I’d have to say the invention of CAD/CAM for jewelry modeling has
directly affected me, since I am a wax model maker, primarily. I have
spent the last 28 years refining and perfecting my skills that
apparently are no longer needed. At least not to the degree that they
once were anyway! When any hack with a computer can sit down and
"draw" a design and have it machined out to perfection, then I become
a dinosaur. I haven’t jumped on the band wagon but may, depending on
certain events. Right now, the ability to find enough work to keep a
machine running is getting more difficult every day. I am not sure if
it is the price of gold, foreign labor, world wide instability or
what but in my area, most of the jewelers I know, are looking for any
kind of work, just to pay the rent, not to mention putting any away
for a rainy day! Apparently, the rainy day is here and has been for
several months now. As far as hand made jewlery is concerned, I think
what you will find, as time goes by, is that these people will fade
away. Their skills will not be preserved and they will be replaced by
machines or cheap overseas labor. Some of the really good skilled
craftsmen may be able to get enough work to maintain a living but
most will have to move on to something that actually pays. Who among
us knows all the little secrects of making buggy whips or more
recently lugged steel bicycle frames. As time goes by, all of these
trades and their knowledge goes away. For those of us at a
crossroads ( too old to retire and too young to make it all work) we
just have to muddle through and buy into the technology or create a
niche that is so hard to replace that we can survive until its not
neccessary to work anymore. I can remember a fellow jeweler telling
me about ten years ago that I had to specialize in order to survive
but now it seems I have to be a jack of all trades just to make a
passing living. All of the retailers want a guy that can do it all,
work in their store and work for $12.00 an hour, with no or poor
benefits. I can’t blame them for thinking this way since it costs so
much to employ someone and there aren’t many good jewelers left out
in the workforce. What you have is a large number of limited skills
people, without formal training that are expected to function as an
ace and at the same time are held responsible for broken stones that
cost up to 500 times or more what they get for setting them. You can
avoid this by working as an employee if you are lucky enough to find
a job that pays enough or you can try to work for yourself with the
numbers stacked against you. What results, is a high amount of
stress, low profit/pay, and little appreciation of your abilities by
both the customer and those that hire you.
Its hot and I’m a little grumpy so forgive me if I sound alot
negative. For the newcomer to the trade my advice would be to take
advantage of all the technology possible, to the point of becoming an
expert at it and find a way to charge the maximum for your skills so
you can afford to keep up with the constant changes and maintain your
edge. Don’t forget to save for a “rainy day” and don’t get sick,
injured, crippled or old.
I'm curious, what institutions are there in the USA that are
designed to perpetuate and keep the craft 'alive'? The only reason
I ask is because it seems like everything in the USA is going away,
the same problem exists in the faceting area.
If you are interested in rockhounding in the Magdalena district I
would suggest going to Bill’s Rock Shop. He has the North Graphic and
Nitt mines. The collecting has been very good for smithsonite,
allophane, azurite, and several other species. He charges $5 per
person. He also owns a great rock shop and the prices are very good.
You can reach Bill or Helen at 505-854-2236. Please call first, as
Bill’s health hasn’t been that good and they might not be open.
When it comes to the Northern part of the state you can collect
pegmatites at the Harding/Dixon Mine in Dixon, NM… It is controlled
by the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. For permission to
collect there you have to contact the geology dept. at the University
or check in with a gentleman named Gilbert Giego that can by found on
the East side of Dixon. May I also suggest that you visit the Crystal
Nest rock shop in Eagle Nest, NM… It is owned by Sheila Lycan and
has a large variety of minerals from this state also. She is more
familiar with other collecting localities up. She can be reached at
the shop at 505-377-9440 or at her home, 505-377-3386.
Just remember that if a CAD/Cam operator has a computer or program
that crashes they are out of work unless they can do the work without
the use of the computer.
People that can do hand carving can make do with a simple pin, nail,
pocket knife, tooth pick, stick, candle, match etc. ( you get the
idea ) even if their basic equipment crashes.
I am not saying that a person shouldn’t learn to use the most
updated equipment if it is necessary but they should learn the basics
first. I for one am becoming too old a dog to learn new tricks so I
will stick with my hand skills until I can no longer work.
Bottomline, there will always be room for the handcrafted,
traditional ways.
Tell that to the tailors, cobblers, candlemakers, blacksmiths,
basket weavers, seamstress’s, neighborhood bakers, millwrights,
wheelwrights, millers, and a few thousand other trades that have
either disappeared or dwindled down 100-fold from their previous
employment figures. The VAST majority of today’s population are
looking for the synthetic perfection of mass production, even with
substandard materials, especially when combined with the siren call
of prices that are too low to imagine. Why did these other trades die
out (or nearly so)? Because mass production techniques, cheap
overseas labor, new technologies, and inexpensive shipping services
became available. Why hand cut 4 millimeter round garnets when you
can throw your rough into a machine and have it come out perfectly
proportioned? These changes strike everywhere, except for the few who
service eccentric, wealthy patrons who value hand-work over quality,
and uniqueness over popular and attractive design.
