[Jewelry making - Article 00270] - Re: [Orchid] Is white gold really hot?

[hans]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

Hi Brian

    I want to create one-off "art jewelery", and I consider most wedding
    jewelery to be somewhat limited in its variations. 

    I suppose that I could be called an art jeweler. Namely, I design,
    manufacture and retail only my own designs. And 95% of my income is
    derived from those designs. The other 5% is wedding stuff and repairs
    and the like. 

    That said, were I not in a pure tourist position and people came to
    me often for wedding stuff, I would certainly not disregard that
    avenue. Many years ago I did have a shop with bridal jewellery as an
    option and I found that after you have made the wedding set for the
    couple, they mostly remain your customer and/or friends. Then when a
    birthday or Xmas comes up she or he come to you to make something of
    your design for the occasion. They show your creation around,
    including the wedding set and with luck the friends come to buy your
    own art designs. 

    However, Sometimes it's hard to spend many hours on a piece, keeping
    focus on the fact: That It Is For Sure Is Going to SELL. Then you put
    it in the window, someone looks at it... and asks, "Do you have any
    real jewelry"? yeah mon, as in bridal stuff..A thin skin is not an
    option. 

    The opposite is the many people who become your friends after they
    buy your jewellery and they buy what you like to make. I have on some
    occasions reached the 'perfect plateau' in terms of 'jewellery art'.
    (To me, anyway) That is: Your art output makes you enough money to
    expand your complexity of your work and you can afford a good
    lifestyle. You are comfortable I also have been at the place where I
    had black coffee because I could not afford the milk. This was a good
    thing, because the memories of no money always remain needle sharp.
    Then you sell some things and then more designs have to come from
    you. These designs have to be made, finished, and presented and.
    um.Paid For. One cushion is to have a bread and butter line, as in
    stock you made that is OK to duplicate, like dolphins, sea-horses, and
    real jewellery stuff. And a bricks and mortar shop helps too. It goes
    without say that they are original pieces of yours you are
    duplicating. 

    But your real jewellery art work cannot be duplicated by yourself
    over and over... It has to be on the edge, new for you...
    And...preferably experimental.. All the time. 

    I know of many good goldsmiths that make very good 'art jewellery'.
    So me of those metal smiths have only one problem. They do not
    consistently produce new designs that are translated into real
    physical pieces, for sale, now and in your hand....Confidence in what
    you are making for sale and that it will sell, is one of the most
    difficult parts an artist has to overcome initially, especially when
    you need money to pay for milk. And in a way, jewellery is much less
    important than milk. 

    But it becomes easier the more you practice design and produce those
    designs, refine them and then sell them... And to sell them, that is
    the only real thing, in the end.. 

    Wedding sets are things I often long for. So easy to make pretty and
    so much loved by two people. 

    Art jewellery, on the other hand, is a little bit like the Chinese?
    saying, "be careful for what you wish for, it might come true." 

Cheers, Hans Meevis
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________