Mosaic is priced by hand-time, not by a price list. This page explains exactly what drives the number — so you can decide what to spend money on and what to leave out before you ask for a quote.
You will find mosaic sold by the square metre, and for a repeating standard pattern that is a sensible way to buy. A commissioned picture mural is not that product. Two murals of identical size can differ several-fold in price, because the cost sits in the number of cuts, the material of the tesserae, and the amount of hand-setting — none of which scale with area alone.
\nAnyone quoting a mural from a photograph without asking about tesserae size, material and detail density is guessing. We quote after looking at your actual design and your actual wall, and the number we give is fixed.
\n| Factor | Why it changes the price |
|---|---|
| Wall area | The baseline. Area drives material volume and setting time, and time rises faster than area because larger pieces are usually also more detailed. |
| Tessera size | The single biggest variable. Halving tesserae size roughly quadruples the number of pieces to cut and set for the same wall. A 5 mm mosaic can cost several times a 20 mm mosaic of the same size. |
| Material | Standard vitreous glass is the baseline. Smalti costs more. Real gold and silver leaf glass costs substantially more and is normally used selectively rather than across a whole design. |
| Detail density | A portrait, a face or fine lettering takes far longer per square metre than a broad landscape or a simple geometric field. |
| Shape and cutting | Straight rectangles and circles are cheapest. Arches, ovals, irregular openings and shaped panels need bespoke setting-out and edge cutting. |
| Sectioning and documentation | Large murals must be cut into transportable sections sized to your access route, with a setting-out drawing. This is real work, and skipping it makes installation much more expensive on site. |
A proof rendering of your image in mosaic; material and palette specification; the sectional layout plan; a fixed price; and a dated production programme. If we believe a smaller or simpler version would serve you better at a lower cost, we will say so — a mural that reads well on the wall matters more to us than one extra square metre of invoice.
\nRoughly, yes — but only with caveats. Send the wall size and we will give you an indicative band and tell you which factors are still unknown. A firm fixed price needs the design.
No. The proof rendering and the quotation are free and carry no obligation.
Typically a deposit to start production and the balance before shipment, with milestone payments on larger contract work. Exact terms are confirmed in the quotation.
We can quote in USD, EUR or RMB depending on your preference. The currency is fixed at quotation, so a later exchange-rate move does not change your price.
Send us your artwork and wall size — get a free custom mosaic design plan and quotation within 24 hours.