My mother would not allow me to buy a strand of Pearls at
Woolworth, she taught me to wait and save. At 16 I got a strand of
graduated cultured Pearls, care to venture what they are worth now?
If you are a depression baby, a strand of real graduated cultured
pearls when you were 16 could have cost several hundred dollars, and
often more. This is close to when they were first introduced. What
did a 16 year old girl do to make that kind of money back then? We
have had many people bring in pearl strands from the 1950’s that they
personally purchased for over a hundred dollars from reputable
jewelers in the area, that ended up being excellent synthetics, not
cultured. In the end, does today’s value even matter? The enjoyment
they have given you far eclipses any theoretical value, when you
would certainly never sell them.
Really, if you were walking through the Met, and saw some Viking
breast-plate hand-hammered and chased next to some ridiculously
brilliant machine-carved wax model, what would you choose???
Sure, hand made wins hands down TO ME and a dozen viking reinactors -
but really, what is the market for authenticly reproduced Viking
breast-plates? Watching the movie “DaVinci Code” the thing that
bothered me the most was the perfectly laser-printed note found
inside the puzzle mechanism, and the cast brass plate from the
inside of the box with the flawless cast-in message. While both of
them used a typeface common for the general era, they were far too
perfect. The note would have been handwritten, and the brass would
have been hand-formed and engraved, not cast with the message in
place with a perfectly copied font. How many people saw the movie? -
tens of millions. How many people even noticed this, what I consided
to be a glaring error? Maybe a few dozen. The same as can tell, or
care about, the difference between mass produced and hand-made.
Historically jewellery has always been a luxury item, and customers
throughout through the ages have always wanted the lowest price.
Sounds a little like Marie Antoinette’s “Let them eat cake” comment
when told the peasant’s had no bread. There is a point where there
ARE no more “different people” for whole categories of products, and
that point is right now for a lot of quality work done by a lot of
talented people. The wheels have turned, and they aren’t going to
turn back on many of the things that were our 'bread and butter".
Mass production of cheap products has poisoned the public’s mind for
many types of items, by both lowering the perception of value for the
category through constant promotion and loss-leader pricing, and
leaving the bad taste of poor quality materials aand workmanship.
I’ve been reading this thread with interest - there are a couple of
other, similar threads, too. I will preface my thoughts with a joke
I heard long ago (if it offends anyone, I’m glad of that!) “Did you
hear about the jewelry instructor who was asked to resign? Yeah, I
heard he sold a piece…” That’s a cute joke, and was fairly
pertinent in the 60’s when I heard it. There are two issues at play
here. First, the one the joke is about, is money. If one aspires to
be in business and make a living at a thing, such as jewelry, one
must make money at it. Money is the gasoline that fuels a business,
otherwise known as cash flow. If you are doing something and don’t
have cash flow, it’s not a business, it’s a hobby. Now, don’t
misunderstand me. If your desire is to make your kind of jewelry for
your own pleasure and show it to your friends, that’s perfectly fine
with me, but most of the people in these threads are looking for a
way to make a living at jewelry. So - how do you make money? Fact #2:
As I like to say, “The greatest compliment a person can give a piece
is to buy it.” People simply do not care what you or I think they
“should” like or “should” buy. Do you? If I walked up to you in a
store and told you what I though you should spend your money on,
you’d walk out, and rightfully so. Instead of sitting there
wondering why people aren’t buying your work, think about why it
isn’t selling. They aren’t buying it because they don’t want to - not
a difficult concept. That doesn’t mean it’s unsaleable, though. Is it
the price, is it the venue, is it shoddy craftsmanship (no sale
there!!)? It’s just grass-roots marketing, and the 3 rules of
business: 1)location, 2)location, etc., and add to that the fact that
if one has been making jewelry for an ENTIRE year, then they may need
a little more practice to get a product together that catches the
buyer’s eye. The jewelry industry is robust, and always has been. I
looked around for some info - Israeli diamond exports declined 6.9%
last year - only $1.23 billion, down from $1.32 billion. When we add
up the whole industry you’re looking at a trillion or more dollars a
year, literally. There is a LOT of money flying around, buying and
selling jewelry, and that includes galleries and “Art” jewelry. All
one needs to be a part of it is to provide a good product at a good
price in the right location. Add to that some good clothes, a nice
smile, a winning personality, and a lot of luck, and you’ll be home
free. Nobody said it was easy…
In all my years in the jewelry biz I still haven’t quite figured out
the female take on jewelry function. For example, I have one
particular customer who is a menopausal mid life wife who obsesses
about earrings. She doesn’t like the effect of a hoop freely
dangling and regularly has me making custom french hooks which I must
solder to her hoops. I recently asked her why she needed this
requirement and her reply was…".because I want THE LOOK !" I
suppose that her waning good looks prompt her to imagine other
techniques for remaining in the spotlight ! Whatever…who knows ?.
