The partner factory's thick-wall matte black jar is 200 g, Ø58 × 91 mm — an outer envelope of about 240 ml. At a true thick wall of 4–6 mm the usable interior is only 126–157 ml. 150 size-00 capsules occupy 1.17 ml each — 175 ml solid, 258–292 ml once loosely packed — so the jar cannot hold them even if the glass were paper-thin. The 250–300 ml sizes in the same family drop to ~3 mm wall at ~201 g; a genuine thick wall at that capacity would weigh ~320 g. Recommended: a physical fill test before any decision, a stock mould plus exterior soft-touch matte black (no tooling; 2,000–5,000 per shape), and either 120 capsules in the heavy 200 g jar or a larger thick-wall vessel, including a 300 g thick-wall PET option. Status: scoping and sampling notes; no production order recorded.
The brief
The brief: a straight cylindrical body with softly rounded shoulders, wide-mouth screw neck, flat black lid, deep matte black with a ceramic, fingerprint-resistant surface, 200–250 ml, thick-walled and heavy in the hand, for 150 size-00 capsules. Volumes sampling, then 500 / 1,000 / 3,000 / 5,000; LFGB, SGS and FDA documentation for the EU; FOB and delivered pricing; and an invitation to suggest improvements.
The first reply made the tooling case: at 500–5,000 pieces a custom glass mould is uneconomic (the furnace floor is 30,000–200,000 pieces), and the shape is classic enough to match from a stock mould finished with an exterior matte black spray. Four improvements were offered: soft-touch anti-fingerprint matte, a weighted base, a food-grade PP or aluminium lid, an induction seal or PE-foam liner. The brand confirmed. Then the partner factory sent the dimensions of its thick-wall jar, and the project changed.
What we specified
| Element | Specification | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | Soda-lime, press-formed wide-mouth jar, thick wall, weighted base; stock mould | Partner-factory stock; no tooling |
| Capacity | Written three ways: nominal, brim-full (water to the rim at 20 °C, ±5%), and usable fill for 150 capsules | Glass specification rule: brim-full and fill-line both on the drawing |
| Finish | Exterior-only soft-touch deep matte black with anti-fingerprint top coat; spray stops below the thread root | Never in contact with contents |
| Lid | Flat matte black food-grade PP, or aluminium/metal for weight; both with induction seal or PE-foam wad; desiccant-compatible | Two options quoted |
| Food contact | LFGB (EU), SGS and FDA reports for the specific glass and lid; heavy metals Pb+Cd+Hg+Cr(VI) ≤100 ppm | Third-party laboratory; arranged, not claimed in-house |
| Contents fit | 150 × size-00 capsules, loosely packed, closed without forcing | Physical fill test required |
The capacity finding
The factory's data: glass weight 200 g, body diameter 58 mm, body height 91 mm — and, to its credit, a request for real capsules to measure the net fill. Before they arrived we did the arithmetic.
| Wall (side / base) | Internal diameter | Internal height | Usable interior |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 mm / 6 mm (thin for this class) | Ø52 mm | 82 mm | ≈174 ml |
| 4 mm / 8 mm | Ø50 mm | 80 mm | ≈157 ml |
| 5 mm / 10 mm (true thick wall) | Ø48 mm | 78 mm | ≈141 ml |
| 6 mm / 12 mm (very thick) | Ø46 mm | 76 mm | ≈126 ml |
The outer envelope of Ø58 × 91 mm is about 240 ml including the glass. From the photographs the wall sits in the 4–6 mm class, so the usable interior is roughly 126–157 ml. Against that, a size-00 capsule (Ø8.53 × 23.3 mm) occupies about 1.17 ml; 150 of them are 175 ml of solid capsule, and loose capsules pack at roughly 60–68%, so the jar needs 258–292 ml of interior to fill and close without forcing. The conclusion does not depend on the packing argument: the whole jar, glass included, is 240 ml, and 150 capsules need at least 258.
One caveat was put to the brand in writing: supplement-trade capsule-count charts put 150 size-00 at roughly a 200 cc jar, about 30% off our figure, probably assuming thin-wall stock and vibrated settling. Nobody should commission a jar on one arithmetic against another, so a physical fill test with capsules in the brand's actual shell material (gelatine and HPMC differ slightly) was made the gate.
