Stuller's mounting are made in china?

Well I just had a real shock. Opened a package from Stuller with a
mounting that a customer is interested in, 14kt white gold. It has a
little sting tag in it that says, MADE IN CHINA. Interesting

Did you telephone Stuller about this little note? Do they think the
phrase “Made in USA” doesn’t apply to them? We’d all like to hear
their reply? -If I found that note, I’d return it back…

Gerry

Well I just had a real shock. Opened a package from Stuller with a
mounting that a customer is interested in, 14kt white gold. It has
a little sting tag in it that says, MADE IN CHINA. Interesting 

I’m pretty sure their boxes are made in China.

Paf Dvorak

Good Morning Frank,

We appreciate your concern. While we do manufacture a large majority
of items at our global headquarters in Louisiana, from time to time
we do purchase items as well.

We have a select number of overseas vendors with whom we conduct
business.

Prior to any partnership, we review all aspects of their
manufacturing processes including setting, casting and labor to
ensure they are up to the same, high-quality standards Stuller is
known for. Additionally, we quality check all products again once
they arrive at our facility.

To ensure integrity with our customers, any item that is not
manufactured at our facility or within the US is labeled as such.

Thank you for allowing us to serve you for the past 44 years. We
strive to maintain the best in quality and customer service.

Randi Bourg

WHAT? Stuller is lying to use? Isn’t it bad enough that they make us
jump through a billion hoops just to have the privilege of
purchasing from them? Now this?

Is everything made in China now - and are all suppliers lying about
where their items are madee Both my husband and i have encountered
this very issue with tools several times - the website says "Made iN
USA. Box or bag it comes in says “Made in USA.” Sticker or etching
on actual item says, “Made in China.”

What is going one?

It is as if the USA doesn’t even exist anymore and is just a place
for China to sell us their inferior product.

Just had a BAD problem with solder from a source (Not Rio, Not
Indian.) I didn’t know that solder could have such a variance in
quality. The ENTIRE wire (med) was completely useless. IT would NOT
flow. It would just adhere to the metal in a lump - no matter what
method I tried (pavilions, cut wire that wasn’t flattened, stick
soldering). I had others try. Same issue. Weird. At least it wasn’t
that expensive.

Where do others obtain their solder? I prefer the wire solder and
not the sheet as I like to stick solder. (Plus, too many greasy
fingerprints get all over the sheet solder…)

Thanks,
Lori

Yes Pat, they are made in China, but I am not talking about a
product that is manufactured by the millions by a machine. I am
talking about out sourcing skilled labor. Directly importing from a
foreign country in direct competition of the very people who were
loyal clients for decades. Studio jewelers, like myself and thousands
of others that are practicing bench jewelers, that have supported
Stullers settings over the last 30+ years and made them the
powerhouse that they are today. My objection is therefore twofold.
NOT getting full disclosure at time of ordering, and the out sourcing
of skilled labor just to save labor costs. Those of us that WERE
loyal customers of Stuller never questioned the price or the quality
of their products because they always gave the best service and great
quality, and the products WERE made in the USA. I find that is no
longer the case. I was always taught that you left the dance with the
person who brought you… Stullers, in my opinion, seems to
think its only about the bottom line, and what have you done for me
lately!

and what you offer to the customer is likewise your business, as a
long time (30+ years) customer I expect to be informed that I am
buying product made overseas before or at least when I purchase it.
The only point that I was informed that the product was made in China
was when I opened the package. If I had been informed up front with
full disclosure I would never, I repeat never, have ordered the
mounting in the first place. My customer, when informed that the
mounting was made in China, was very upset and refused the mounting.
This put me in a very awkward position having already expounded on
the quality and the virtues of purchasing a ready made mounting from
a trusted long time supplier. Guess you will never be quite so
trusted again, and if you do appreciate my concern then you will
provide full disclosure before the purchase and not only when it is
delivered.

Lori, Stuller is not lying. They tell you when the product is made
overseas and imported. A certain number of their mountings come from
vendors that are in other countries and they do provide a label
saying so. My issue was that I was not informed of this until the
item arrived and I opened the package, well that and the fact that
they are importing mountings instead of manufacturing them at their
facilities. So basically they are now importers as well as
manufacturers.