Then there is the woman who won’t let her husband out of the house
without his wedding band. In this scenario what we are dealing with
is analogous to not taking the dog for a walk without his collar and
leash. Never mind the fact that the ring can easily be slipped off
when he commutes off to work. Then there is the little lady who comes
in to have the ring that her boyfriend has just given her. This is
the scenario where the girl wants me to quantify what the loss of her
virtue was worth. Pardon my cynicism, but why does one want to know
the VALUE of a gift ? After all, a gift is just a token, but I would
have to agree that a resulting pregnancy does carry with it a
considerable financial obligation ! One Orchidean wrote in to remark
that men typically view jewelry as an expression of financial
attainment…suggesting, of course, that women have other
priorities. I have another take altogether on that subject : in my
view, most women use jewelry as symbols of socio-economic status
while most men use jewelry to symbolize studship. Using tangible
objects as icons or symbols of status or beliefs is endemic. Then,
there are the women who wrap sweaters around their butts to CONCEAL
(!?) their inadequate butts…oh, what the hell, we humans are a
bunch of goofballs…why else would we poop in our own nests and
kill one another ?
james could hire someone to do piercing a fraction of that price.
Yes, and most likely it would be someone with a fraction of the
skill, a fraction of the talent, a fraction of the dedication to the
craft, a fraction of the desire for perfection, and a fraction of the
interest in the quality of the finished item.
If one aspires to be in business and make a living at a thing, such
as jewelry, one must make money at it. Money is the gasoline that
fuels a business, otherwise known as cash flow. If you are doing
something and don't have cash flow, it's not a business, it's a
hobby.
Bravo, John Donivan! You read my mind! This is exactly what I have
been thinking as I read many posts. Like a number of jewelry
business owners in New York City, I started this as a hobby and am
trying to turn it into a business. I finally decided to make the leap
after having many people literally try to buy pieces I made for
myself off of my body. I would be wearing a pear of earrings I had
made and people would want to know where I bought them. That is why I
decided to start my own business. Most of the posts have been really
helpful in helping me to figure out how to do this, but your entire
post did raise some issues that I had thought of when reading posts,
but did not want to say. Now that it has been said, I just want to
say that you raised many good points and gave out good advice.
by both lowering the perception of value for the category through
constant promotion and loss-leader pricing, and leaving the bad
taste of poor quality materials aand workmanship.
Hi Lee Can you define the term “loss-leader pricing”? Are you based
in Las Vegas, hence the name Vegas Jeweler’s or somewhere else? You
don’t have to say if I am being too nosey, but I am curious about
this.
$90,000.00!! that’s an awful lot of money for a machine made by a
company calling itself “chicken fat” (or “greasy, melted fat”) - a
term that’s a yiddish ‘loanword’ filtered through american english
slang.
umm, don't think i'd pay much for anything made by a company not
inspired enough to a name change for a better professional image.
Umm…I suppose if you thought that the German speaking company
didn’t know the definition of their own name, then…yeah, perhaps.
But, I posite that to take the more logical (and consequently less
condescending) approach, Schmalz is most likely the founder’s (or
some such entity’s) last name. Of course, with a last name like
mine, I can’t afford to criticize someone else’s
Tell that to the tailors, cobblers, candlemakers, blacksmiths,
basket weavers, seamstress's, neighborhood bakers, millwrights,
wheelwrights, millers, and a few thousand other trades that have
either disappeared.
Good point, Lee. I agree with you completely on that one. This really
hit home when I went to this fabulous museum in PA called the Mercer
Museum. The whole place is devoted to how things were made before the
machine age. William Mercer spent a lifetime collecting items that
had to to with this and then built this fab concrete monolith of a
building to display them. Totally worth the trip for anyone who loves
the “old ways” of the past. I found myself fascinated with the
display of the tortoise shell arts. Here’s a perfect example of a
skill set that died with the advent of modern plastics, like
celluloid. Anyone on this newsgroup know how to make a tortoise shell
comb from a real tortoise shell? Didn’t think so. Trades come and go.
This era we live in is not concerned with craftsmanship. Largely it
is concerned with cheaper, faster, or status. I don’t know what the
future will bring.
You make a good point “The enjoyment they (pearl strand) have given
you far eclipses any theoretical value, when you would certainly
never sell them.” I do think the concept being offered was that one
is better off saving to purchase fine quality jewelry than buying
something of lesser quality. That takes patience - hard to practice
when these times promote instant gratification!
