[Jewelry making - Article 00782] - Re: [Orchid] Purchasing scales

[K. David Woolley]

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Weight is always an option.  The woman who was over from Germany to 
visit and give us a pearl stringing workshop prices that way.  She 
deals mostly in 18K gold and Palladium (one of the Platinum class 
metals) so this makes sense.  As others will tell you, due to silver 
being more affordable the Sterling Silver by weight gauge may not do 
yourself justice.  As far as a scale goes you just need to the tenth 
place for most things as far as accuracy.  I would weight your metal 
before cutting, be efficient, and simply add the scraps to the cost.  
If you get into reclamation (sending your scraps/fillings to the 
refinery) then this will be reclaimed money.  The corner of a piece 
of sheet after you cut it is not immediately available in your stores 
to work on hence the cost should be passed on.

Here's a project that handled production run and cost analysis, it 
takes many factors into consideration and allows you to know the real 
value, if you have any questions feels free to ask.  It takes into 
consideration a $10CND hourly wage and a $0.31CND per gram cost of 
sterling silver.  Right now we are paying 36 cents canadian for 
instance, and a higher hourly wage may be desirable for you, play 
with the figures as you see fit:

 	JEWELLERY 201 - AUGUST 26, 1999 INSTRUCTOR: KEN VALEN
 
 	PRODUCTION PROJECT
 
 	DATE DUE: SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
 
 	Make: 
 	3 pair of earrings
 	5 bangles
 	5 pendants
 	5 rings
 
 	Each item should not cost more than $40.00 retail. Keep a record of
 	your time and materials.
 
 	ex:
 	cutting 10 minutes 
 	forming 10 minutes 
 	soldering 15 minutes 
 	forming 5 minutes 
 	filing 20 minutes 
 	emery 10 minutes 
 	polishing 20 minutes 
 	textures 20 minutes 
 	polishing 10 minutes
 
 	2 hours X 10.00 = $20.00
 	grams S/S = 16 x $.31 =	4.96
 
 	Sub-Total 1 = $24.96
 
 	Individual Piece Sub-Total
 	$24.96 divided by 5 (# of pieces) = $4.99
 
 	Add 10% overhead
 	+$0.50
 
 	Total Cost = $5.49
 
 	Wholesale Price (Add 33.33%)
 	Cost x 1.3333 = $7.32
 
 	Retail Price (Multiply Wholesale by a factor of 2)
 	$7.32 (Wholesale) X 2 = $14.64 (Retail Price)
 
 	Don't make any of them too complicated. Vary shape, size, design,
 	texture, etc. Practice cutting, filing, forming, soldering, emery,
 	polishing, etc....
 
 	For Next Week:
 	Read pages 114-118 of Oppi Untracht's Jewellery Concepts and
 	Technology.

Cordially,
David Woolley 
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada


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