[Jewelry making - Article 00166] - Re: [Orchid] Thinking of changing over to gold

[John Donivan]

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    Always an adventure tracking down the origin of a thread in Orchid!!!
    But I found it.. First, I would echo some of the replies I read - Why
    plunge? Why do it all overnight? Why not just make a piece or two,
    but them with your present inventory, and see how they move? And if
    they do, they will help finance the next work. I will, with
    reservations, also echo some other replies - generally, the cheaper
    the piece, they higher the profit margin. Some of the richest people
    in industry are those with punch presses putting out washers 24/7.
    As for the learning curve - I sat down and made a gold signet ring
    with a family crest, fabricated, as my first gold piece, without
    guidance or problems. Gold is at once very different from silver and
    not so different. If you flux properly, soldering is similar -
    hotter, considerably easier, but similar. Better and stronger tools
    will cover most of the rest - good files are essential. My
    reservations about profit, though: If you are a silversmith doing a
    gold piece, you're probably making a silver piece in a different
    metal, and you might make less money. I'm a goldsmith (platinum,
    more, even), and if I do a silver piece they either choke on the
    price or I work for 1/3 pay. Gold is not just a snobbery thing with
    precious stones and fine work - it's hardness and working properties
    lend itself to those things as silver never could. Which is to say,
    you're probably not ever going to sell a $6,000 diamond, design a
    $3,000 ring, make it and pocket the lucrative profit, in the silver
    business. But you (I would think) don't have to take a running leap,
    either..... 

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