Starting a career at the bench

Jewelry Discussion
21 
Some call it snobbery, and others call it professionalism.

My point is that large, busy, t-shirt wearing, productive shops are
just as capable of the finest work as are smaller, library quiet,
neck-tie and clean apron wearing bastions on fine jewelry creation.
I’d suggest that ones preference has more to do with individual
personality rather than with the end product.

We agree that there are many large shops that are overworked and
under staffed and whose work is of the lowest quality. At the same
time there are many beautifully appointed, hospital clean shops who
produce very sub-standard work themselves.

The quality of work produced at any shop has more to do with the
ability and standards of quality set by those that run the shop.
Finely crafted jewelry takes as long as it takes to make. Large
shops can be very profitable giving them substantial resources for
staffing and equipment. Small shops are often built around just one
very talented master and have a limited output because of that. Well
run larger shops can afford to hire several masters and then create
teams of one master each with 2-3 apprentices or assistants for each
team. Each grouping functions much like that small shop, but has
that added advantage of the support, both intellectual and
productive, of the other teams. It can really work beautifully and
often does. And believe it or not, sometimes people in these shops
wear head phones and wear t-shirts!

I think that most of us have formed our low opinions of other shops
or shop situations because of the low quality work we have seen. If
you think about it, what other work would you see? If a piece is
beautifully made to the highest standards, why would anyone bring it
to another jeweler? They wouldn’t.

Mark

22 
Headphones are a problem because it indicative that person does
not want to be there, so he/she wears headphones to block the
outside world.

Not all people concentrate in the same way Leonid, I know quite a
few people that work in very noisy environments (e.g. their workshop
backs onto the retail outlet of a shopping centre), and an iPod set
to their favorite tunes blocks out that background hum of the hustle
and bustle. It helps them to concentrate.

Personally I don’t need to do that, if I need to block out the
background audio (babies crying, people chatting, loud ambient
noise), I listen to my tinnitus.

The world is not black and white. Flexibility is a valuable trait in
these times.

T-shirts and jeans, - means that there are no communication
between clients and the ones who actually making jewellery. That
makes it highly unlikely that a work of some caliber is done there.
Would you ever hire a lawyer or an accountant wearing t-short and
jeans?

Although there may be no direct communication between bench staff
and the customer, doesn’t mean there’s no communication at all. The
professional who designed the piece will communicate with the bench
staff. The effectiveness, of that communication, is up to the
professional.

Would I hire an under-dressed accountant or lawyer (?)… maybe, it
would depend on their reputation. For the same reason I would hire
someone with a thick accent. It makes no difference to me as long as
they’re skilled.

A short sighted person would not give a people a chance, based on
their appearance.

I have a story (always have a story). There was a homeless lady,
that wandered into a department store in town, she was wearing rags.
She sat down at the piano, used to greet customers, and started to
play concert pieces at a maestro level. At the end of her
performance, she left the store back to her live, and a turned up to
play when she wanted to. The point is you can’t judge a book by it’s
cover. In my opinion you shouldn’t.

Regards Charles A.

23

Leonid

Head phones are good… most bench work is done in a very small
cube of space on the bench pin. It is best to exclude the rest of the
world.

Take you car in for service and note what the mechanic is wearing.
Those dirty grubby grease soaked hands sure do take in some very good
customer money. For me fancy costumes don’t inspire my trust. Working
clothes of the trade do even with dirty hands.

jeffD
Demand Designs

24

I’m hearing some good advice and some not so good advice on this
thread. The advice that I would disagree with the most however is
that you should interview a potential employer harder than they
interview you. It’s all well and good to check the place out, find
out what kind of work you will be expected to do, even what the
benefits are and giving the Employee Handbook a full review and then
decide if it feels like a good fit or not. But if you start asking a
lot of pointed questions posed from the position of “what’s in it
for me, what are you going to do to make my life better and promote
my career” you will not ever get a job. That won’t insult just bad
employers, but almost all potential employers. It is important to
remember that the business exists to make a profit and grow, not to
provide jobs so newbies can learn the trade. This is an increasingly
misunderstood fact of business and working.

Starting at the bottom is not a bad thing to do. There is a lot of
nobility and value in hard, menial work; for good reason it is the
traditional beginning of the path of an apprentice. Most people that
are self-made and successful in just about any career started out
that way. Assuming you survive it, it’s not the experience itself,
it’s what you do with the experience you gain that will make or break
you in the long term. Worst case, in twenty years (which will pass a
lot faster than you think) you’ll be able to post on Orchid how hard
it was when you started, like how your boss totally destroyed a
month’s work because of a mediocre solder joint or something.

