Peridot and Sterling Silver Pendant

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 January 2012 08:55 Written by John Atwell Rasmussen Thursday, 12 January 2012 08:55

I was thinking and decided to try a twisted wire project.  I took three strands of 18 gauge round soft copper wire and twisted them together into one strand.  Showing this to my wife, she said, why don’t you use silver.  I would like something done with this in silver.  I took three strands of 21 gauge square half hard sterling silver wire and twisted them in a similar manner.  When I show this to Debora, she asked what I was going to do and I replied that I was thinking of a twisted drop with a stone set in the bottom loop.  She asked to select the stone, and she selected a 6 mm round peridot.  That set the size and shape of the stone and setting.

The twisted wire was formed into the basic shape, then the top was wrapped with 21 gauge half round Argentium sterling silver wire to form the bail.  A precast head was soldered into the loop with hard silver solder.  The entire piece was then pickled, hand polished and tumbled to a high gloss polish.  The prongs were notched with a square fine file, and the peridot was set into the silver setting.  We have a finished pendant:

These last to views are from the back and the extreme left side.  Overall, the effect of the twisted wire accents the entire design.

Pricing Handmade

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 January 2012 08:49 Written by Uniqlets Jewelry by Lisa Sunday, 8 January 2012 07:12

A blog post about pricing handcrafted goods sparked more debate than I would ever have imagined.  So, I thought, why not jump into the fray?  It hadn’t seemed that complicated to me.  Whatever job I do, I expect compensation for my time and my talent.  I demand compensation that includes health benefits, paid vacation, paid sick leave and a salary that allows me to pay my living expenses and generate savings.  Why not expect the same compensation when I design and create jewelry?
To be fair, I know that I cannot expect the same hourly pay or benefits from my new jewelry craft business that I command from my career.  But how much will I lower my expectations?  My question to fellow crafters is  “would you take a job that offered less than minimum wage?  Would you resent competing for a job with someone who will accept less than a living wage because the job is not his or her sole income source?”
My challenge to myself and others is to approach our businesses as careers.   That means, when pricing a piece of jewelry, I take into account the cost of my materials, my overhead – including health insurance, tools, expenses for my website and shop, advertising and promotion.  And, I include $30 an hour for my time.   I only count the hours I spend creating things.  At some point, I would like to pay myself for equal number of hours I spend on all the other aspects of my business.   Enjoying what I do does not negate the value of my time.  I must value my work and my design if I am to expect a customer to value them.  I don’t compare my prices to those in Walmart or Target or a similar store.  My one of a kind products are not comparable to mass produced merchandise and, presumably, my customer is not deciding between purchasing one of my pieces and buying something mass produced in China.
It all comes down to determining who the target customer is and how to make that customer my customer.   I know that my customer appreciates the creativity, time and passion that goes into a handmade object.  My customer values uniqueness and wants one of a kind items.  When pricing my jewelry, I  look at prices in fashion magazines, craft galleries, boutiques and design or craft museum shops.  I know that I cannot command the prices charged for top designer costume jewelry featured in the pages of Vogue or Bazaar.  But those prices (which are often ten times my prices) remind me that there are people with disposable income who are spending freely when they attach value to items.   That is the crafter’s biggest challenge, promoting our creations in a way that will help people to attach value to our merchandise, to perceive our products as exclusive, desirable, luxury items.  We need to show customers what is unique and special about our work, to teach them the difference between handcrafted and homemade.  We have to help customers to attach as much value to what we make as they do to items in boutiques and upscale stores and catalogs.
I don’t claim to know how to do that yet.  But, I think it starts with valuing our work, pricing it accordingly, and not under-cutting our fellow crafters.  We are craft professionals, not hobbyists.

Creating a Pendant

Last Updated on Saturday, 3 December 2011 08:56 Written by John Atwell Rasmussen Saturday, 3 December 2011 08:52

For those who want to see the basic process for creating a piece of jewelry, here is a chronicle through the creation of a necklace pendant.

First a brass blank was selected to put my design on.  I had an idea about a “drop” of metal with a stone inset at the bottom of the drop.   I drew a stylized drop on paper and then cut a brass blank that would be larger than the drawing.  The blank was 2 x 6 cm.  I cleaned the blank of oxidation.

Filing, a little dapping with an 8 mm punch, and hand polishing with red rouge completes the creation of the basic pendant.  The stone is set into the hole that was pierced in the metal and the pendant is complete and ready to go to the shop.

The shop will be at a “fleamarket” next Saturday.  Locally we have a bike trail that is rather long.  The fleamarket will be at mile marker 31.5 at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery store (205 Cedar Lane Road, Greenville, SC).  Anyone in the area is invited to drop by and say hello.