I saw in Rio Grande catalog they were selling sterling silver neck
rings and for a lot of money. Can I just make my own for a lot less?
Here is the picture of what I mean:
http://www.lmdesign.info/BEADS.htm It is the picture on the right.
It is just a simple sterling silver wire but it is well shaped and
feels strong, not flimsy and too easily bendable. The wire does not
feel like it is a super thick wire so I was wondering if I could make
a neck ring myself and if so, what gauge would be good to try it out
on?
WOW LinZ
It looks to me like you need to study a bit more before getting
started. Your questions amount to about two years of
teaching/learning.
I would recommend you start with some of the better books on jewelry
making out there. Get Jinks McGrath’s The encyclopedia of
Jewelry-Making Techniques, Also Tim McCreight’s Jewelry, Fundamentals
of Metalsmithing. Another book by Murry Bovin - Silversmithing and
Art Metal is a bit dated but outstanding. There are many other great
books out there…Charles Lewton-Brain has a number of them and if
you would check the book section of the Lapidary Journal you will
find them. Finally, I suggest you check out local gem and mineral
societies and art schools. I don’t know where you live or what your
resources are but I strongly suggest you get some hands on teaching
by a well known instructor at a well known school. Otherwise, you
are just spinning your wheels…especially at the beginner’s level.
You must get the basics such as design and engineering, proper
sawing techniques, metal characteristics, manipulation and forming,
annealing and soldering (brazing), and finishing/surfacing down pat
before you go off into the ether. These are essential. Oh, you can
do some beading and wire wrapping but these other areas are where the
real jeweler makes it in the world. Also, don’t forget to learn
something about stones…characteristics such as hardness, cleavage,
their general construction such as are they fiberous or crystalin,
how they are cut and polished…you don’t have to become a GG but
you should know your stones. Then you can begin to build a
repertoire. Don’t be in a hurry…it will take time and lots of
effort but it is worth it in the end.
Good luck and I am sure all Orchadians will be willing to help as
time goes by.
By the way, if your friend down the street was selling plastic beads
without telling her customers she is treading on very thin ice! That
is not only unethical but illegal as well. Be up front with your
customers…don’t try to decieve them. Basically, she was charging
too much!
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry! @coralnut2
14 or 12 gauge round wire should do the trick
I was wondering if I could make a neck ring myself and if so, what gauge would be good to try it out on?
Certainly. Probably nothing thinner than 14-16 gauge would have the
feel you want, and it can be stiffened by work-hardening with a
rawhide or plastic mallet that won’t leave marks. It might be a
good idea to get a necklace display form to keep trying it on at
first, particularly if you want to make other shapes than just
circular (V-shaped, or circular with a notch, etc).
By the way, if your friend down the street was selling plastic beads without telling her customers she is treading on very thin ice! That is not only unethical but illegal as well. Be up front with your customers...don't try to decieve them. Basically, she was charging too much
Gee Don, don’t assume that people don’t want to pay a lot for
plastic! First off, IF she was selling them at face value, AND
there was no deception involved, there is no legal issue.
You may not remember, but back in the eighties you could walk into a
department store and buy paper earrings for $45 dollars. That’s
right, paper – and the findings were base metal coated in gold
colored or silver colored wash. And they flew off the shelves!
They were huge and colorful, and flashy (did I mention they used
gold colored paint on a lot of them?) and lightweight – perfect for
giant eighties hairstyles.
It is the market which drives the price. If you find the right
niche market, and you produce a product that they crave (even if
it’s just because it’s “fun”) then you can command a price
commensurate with what they are used to paying. In the case of
ladies at spas, they are very used to paying a chunk of money for
what they want. In fact, this is a niche where charging too little
(in their eyes) will make your work unsellable. It is more of an
extravagant attitude.
Just because you might harbor a little resentment at the prices that
this person was able to command for plastic, doesn’t mean that
“Basically, she was charging too much”. I understand that in a
traditional retail jewelry business, the price points can be below
$100 for pieces made of 14K gold – what you need to realize is that
it is not the intrinsic value of the material that sets the price
(it is just this kind of thinking that makes people sell finished
jewelry by weight!) – it is demand that sets the price.
Frankly, it astounds me that I can purchase natural (or even
treated) stone beads for less than glass beads being imported from
the same country! Just because I value stone over glass, though,
doesn’t mean that everyone does.
Like it or not, each of us lives in our own little world, and it
does good to find out about other people’s perspectives. Learning
about other people’s attitudes toward spending will help you a lot
with your business, and maybe then you can find a niche market that
will be just as profitable for you as the plastic bead girl’s
business was for her.
Also, from what I remember about the original post, it might have
been a little harsh in advising two years of study before trying to
make a sterling neck ring. Really.
–Terri