I’m a boomer. Just a comment about price and old - maybe vintage is
a kinder term - pearls.
My Mikimoto pearls were purchased for about $50 in 1973 from a shop
in Hong Kong. The pearls pass the “tooth test” and have lovely
luster. I’ve restrung them twice. So far as the Mikimoto logo, that
could have been faked - we ARE talking about a place where copyright
laws were ignored.
Boy does this make me sound ancient!
Judy in Kansas
Most of us struggle with the concept of handmade or mass produced,
(as the define all) of what we classify each other as. The future of
our trade is in trouble, with new technology, techniques, trade
sharing, the explosion of treatments and synthetics, now these are
all good things that can benefit not only the jewelers but the
jewelry buyers as well.
The thing that is missing is the new wave of educated and skilled
Jewelers. At all levels…sales, fabrication, repair, custom,
gemology, etc… we as a society of jewelers have to make sure that
we offer the best quality of goods and services.
As we become a more educated work force, we can empower the consumer
to buy! We can start to enjoy more pay and benefits! Until we leave
the old ways of thinking and stop regressing we can expect this whole
industry to move into the MASS PRODUCTION and we can all get jobs in
Cambodia. With that it is nice to see all the workshops that are
offered to us and the availability and affordability that we are
seeing. Take advantage of some of these programs as they benefit us
all.
Remember education is the key…Support our Jewelry Institutes.
sincerely,
Gabriel Manzo
Proud alumnus of The California Institute of Jewelry Training.
Unfortunately many people see change as threatening. As far as some
hack on CAD/CAM, I was a lapidarian and did lost wax casting before
I touched CAD/CAM. I have 16 years in manufacturing other than
jewelry industry. But this argument faulting CAD/CAM is misplaced.
Although I’ve never performed heart surgery I produced heart valves
and although I’ve never been to space I again used said tool to help
produce the space station. CAD/CAM is just another tool to use in
your arsenal. This is a great argument for someone buying custom
jewelry produced locally for a bit of a premium in little lead time.
As far as hand made jewlery is concerned, I think what you will
find, as time goes by, is that these people will fade away." " Who
among us knows all the little secrects of making buggy whips or
more recently lugged steel bicycle frames."
I have been following this thread and had to reply to this post. I
actually know people who know how to do both of the above mentioned
crafts and make excellent livings at them. Yes, buggy whip crafting
is alive and well. Whips are essential in the training of special
mules valued at $50,000.00 each. The whips never actually touch the
animals, but are used to produce a cracking sound in the air that
gets the animal’s attention. A good friend of mine trains these
animals for other people, and he has a long wating list of folks who
need his services. Each one of those $50,000.00 mules needs a buggy
whip to go along with him. So what has this got to do with this
discussion? IMHO there will always be people who want/need/and are
willing to pay for excellence. Yes, it may be hard to find those
people, and they won’t fall into your lap. You have to know your
market and be able to adapt. I am sad to see all of the gloom and
negativity that has been expressed on this topic, though I absolutely
respect the right of each to their own opion. The world is no worse
now than it has been at various times in the past, but humans tend
to have short memories. The sad fact is that none of us can fix our
futures to any company or instituion and expect that we will be set
for life. The more independant and versatile we can be, the better
off we will ultimately be.
Well you know the old saying, “if you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
Change is the only constant in this world. So at my store we’re
being dragged into CAD/CAM kicking and screaming (sort of.) I will
admit I like the precision.
On the other hand, I’m learning decorative hand engraving and just
upgraded to a Gravermach. Hand engraved rings are hot hot sellers
for us, so it drives my enthusiasm.
Yeah, I’ve finally embraced platinum and white gold, although I
harbor a secret love of yellow gold - but then again we just made
our first palladium rings last week.
Although I’m a 25 year plus goldsmith, and I get burnt out too, it’s
never too late to learn, adapt, and grow. Remember the passion and
meticulous standards that make you great and you’re sure to succeed.
How many people saw the movie? - tens of millions. How many people
even noticed this, what I consided to be a glaring error? Maybe a
few dozen. The same as can tell, or care about, the difference
between mass produced and hand-made.
Exactly. Furthermore, the vast majority of the public can’t tell the
difference between different forms of smithing. I was talking to a
friend of mine whose mom is a silversmith and she told me that she
does not consider cast pieces to really be handmade, so, at the end
of the day, I don’t know if it is helpful for someone who is really
concerned about starting a profitable business to start getting into
the fine gradations of casting versus smithing versus CAD when it
comes to have a profitbable business that generates an income that
can be lived on. There will always be someone out there who does not
think that an item is handmade enough. I am more concerned about
what the customer thinks – s/he is the one that will be paying for
the item!
