[Jewelry making - Article 00143] - Re: [Orchid] Fused Glass a step child?

[Ateh Modus Vivendi Customer Service]

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Hi Larry,

    I don't know what you mean exactly by a step-child material, are you
    referring to the common perception that glass has to be less
    valuable than semi-precious stones? I guess consumer education is the
    key here. 

    I think fused glass has as much status as an art jewelry material as
    any other stone/material. It all depends on the workmanship, which is
    true for any material - Amethyst can be a beautiful cab or a tumbled
    chip, it's the quality of the original stone, cutting, polishing and
    setting that makes the final product either a piece of art or a piece
    of junk. The same goes for dichroic glass. I have to admit that I
    find the dichroic glass pendants strung on rubber cords that sprung
    up en masse at the malls everywhere don't qualify for art or good
    craft status. Most of them are just cut-up factory produced dichroic
    strips that have been fire polished. Have you noticed that most of
    them are either square or rectangular? Whoever makes them doesn't
    even have the skills to make something with rounded edges. 

    I make my cabs from glass chips that I get from a well known
    Australian glass artists who makes his blown vases from 5 to 12
    layers of glass and foil. I cut the chips, reassemble them in 3- 5
    layers and fuse them several times to achieve the desired effect.This
    multi-step process is quite complicated and time consuming, but I am
    very happy with the results, especially since it looks nothing like
    the mall-quality dichroic squares. I set mine in silver. Of course
    all this time spent pushes the prices up, but I think a discerning
    customer can distinguish with a "naked eye" the mass produced glass
    squares from a beautifully crafted multi layer glass cab and pay 10
    times more for it.

    Ruslana (still in the process of creating a same-name brand for my
    jewelry)
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