Mark P wrote:
"Your work needs to be able to stand up to that test of time, so
in 100 years the goldsmith on some space station will look at
your work and say ‘man, they really did quality work in the old
days’. " Right on Mark. MP
Mark P wrote:
"Your work needs to be able to stand up to that test of time, so
in 100 years the goldsmith on some space station will look at
your work and say ‘man, they really did quality work in the old
days’. " Right on Mark. MP
As a novice jeweler, Quality means putting the best work I can
do into any piece I produce, using the finest materials I can
afford (and disclosing them), and standing behind my work and my
name. After all, who I am is defined by the quality of my product.
To me, quality is in the craftsmanship and design. If those are
both really good, even an old piece of sea glass, some stainless,
a hunk of iron and maybe a snip of silver or gold can produce a
quality piece. But, use a fine piece of lapis with an excellent
cut diamond or tsarovite and some gold, platinum or silver and
if the details are soft, the prongs misaligned, the bezel lumpy,
or especially, if the polish is bad that is not a quality piece.
But then, again, there is a difference in quality based on who
is doing the judging. To the inexperienced eye (a novice smith,
perhaps) a piece he/she thinks is quality will be cast aside by
the master who can see the flaws. And then, as someone said
earlier, the customer’s expertise and pocketbook can and often
is - in the end - the determining factor of quality.
(Unfortunately.)
I wish all my pieces never had a lumpy bezel, soft details or
less than perfect polish and I fervently wish that my fingers
would just do what I tell them and produce what my mind’s eye
clearly sees as the perfectly finished quality piece.
I can’t wait to hear other responses to this and to read the
article!
Nancy
Nancy Bernardine-Widmer
Bernardine Art Jewelry
To purchase nice clean dry oats, you must pay a fair price.
However if you would be satisfied with oats which have past
through the horse… That comes much cheaper!
Regards,
Roger W. Kitchens
Business: www.jewelrycreations.com
Personal: www.jewelrycreations.com/roger
hi suzanne, about 30 years ago i started to read “zen and the art
of mororcycle maintainence”. it drolled on and on about the
defintition of quality. the jist of it’s definiton was that
quality could not be defined commonly. it was one of the few
books i put down in the middle and never finished.
best regards,
geo fox
You can have a lousy design, and perfect execution and still have a piece of junk.
But, doesn’t the design have appeal to only a percentage of
people no matter who the designer is? I don’t know if lousy
(what If I don’t think the design is lousy?) design makes a piece
of junk . . . To me, a piece of junk is “a piece of junk.”
Quality usually lies in the eye of the beholder, providing that
the item doesn’t fall apart the first time one “puts it on.”
As a novice jeweler, Quality means putting the best work I can do into any piece I produce, using the finest materials I can afford (and disclosing them), and standing behind my work and my name. After all, who I am is defined by the quality of my product.
that is what i was gonna say!!! ok, i’ll say something
else…
using the finest materials the customer can afford, what ever
their price range, on special orders. anad the best i can
afford to use for stock.
but providing the best work i could do in either case is a must.
I make each piece of jewelry with the thought i will keep it.
problem is the embezzlement factor…jon knows which pieces will
be “product tested” my version of his term embezzlement
…course i did have to go and marry a fed.
pat
John…certainly, John Burgess, Peter Rowe and a number of
other erudite ‘Orchids’ are deserving of recognition as being
amongst those history might well recognize for their personal
’quality’ contributions in thought and deed. You kindly
introduced me to Orchid. Peter Rowe is a mentor with every
posting. Others, too numerous to mention, are very close behind
in their dedication. Yes, yes, yes…like jade ‘quality’ can
and ought be possessed intrinsicaly within each of us and our
work. Take time, go the extra mile…and take pleasure in the
journey as well as the pride that awaits at the destination.
Mana, described by Webster as prestige, which speaks of the
highest quality and honor, can and should be the goal of our
creativity at every turn.
John, you may not have wings…but who can say which of our
earthlings ‘qualify’. As you would add, G’day! Paul Hartstein
I think when you are dealing with customers/clients they often
mistaken quality for their own personal taste. “Quality” can be a
very subjective thing (unless something is odviously down right
shabby - pieces breaking easily often an item - but then again
this could just be mistaken for an item that is fragile or
delicate)
Personally I don’t think you can sell anything to anyone based
on an item being a “quality item”. The term is so broad it means
nothing. Is an item a quality product just because it is made
with gold? Some people would like you think so.
I concentrate on the unique of my pieces and the history of my
piece when I sell them. If anyone ever used the term “quality” in
referring to my work I would immediately assume they are totally
not getting my work and maybe they should be buying "quality"
rings off the Shopping Network.
Well I am off to pick up my dry cleaning. The name of their
establishment is “Quality Cleaners”.
DeDe
Suzanne,
In any jewelry item quality could be put into (at least) two
categories: quality of design and quality of workmanship.
(“Quality” meaning fine quality). Since you’re writing an
article and not a three volume book, I’ll discuss quality of
workmanship only.
Skill is a combination of innate abilities and practice,
practice, practice. If we could numerically rate skill, then
quality could be seen as skill multiplied by the amount of time
spent working on a piece. So, for example, a low skill level
craftsperson could spend 20 hours on a piece which would have a
quality rating lower than what a high skilled craftsperson could
achieve in 2 hours.
Price is not necessarily a component of quality. Repricing a
jewelry item won’t change the quality of the piece. Once the
item is made, the quality is fixed regardless of price. When we
talk about price and quality together we’re talking about VALUE.
Value can perhaps be seen as quality divided by price. So for a
given quality, value goes up as price goes down.
Those who remember their 8th grade algebra could manipulate the
above equation and find that quality is value times price,
therefore price is a component of quality, right? Well, it all
depends; if we have three variables: quality, price and value,
any two of these variables will determine the third.
If I set out to make an item that I want to be representative of
my best work, the legacy of my career, and I’ve got a buyer
willing to pay, I’ll spend as much time as I feel necessary
without worrying about the end price, quality would be king!
In the real world, I may have bid the job ahead of time, I
estimated 15 hours, have already spent 12 with no end in sight;
unfortunately something’s gonna give. Personally, I would
sacrifice a few hours for the sake of my reputation and personal
pride, painfully aware that this isn’t a good business decision.
But there always comes a point where compromises have to be made.
We’re all faced with this problem.
On the other hand, if I own chain of McDiamonds credit jewelry
stores and I want to sell half carat solitaires for $129.99 and
have a corporate markup policy of 2.5X (after discounting 50%),
quality is majorly compromised. Price and value (markup) are
fixed so quality must fall in line…at the back of the line
please.
One more thing to consider, price and quality do not trade at a
straight one for one rate. To remake a piece so that quality
would improve by, say 20%, it may require 40% more time (remember
Einstein proved that time is money). To remake it again so that
quality should improve another 20% might require 60% more time.
The closer we get to the impossible goal of perfection, the more
dear the price. If you reverse the direction and go down in
quality, you’re making a quicker buck. This is why Mr. McDiamond
drives a new Lexus and I an old heap.
But enough of that. What would I consider as specific
indicators of quality in a jewelry item? Glad you asked. If
it’s supposed to be square, is it? If it’s supposed to be
symmetrical, is it? Is it well polished over, under, inside and
out? Does solder show? Are the prongs in full contact with the
stones? Are the prongs covering too much/little of the stone?
Are smooth areas truly smooth or are they wavy or irregular? Is
it a’jour’ed? Is the bead work clean and is each bead well
defined? Is the bright cutting straight, smooth, crisp and
bright? If the design indicates this should be a hand made
piece, is it handmade or was it cast? Is the execution consistent
with the design? Does the clasp snap? Does it stay closed?
Does the safety click? Does the mechanism interfere with the
design? Is there too much movement in the mechanism? Will this
hold up? Does the rivet show? Is this thick enough? Is it
strong enough? Is it too thick? Too sharp? Does it catch or
snag? Will it last? etc. etc.
It’s easy to be a critic…
Wayne Lenkeit
JA CMBJ
about 30 years ago i started to read “zen and the art of motorcycle
maintenance”. it drolled on and on about the definition of quality. the jist of
its definition was that quality could not be defined commonly. it was one of the
few books i put down in the middle and never finished.>
If you didn’t finish the book, I think you may have missed the
jist of the definition. According to Pirsig, quality is what
results when you give your entire focus and presense to every
detail of a task. Not just doing it to get it done, but giving
full attention to the subtle requirements of each step. Pirsig
uses the tasks involved in the maintenance of his motorcycle as a
metaphor for this idea. You’re right, it’s an idea which cannot
be defined “commonly”.
In his book “Lila” Pirsig again touches on “quality”. He says
that things can possess “static quality” or “dynamic quality”.
One is rooted in tradition and cultural norms, the other results
from newness, growth, change, evolution. He suggests that both
kinds of quality are needed to balance each other, because if
something is only rooted in tradition, stagnation and death
results, whereas if everything is new new new, then there is
chaos.
What Pirsig says seems especially relevant to any kind of fine
craft endeavor. I first read “Zen . . .” over 15 years ago. It’s
one of my all-time favorite books. I’ve read it three times.
Those of us who like the book will have read it many times during
our lifetimes.
(I’m sure this is not the kind of definition which AJM had in mind . . .!)
Rene Roberts
Respectfully, I disagree about “quality stones.” For some
stones, inclusions are the whole point, for example rutilated
quartz, other stones that have interesting chrystals and
patterns in the stones.
And color in a stone is very very important to me.
Cheers
Virginia Lyons
Metalsmith
All,
Wow! Thank you all for your wonderful, carefully thought out
replies. You’ve given me a ton of food for thought, and it may
take me a week or two to digest all your replies, but I’m sure
you’ll each be hearing more from me. Thank you all for your
thoughts!
If you like, I’ll post the article on Orchid once it’s
published. (Provided my editor agrees, but he’s usually cool
about things like this!) It’ll be long (we average 2000 words or
so), but if you folks think it would be of interest, I’d be happy
to post it. Or perhaps we could use the new FTP site to download
it as a text file? (I’ve never FTP’d before, but I’m certain my
brilliant husband will help me figure it out!) Let me know if
you’re interested, and how you think the most appropriate way to
do it woudl be.
Thank you again for all your wonderful insight!
Suzanne Wade
AJM Contributing Editor
SuWade@ici.net
Suzanne, Wayne Lenkeit Wrote: “Skill is a combination of innate
abilities and practice. If we could numerically rate skill, then
quality could be seen as skill multiplied by the amount of time
spent working on a piece.”
Over the years I have noticed that I can achieve something like
90% of my best in, say, one unit of time/effort. to get to 99%
takes another unit of time/effort, and to get to 99.9% takes
still another unit of time/effort. I really like Alan Revere’s
comment that we are in a race, but that the competition is
ourselves, and winning is making the best piece possible, not
getting done fastest. The problems come when we see the
competition is a person making a similar item faster so it can be
sold for less money. At some point most of us need to eat (or
feed our kids) more urgently than we need to achieve the very
highest level of craft that we can.
– once the lousy stuff has been weeded out by time?
So this may be the answer to your question written by your own
hand ( on the computer no doubt)
In any case here is my contribution, however small, to the
growing number of quality conscious Orchidians.
Quality is a noun. By definition it is a degree or grade of
excellence. Quality is also an adjective. It is descriptive.
Both of these are therefore problematic. If it is a degree or
grade then it is subjective. We all know about descriptions and
how they are interpreted differently by each person. So.
Problematic.
Quality is a concept. Quality is a perception. A concept is a
general idea derived from specifics. A perception is an insight
or knowledge gained from ones ability to perceive. AHHH,here’s
the rub . The ability to perceive is directly related to the
convolutions in your brain…more directly stated it is a learned
idea. Quality is a learned concept. One must learn about
quality…one must be able to perceive quality. Ahhh
problematic…
Allow me to put it in other terms…people ask me constantly how
do you tell a real Rolex from a fake…It is very simple and I can
usually tell by just a glance as the “Quality” is so outstanding
on the real one as to be rather easy to perceive…ahhh…but this
I learned from years of watch repair…Quality and the perception
of quality is learned. Whether jewelry or watches or painting or
writing …fill in the blanks… !
In the jewelry trade most of us here on Orchid know it when we
see it even if we cannot define it. It is a learned perception.
Now, if quality is a degree or grade of excellence, it is also by
definition an essential character. This is definable if we can
perceive it. But it is definable only in terms we can understand.
Therefore each individual must strive to increase knowledge to
increase our concept and our perception of this illusive noun.
Respectfully Submitted
Terry Parresol
Goldsmith
Watchmaker
Horologist
Jeweler
Virginia,
Quality of stones, to me, goes with the old saying, “Beauty is
in the eyes of the beholder.” I find some rough beautiful!
Actually, as most people who know me will tell you, I like it
all!!! Rough, cabs, faceted, crystals in matrix, etc.!
I do think that the setting depends on the stone, though.
Cheers!
Lorraine
hi rene,
i don’t have much time to read the e-mail these days… i didn’t
intend to put down the book for those of you that got something
out of it. i agreed with the authors relentless pursuit of
quality. i like to believe that i live this relentless pursuit
and didn’t want to read about it anymore. i believe i got the
author’s point at the time i stopped reading it.
i think tom robbins wrote in ‘even cowgirls get the blues’ (to
some effect): most people tolerate experience and embrace the
master. this is understandable but can be limiting to oneself. a
liberating point of view would be to embrace the experience and
tolerate the master.
fwiw.
best regards,
geo fox