The second finding: thick-wall glass does not scale. Only the 200 g size in this family is genuinely thick; at 250–300 ml the wall drops to about 3 mm at ~201 g, where a true thick wall would weigh closer to 320 g. So a second glass source was approached for a genuine 4 mm-plus wall at 280–350 ml.
MOQ and route
| Route | Indicative minimum | Tooling | Lead time, factory gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock thick-wall jar, undecorated | From ~500 (warehouse stock); low thousands on a public-mould run | None | 7–10 days if in stock; 30–60 days if a furnace run is needed |
| Stock jar + exterior soft-touch matte black (specified) | 2,000–5,000 per shape via partner factories already tooled | Colour matching and fixtures; no mould | 30–40 days after sprayed-sample approval; samples 10–14 days |
| Matte black metal lid | ~10,000 for plated or custom-tone; glass partner stocks plastic lids only below 10,000 | Plating set-up | Sourced separately by neck thread from a closure specialist |
| Own jar shape, new glass mould | 30,000–200,000 made-to-order | ≈USD 555 per automatic cavity; 4–8 cavity set ≈USD 2,200–4,450 | 45–60 days tooling + 30–60 days glass |
| Thick-wall PET jar 250 g / 300 g (alternative) | Partner-factory quote at 10,000; lower tiers requested | None | 25–30 days |
Pricing was structured as sampling, then 500 / 1,000 / 3,000 / 5,000, each stating whether lid, coating and seal are included, FOB and delivered. Furnace economics are on the glass specifications reference and mould cost and ownership.
Tests
A matte black jar is signed against the thresholds on our matte black glass jar page; the ones that decided this project are below.
- Coating adhesion — 3M 810 tape over a 2 mm cross-hatch, pressed 10 passes, pulled at 45°; no lift, cross-hatch grade 1 or better (GB/T 9286).
- Coating hardness and rub — pencil hardness ≥2H; one pass of a 75% alcohol cloth removes soiling without damaging the finish.
- Colour migration — decorated jar in 75% ethanol at 48 °C for 12 hours; no colour into the solvent, no lifting.
- Weight and capacity — balance and 20 °C water; weight ±10%, brim-full ±5% — and the physical capsule fill test, photographed.
- Glass and seal — thermal shock to GB/T 4547, annealing to GB 4545; colour-water seal at −0.06 MPa for 5 minutes.
- Food contact — LFGB, SGS and FDA reports on the chosen glass and lid, from a third-party laboratory.
Timeline
- Dimensions from the partner factory — 200 g, Ø58 × 91 mm; capacity arithmetic done the same day; fill test requested; larger-size wall data and a second glass source requested.
- Finding reported — the jar cannot hold 150 capsules; the trade-chart discrepancy disclosed; the thick-wall PET alternative put on the table; the glass-or-preference question returned to the brand.
- Production, once decided — sprayed samples 10–14 days, then 30–40 days for the sprayed run; ×1.3 buffer per the production calendar.
The notes also record that the update to the brand was about two weeks late, and was sent as a plain statement of the finding rather than a holding note. A partner should say both.
What the brand learned
- Nominal capacity is not usable capacity. A "250 ml" thick-wall jar can have 140 ml inside. Specify brim-full and the contents fit, and test with the real contents.
- Thick wall does not scale up. Ask for wall thickness in millimetres and glass weight in grams for every size, so "thinner" becomes a number.
- Set the count to the jar, or the jar to the count — 120 capsules in a genuinely heavy 200 g jar may present better than 150 in a thinner 250 ml one.
- Dry capsules do not need glass. Glass earns its place against reactive formulas; for capsules it does aesthetic work, and a 300 g thick-wall PET jar solves volume, freight and breakage at once.
Sibling formats: cosmetic jars and the skincare packaging solution.
Vella is a Guangzhou-based beauty packaging solutions provider — a sourcing partner working with vetted partner factories operating to ISO 22716 / GMP. On this jar we wrote capacity three ways, did the arithmetic before the brand paid for a sample, disclosed the trade-chart discrepancy, and made a physical fill test the gate. Check your own capacity and quantity against the route with the Packaging Spec Builder.
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