The very best of luck to you Dreama. It sounds to me like you
already have your feet firmly on the ground. I think your next step
would be to get a job working the bench in any capacity you can find
and learn everything you can there. Believe it or not, there is a lot
of work out there, I know lots of people in the industry that are
looking for help. You may have to move though, just part of the deal.
If what you want for work is not where you are, your only option, if
you really want it, is to go to where it is. Don’t be too proud to
start in a place you don’t intend to retire from. Do the job they
start you with to the very best of your ability, and remember that
the cream always rises to the top. Do it well and they will trust
you with more. Sooner or later you will be faced with moving up or
moving on, and so it goes. Your path will be unique and it will lay
itself out before you, but you can really only see it unfold one step
at a time. So, close your eyes, hold your breath and take a step
forward. But I don’t need to tell you that, you already know. I can
tell. You’re gonna be fine Dreama, maybe even great!

Dave Phelps

25

When Tim and I worked in fancy stores we always wore long white lab
coats like doctors. That way it didn’t matter what we wore to work.
We always kept a clean one to go downstairs to deal with customers.

I loved it because it gave us an air of authority. As a rare “Chick
Jeweler” in those days, I liked not having to be told by the
customers,“I’d like to see the REAL jeweler.”

Plus it covered up the tattoos very nicely.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

26

Charles,

Would I hire an under-dressed accountant or lawyer (?)... maybe,
it would depend on their reputation. For the same reason I would
hire someone with a thick accent. It makes no difference to me as
long as they're skilled.

Here in Vermont I suspect that there are laws about public nudity. I
agree about the quality of work being all that matters, even with
out clothes.

jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand

27 
For me fancy costumes don't inspire my trust. Working clothes of
the trade do even with dirty hands.

Whilst they don’t exactly scrub up pretty and I get odd looks
sometimes when I buy my lunch, I am so proud of every callous, scar
and blackened finger. Unfortunately for me I’ve been asked not to go
anywhere near the shop, first in my apron, and now not at all if
there is a customer about. Customers don’t want to see a grubby
workshop monkey apparently which is a bit upsetting and shows a huge
lack of respect from the shop girls.

Ok, rant over!

Laura in Brighton, who has now successfully wrestled a spot on the
sofa from the dog

28

Re: workshop clothing, I’m surprised that you’re told to keep away
from customers, Laura. I’m allowed to get away with ripped jeans and
an irregularly shaved face, precisely because the customers like to
see someone doing real work.When appropriate, we show customers
around the workshop, because they often don’t believe that real work
is being done until they see some dirt and greaseThere are limits,
of course, and when it’s been too long between haircuts, I do get
sent to the barbers :wink:

Jamie Hall
http://primitive.ganoksin.com

29

Jamie,

I'm surprised that you're told to keep away from customers, Laura.
I'm allowed to get away with ripped jeans and an irregularly shaved
face, precisely because the customers like to see someone doing
real work.

You bring back old memories and make me laugh.

A shop where all the goldsmiths were issued non woven plastic lab
coats once a week. It took me a while to figure out why most folks
took to cutting decorative fringes. Then I was sent down to the fancy
store to see a client. Damn there was a big TV monitor pointed
straight at my bench for the clients to see. Lab coat carving began
in ernest, I quit wearing shoes on camera and could care less about
my clothes. I should have grown my hair, I missed that trick :-).
Fancy jewellery and setting most anything didn’t bother me but being
used for promotion without my consent nor knowledge still makes me
mad and it has been a decade or so.

Do good work or better and they are stuck in a difficult corner no
matter what you look like nor wear headphones all the time except in
the store :slight_smile:

I didn’t get fired ever but quitting was a real joy.

jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand

30 
When appropriate, we show customers around the workshop, because
they often don't believe that real work is being done until they
see some dirt and grease

If am am particularly grubby from the polishing room when I am
called out to consult with a customer, I make a joke of it. “The
jeweler’s magazines will tell you how the sales staff is supposed to
be perfectly groomed and even have professional manicures, but real
jewelers have hands like chimney sweeps.”

Stephen Walker

31 
because they often don't believe that real work is being done until
they see some dirt and grease

Alas the snobbishness of some shop girls (well, women) and I have to
say it is now down to only one woman who resents me being near her
customers. “It doesn’t look very good to the customer to see you
walking by when I’m trying to sell them thousands of pounds worth of
jewellery”

Well if they’re looking at me you’re obviously not showing them
something they like! I’m having a go at my own retaliation and
making her come upstairs to get her finished packets rather than
taking them down to the shop. Silly of me I know, but we all must
have our little pleasures…!

Laura in Brighton

32 
I'm having a go at my own retaliation and making her come upstairs
to get her finished packets rather than taking them down to the
shop. Silly of me I know, but we all must have our little
pleasures....!

Good for you Laura. Small little retaliations do count and offer some
personal joy. Just remember, no shit eating grins while having her
drag her butt up the stairs :slight_smile:

jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand