Don't be afraid to use other people's skills - leave the
specialties to the specialists, at least when needed...
John has truly hit the nail on the head here when it comes right
down to it. In my 35 years as a jeweler I have tried just about every
process. Can I do bead settings? Sure. Can I engrave? Sure. But there
are people out there who that’s all they do and not only can they do
it better, but they do it a whole lot faster and cheaper than I can.
Should I charge my customers an extra $300 because I insist on doing
it all myself, or go to a professional who can do it quickly,
skillfully and in a timely fashion and save them a little money at
the same time? We are, after all, in business to make a living, not
just to meet some inner goal of proving that we can do it all. Same
thing with my accounting. Could I do my own tax returns? Sure. But
it’s a whole lot cheaper to leave it to a professional. Personally I
want to design, make and sell jewelry. That’s what I like to do. If I
spend all of my time at the bench I don’t have time to sell it (and
selling it is part of the fun in my book). If I spend all of my time
doing bookkeeping than I don’t get to make anything. If I spend all
of my time doing repetitive processes that someone else could do
better and faster than me, then I don’t get time to design the stuff
I like to do. And surely most of us are in this because we like to do
it! More power to you if you really can, and do, do it all. But in my
book it’s all about balancing the work load in a way that ultimately
leaves you happy doing what you’re doing.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
Keep raising the bar but do it in sane increments.
The bright side of all this, as David Phelps all but said, is that
nothing succeeds like success. For any readers who are a little
daunted by some of the things that have been said here - it gets
easier and easier to learn what (should) get harder and harder. The
work should get more challenging, if we are progressing, but with a
larger and larger base of craftsmanship, somewhere along the way you
should be able to say, “Oh, I can do that because it’s almost just
the same as THAT, which I know quite well” After a time it all just
blurs into a great one-ness of ability, and distinctions like
engraving or hammering or filing just blend into a great big “just do
it” kind of thing. That is freedom…
I must have missed the posting where someone recommended Elizabeth
Oliver's book on design, but I just wanted to also add my praise
for this book.
What is the title of this book? I did a quick book search under
author’s name and wasn’t finding anything design related.
But there are people out there who that's all they do and not only
can they do it better, but they do it a whole lot faster and
cheaper than I can.
I’m sure there are readers who are saying, “No, I do everything and
do it well and that’s how it is.” Long ago I met someone who is here
on Orchid - she may not even remember, but I do. She was doing craft
shows and that’s where I met her, and was very impressed with her and
her fairly craft-show-ish work. Now I discovered that I know one of
her employees (Brian), and looked at her work in a gallery web site.
She is doing things that are 10,000% beyond what was before, and no,
she surely can’t do it all. The world is big.
Her last name is Olver not Oliver. The book is Art of Jewelry
Design: From Idea To Reality.
Powells sells a version with jewelry spelled jewellery and it is
new, but I bought the used jewelry version through Amazon in case
there was other differences in language that I was uniformed of. She
also has a couple of other books about jewelry making, which I think
I will look into in the future 
Happy reading!
Melissa Stenstrom
The book is called "The Art of Jewelry Design from Idea to Reality
by Elizabeth Olver. It’s a Quarto Book, first published in North
America in 2002 by North Light Books, an imprint of F&W Publications,
Inc. 1507 Dana Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45207
It was originally published in London at Quarto Publishing.
I think your problem was that I originally made a typo in adding in
Elizabeth’s name - it is OLVER not OLIVER.
If you go to Amazon and type in Elizabeth Olver several books will
come up including the Jewelry Design one discussed here. She also has
several others which may interest you. I think she does a slam bang
job of producing books.
Good luck.
Kay, who apologizes for the misspelling of Elizabeth’s last name.
What is the title of this book? I did a quick book search under
author's name and wasn't finding anything design related.
The book’s title is Jewelry Making Techniques Book and her last name
is actually Olver (no i in it). It’s an excellent resource and was
one of the first I picked up when starting out. Pretty sure I got it
at Barnes & Noble btw.
Hope that’ll help, CaroL
What is the title of this book? I did a quick book search under
author's name and wasn't finding anything design related.
It’s called “The Art of Jewellery Design” and is by Elizabeth (Liz)
Olver (not Oliver).
http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books/us/product/0713661550.htm
See above link.
Helen
UK