The importance of good craftsmanship

That is a really boring title.  But hopefully what I have to say is not boring.

My mom came to visit last week and was wearing a cute necklace by a mass manufacturer.  "Oh this?  I've had it forever, I just never wore it before."

By the end of the 2 hour visit, the glass heart in the center had fallen out.  I offered to fix it for her (what good is it to be a jeweler if you can't fix your mama's jewelry?) but she said, "Oh this wasn't expensive, don't worry about fixing it if you don't have time."

 Garden marker by MonkeysAlwaysLook

WHAT?!  No matter how little something costs, you should be able to expect to wear it a few times without it coming apart.  But it started me thinking about hand crafted work vs. mass manufactured work.

Once I started my own business selling jewelry made with my own hands, I started to seek out a higher quality of merchandise for myself and my family.  Whether it was a coffee table or a new rug, I found that instead of going for cheap and not caring if something broke I felt much better buying handmade, hand crafted, heirloom quality items.  I know it's a tough economy, and things are tight over here in Metaliciousland, but I'm finding that I don't have to replace things when I go for high quality from the beginning.  It costs more right now, but when I still have it in 5 years it is actually saving me money because I don't have to replace it each year, or every 2 years. 

Our coffee table from a large manufacturer lasted 6 months before the leg started to wobble so badly we needed a new table ASAP.  So I paid 2x the amount of that coffee table for a hand crafted, USA made, beautiful solid wood coffee table. AND we were able to work directly with the artist to get the size we needed.  He was super nice, delivered it in person and it made me feel good to support another artist's business.  A year and a half later and it's still beautiful and solid even though my 2 boys and 2 cats give it a daily workout.  It still holds up my feet at the end of the day, no wobbles.  I have no doubt it will last for years.

This is in our entryway from RecycledBrooklyn.

 

So reason #1 to buy handmade, high quality items?  It saves you money.

Reason #2 to buy handmade, high quality items?  You're supporting a real, live person.  And his/her family.  Who will in turn support their local people, and their families.  And so on... 

And reason #3 for buying handmade, high quality items?  Customization.  You can have whatever your heart desires if you just ask.  You get real person, who gets back to you in real time, who takes pride in and loves what they do and it will show in how your item is made, how they communicate with you and the longevity and quality of the piece.

So before you go to your big-box retailer please consider buying handmade first.  It's good for all of us!

New Jewelry Ideas!

Some of you may recognize this ring from my Etsy shop.  It's a modern sterling silver band that I inlaid with rough yellow diamonds.  Teeny, tiny diamonds.  The most gorgeous colors of gold and brown, they are nearly edible.  But enough about my eating disorder.

I got a request from a customer to make this ring with black diamonds which required some time and research.  I finally found a stone cutter who sells conflict free diamonds from India.  And look at what I found!!

White ones that range from creamy white to dark silver...

Black cubes that are the size of ground pepper, if pepper were extremely rare and expensive...

and of course more yellow rough diamonds...

Stay tuned for the new pieces, I'm going to take the next few weeks to focus on carving models that will fit these tiny stones.  Let me know what you think, do you like them?

Wax on, wax off

No, this isn't one of my wax-carved rings. My filing & piercing class at F.I.T. is finally over.

I took the class as a way to break the monotony and hone my skills. And honestly, how hard can it be to file? I've been doing this for over 10 years, right?

Within the first two weeks I was getting Ds and Fs on my projects. I couldn't file a flat surface and keep it completely flat. And I couldn't keep a surface 90 degrees from it's side. And after filing the same thing for 3 hours in each class, your fingers numb, your eyes blurry from staring at a tiny piece of metal... and to know that I was getting Ds... I just wanted to give up. I was a terrible jeweler, what was I doing trying to make a living doing this? My work stinks. I stink.

I felt like a failure, but I also knew that I was learning a lot about myself. I learned that when I'm not 'the best' at something I will give up quickly so that I am not seen as a 'failure.' I also tend to make excuses why I'm so bad but everyone else is so good (I have a kid, I don't have time, they have plenty of time, etc.). The truth is that everyone has something that could keep them from being great at what they do. The truth is that the ones who succeed are the ones who don't give up.

And eventually, one day in the middle of a 3 hour filing torture-- I came to accept these things as part of who I am. And I embraced them. Yes, I'm not the best but I can work hard to get better. Yes, I don't have a lot of time but no one else does either-- they make time and I need to make time, too.

Today I marched in with my final project. There were a lot of mistakes but I worked really hard to make the piece, spending over 20 hours on it, and was so pleased of how far I came in the class. So I proudly handed my ring over to my teacher. A smile slowly formed as he turned it overatnd over in his hand. He pointed out the mistakes and I nodded in agreement. Then he said, "This is some really good work." Then he leaned over and wrote in his book, "A."