[Jewelry making - Article 00219] - Re: [Orchid] Bench jeweler's working conditions

[Daniel R. Spirer]

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    Since I started making jewelry I have worked under the following
    conditions (somewhat in this order): in the back of a store with no
    windows, in the living room of my apartment (with windows but no real
    views), in a 5 car garage with no windows (but with a large garage
    door that we opened in the summer), in a bedroom of my apartment (one
    small window), in the back of a store with a window looking out to
    the front of the store and concurrently with the store location: in a
    room in my basement (with no windows), in another room in a basement
    with two small windows (mostly looking at dirt) and, currently, in
    the basement of my new store (with no windows). With the exception of
    the first location, all of the other ones were my choice (since I've
    always been my own boss). 

    As a bench jeweler I have always found that the less distractions I
    have, the better I produce. While it was nice to be looking out at
    the store all the time, it proved to be a constant distraction.
    Distractions mean mistakes happen. For me it also meant the creative
    juices never flowed. I'm sure everyone is different when it comes to
    the creative end but for me less is more. But when I am an employer,
    I really want my employees focusing on their work and not on
    everything else going on. This is not to say that you should have an
    unventilated, tiny crawl space to work in (although I've seen plenty
    of jewelers who work under those conditions), but in my view, most
    people will work better with less interruptions. I think it's far
    better to have a somewhat isolated condition to work in, and take 10
    minute breaks every 1-2 hours (outside or wherever) than to be out in
    the middle of a lot of commotion. As for those three guys mentioned
    with their headphones on and hard at work in their own worlds, quite
    frankly, they would make ideal employees. You're not being paid to
    talk. You're being paid to work. 

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
www.spirerjewelers.com
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