After my complete loss of home and studio when I went to log in to
Stuller my account had been deleted and I was evidently not a
concern for Stuller. I base my opinions on my experiences with
suppliers. This further degradation to Chinese goods reinforces my
opinion that the greed shown by Stuller is and will be theirs to
own. I have high regard for Rio Grande that not only helped me with
fire damaged metals for refining and credit for me to purchase tools
and goods. They are always there to help and indeed I would rather
support a company that helps its customers whether they be million
dollar clients or thousand dollar clients. I will not always be the
little guy I will build my business back up and Rio Grande seems to
like investing in the individual with time and care.

no affiliations just my experiences.

Teri Davis
Cornelius’s Pick

stuller. read my email. No da*m excuse to buy from another country.
You’ve got jewellery companies all vying for your business, and you
ignore them, for what, a few pennies cheaper? I am so very sure in
America there are more manufacturing companies who would love to sell
great products in mountings. 'They are not the only fish in the
ocean!’
.

There is a ‘stuller’ here in Toronto, I’d like to visit them & ask
them directly. you notice I didn’t put a capitol “S” on their
name…“Mad as hell, & I won’t stand for this, anymore!” I’ll bend
over backwards to give my local casters my business.

Gerry Lewy

The only point that I was informed that the product was made in
China was when I opened the package. If I had been informed up
front with full disclosure I would never, I repeat never, have
ordered the mounting in the first place. My customer, when informed
that the mounting was made in China, was very upset and refused the
mounting. 

If the mounting was made in Germany or Italy would there be this
discussion? I think not.

If it was as described, problem? Like it or not, we purchase clothes
and shoes made all over the world.

Electronics, ect.

I might be wrong, I am sure Stuller Is absolutely sure manufacturing
is done to exacting specifications. They are not going to lose
credibility at this point with degradation of quality.

So the real issue is what? Make your own damn setting. Your customer
willing to pay for that?

Since this is a world forum, would someone please inform me, an
American, if the rest of the world is so xenophobic in regards buying
things ‘Made in China’? If a product is of good quality and is
offered at a competitive price, what difference does it make in
which country it was manufactured?

Paf Dvorak

Hi Lori, I like Hoover and Strong for both their solders and alloys.
As I sit here and think about it, it has been so long since I have
purchased solder from another source, I can’t clearly remember what
the differences with other suppliers were. I do use some 21 kt gold
solder made by a Japanese company (can’t think of the name), but that
is because I couldn’t find any place else that made 21 kt. Leonard
Wells suggested this solder as he likes to solder, rather than fuse,
the 22 kt jump rings used to make the very chain being shown on bench
tube currently. I believe Hoover and Strong uses the same 22 kt alloy
that Jean Stark likes for her chains and granulation. I remember that
they used to advertise that, but that was years ago and my time sense
only gets worse, and it wasn’t good to begin with. Things could very
easily have changed. Their solders I have ordered and used recently
though, and still happy. Thomas III

The question is not the quality of some of the “made in China”, some
is superb! The real question for me is “Is it made be my neighbors"
they have to have work if they are to have money to spend with me! At
some point in time if everything is made elsewhere, we (wherever
"we” are), there will be little money to support any of “us”.

Buy local, and perhaps we will all continue to have jobs!

Dear Stuller and all other suppliers, just tell us where it comes
from.

Let us make the choice.

To many it will not matter, but to some it counts a lot.

Mark Chapman

It is as if the USA doesn't even exist anymore and is just a place
for China to sell us their inferior product. 

Just you wait.

There was a time, not so long ago, that everything make in Japan was
inferior garbage.

And now Japanese goods are far superior to many similar American
goods.

Soon products made in China will be of a better quality (and more
expensive).

Paf Dvorak

If a product is of good quality and is offered at a competitive
price, what difference does it make in which country it was
manufactured? 

Some buyers (your customers) may have considerations other than
quality. There are high-quality conflict diamonds, and high-quality
clothing made by child labor, for instance.

You, as a jeweler, may not care where an item was made, but you
can’t make your customers agree with you.

Al Balmer

My only question on this thread about made in China is— are you
willing to sell your goods to Chinese customers? Enough said.

Barbara on the island where summer seems to have arrived and all’s
right with the world. Not a snow drift in sight!

Not long ago I was in Mexico City. While there we did the usual
tourist shopping. I was amazed that almost everything was made in
China. My friends whom I was staying with, commented on how all
things were now made in China. They as Mexican citizens were
outraged. You had to really search to find the goods made in Mexico.
So yes there is at least one other country that is xenophobic towards
China.

