online reviewer raved about starting a project with the company seven days before Christmas, adding another item to it the following day, and receiving the completed work before the holiday with no hassle.) This machine engraving process allows them to draw from Google’s large font library for its projects. The idea behind Ponoko is to put the full scope of the design in the customer’s hands by allowing them to import their own design and choose from dozens of materials to create their fully custom product. To summarize the company’s offering from Ponoko’s website, “You design your product. We laser cut and engrave it for you. You assemble it.” With Ponoko, customers are not engraving existing objects like trophies or plates, but creating the very object that will be engraved using Ponoko’s laser cutting technology. Ponoko can accommodate customers looking for a one-off item, or they can make a customer thousands of items for their own resale. Ponoko employs a cloud-to-robot laser cutting service that puts the design fully in the customers’ hands. This is a good choice for creatives who want their own designs to come to life, rather than someone looking for a little direction from a professional engraver. Because it’s all machine-based, Ponoko is able to create and ship products quickly. The company has helped its community of creatives make laser-cut leather goods and housewares, pocket-sized robots, and much more. C&M Personal Gifts focuses solely on engraving glass. The company offers tons of designs, but will also make custom creations as well. Many of the company’s customized glasses come with base designs and sayings to build off of, but it also gives the option to completely customize a piece. When it comes to creating truly customized glassware, customers have a variety of fonts and glass styles to choose from. Many jewelry engraving companies operate primarily locally, sparing the headache of sending valuable items through the mail, but Quick Jewelry Repairs in New York City offers its engraving services to anyone willing to ship their items. Quick Jewelry Repairs’ engraving services run $30 for rings and necklaces and $35 for bracelets and anklets. The company has a turnaround time of one day after the item is received. Quick Jewelry Repairs is rather limited in its selection of fonts—there’s only one block font and one script font—but it sweetens the pot by also offering five different styles of monograms that build off those fonts. The company says it will engrave any kind of metal, including gold- and silver-plated jewelry, and will engrave on any piece of jewelry including rings, necklaces, anklets, and watches.

How We Chose the Best Engraving Services

We only included companies whose services are available nationwide. Within that sample, we strove to include companies that specialize in a variety of offerings and, crucially, do not require customers to purchase items from the company to receive engraving services (though some companies offer items as well.) The exception to this is Ponoko, which allows users to create their own items for engraving.