Back in my day (way back when before cell phones and the internet), I played AD&D with a guy that used to allow you to embed (mount) gems into your shields or the handles of your weapons.  Is this something anyone else does?  I wondering (as a new DM and new to 5e) how you would allow this to happen.  Maybe in your town, you allow a weapon smith do the task for a fee....???...

Any thoughts on this idea?  Trying to spark some creativity on my part and looking for suggestions....

Thanks in advance for reading this.

For the most part, there is no statistical advantage in doing this, so I would easily allow it if my players wanted to use some of their gem treasure to "bling" their weapons and armor. All they would need to do is find an appropriate craftsman and work out a fair price for the job. 

I feel it would carry the same connotations as anyone looking to 'Silver' their weapons albeit under a different text-flavor. You could certainly find someone willing to do the work for a fee, or even just ask if that is something you could do as part of your downtime activity. Operating under the presumption that these embedded gems aren't giving the wielder of that particular weapon any other advantages you could certainly incorporate it into the campaign in any number of ways limited only by your imagination; Artisans, jewelers, bored weapon smiths, etc. etc. etc.

However if you're allowing these gems to be embedded for other reasons, such as adding some kind of bonus to attack/damage or casting a spell, then that's probably falling under the umbrella of crafting a magic item.

Great suggestions!  I wouldn't think of it as gaining advantages with the weapons or armor (like magic items)..  Just creating a 'bling' effect to the traits of the weapon or armor.  Kinda like personalizing an item fo the character.  

Thanks for the ideas.  Still open to ideas on the topic, too.