This mostly stems from the jobs lost. I remember the morning my
husband came rushing into the bedroom to tell me he had been laid off
by (big Blue) a major computer company. He had been VP status, and
this came totally out of the blue. He was told in a short phone call
his job had just been sent to India. I watched over the next many
months as others lost their jobs as well to overseas. I watched as
people who once made comfortable livings lost their homes and
everything they owned. Many companies suffered, and those that
survived started outsourcing and buying goods from places like China
and India. What really galled me and I mean pissed this old lady off
was our government (USA) sending our tax dollars to those same
countries to help them take our livelihood away.

How do stand up to help bring back and economy that has been rocked
to it’s core? You start by taking a stand against the products that
cost you your job. Small thing to most, but it becomes personal. You
encourage the manufacturing of goods back where they use to be, so
you can get the jobs back. You make your statements with your dollars
(for us in the USA). In the end it is a choice we want to be able to
make. Do we support made in the USA or do we support those who took
our jobs? I for one do make my choice if I’m informed of it.

Do I wish China ill? No, They have their manufacturing base, and
they have the people in their own country to support it, if they just
marketed to the billions they have.

These are just the personal from experience opinions of an old lady.

Aggie

I agree with the comments that Stuller makes it difficult to do
business with them. They close accounts too quickly (with no
warning) making one go through the hoops all over again. I
understand their intent to stay “wholesale” but it would seem they
could create a client tier that allows for new businesses to use
their services. They could charge a premium until the company or
designer becomes established. Something. anything…

Now, all this being said - I will not be purchasing anything made in
China period. I carry this across the board professionally and
personally. I thought Stuller’s inventory was made in the USA and I
was going out of my way tosupport them after Katrina. Well. no more

  • not in my custom work or inthe consulting design work I do through
    three stores.

To say I am disappointed in Stuller would be an understatement.

Hello All,

I think that there are several issues here that are not being
directly addressed.

First, there is a strong movement afoot in American today that
favors searching out locally made/grown/etc. products, from
appliances to agricultural goods. It is the Locavore movement, at
least as far as food is concerned. I am most assuredly part of this
movement, belonging to a CSA farm (community supported agriculture),
and trying hard to focus that attitude on everything else I have to
buy, for many reasons, not the least of which is that shipping from
"away" is costly; and re: foodstuffs, locally grown food arrives at
the stores ripe and ready. Not easy today, but mostly possible.

I believe that this attitude has colored this discussion. We DO want
to purchase products that are made in our respective countries, and
this seems to be an especially strong motivation in the U. S. There
is a major problem with this attempt. we are living in a world that,
at least at the level of consumer goods (and the Internet), is
without borders. We can buy anything from anywhere and we generally
do, sometimes without knowing where the stuff is made.

And that brings me to second issue. We, at least in the U. S., do
like to be informed about the products we buy, and our import
regulations do specify that anything that is imported into the U. S.
must be labeled as to the country of origin (I am aware of one
’craftsperson’ whose employees remove those labels from carved
wooden objects, and replace them with his. but that’s another
story). We ask for transparency, so that, if we so choose, we can
avoid products made anywhere else than the U. S., or made in
countries whose poor labor practices, inferior product quality or
carelessness with the environment are abhorrent to us, or for any
other reason of our choice. We value those suppliers who are
transparent re: country of origin.

And finally, the perception, again at least in the U.S., is that
products currently coming from China have been produced using poor
labor practices, inferior product quality, and carelessness with the
environment. If there is anyone on this forum living in China
currently who would like to add a comment here, now would be the
time.

However, there are other countries like Thailand, though Thailand is
certainly not along in this practice, where slave labor is used to
make exportable products, like India, where rampant
industrialization is polluting the country’s air and soil quality,
and on and on and on. My sense is that the U. S. has been a rather
efficient educator to the rest of the world in the business of
making stuff with no regard to the environmental or human damage.
That, of course, is a whole other rant. And we, in the U. S. are
equally good at making really poorly made dreck.

The thing to hope for is that Stuller, and other suppliers,
hopefully have good enough quality control and due diligence to make
certain that the product being imported is (1) the actual quality
described by the manufacturer; (2) is not being made using slave
labor or any other practice that takes unfair advantage of the labor
force; and (3) that the manufacturing facility is not adding to air,
water, or ground pollution. And, yes, I know that’s a lot to ask of
a supplier, but isn’t that what we actually are asking for when we
whine and rant and bitch about wanting to know where a product is
made? Isn’t that what we should be asking for?

And just to answer the question from another thread, “Jewellery” is
the correct spelling for “Jewelry” in many countries other than the
United States. I’m just sayin’.

Linda Kaye-Moses