Making it work with what you have
4th December 2020 - Customer Location: Cairns
The result.
If you are going to recycle unwanted jewellery into a new piece we need to make something that you will want to wear. Ensuring that can take time. If you take shortcuts you can end up with disappointment.
When we started looking at a ring from old pieces for this customer I am sure she had no idea we would end up where we did. I certainly did not. She loves the end result and so she should as she was involved in almost every aspect of the design and creation..
Working for free: Quoting
The jewellery I recycled - minus the two main gems used
This type of job is by far the hardest to quote and design for. Many do not proceed for any number of reasons.
To get to a stage where I have measured the materials to be used, explored a design that suits those materials and that the customer will love…..and arrived at a point where I can quote can take many hours. I do not charge for quotes so I have limited time for this.
This customer knew there would be a wait to do this right. There is no option with me but to do a job like this properly, including the quote. No rough quotes from me as I would rather someone else disappoint you. A budget is always helpful as it allows me to see if I can work within it or not.
Article: Recycling jewellery: Cost benefit analysis
Article: No rough quotes for you!
What we left out
The only gems used from the old pieces.
My worst nightmare is when a customer insists on reusing every gem in old pieces to create a totally different look. That in most cases is like chasing a rainbow. Even if it is achievable the added cost in the extra time required to work around every existing gems can be more than the gems are worth. Worse still it can make the new piece look ugly.
For this remodel I created with the customer a design that would reuse the two main diamonds and the existing gold. I would supply a quarter of a carat of small diamonds for the new ring and recycle the old gold. The unused gems and excess gold would be returned to the customer.
The customer was happy with this. If she had not been I would have declined to make the ring.
The finer things that take so long in design
Once I have a layout of design from the top I am usually able to quote. If the quote is accepted we then start to work on other aspects of the design. For this ring a low profile was essential for the customer so the culet of the princess cut diamond is almost on the finger.
Setting styles for the white gold section were explored and in the end channel setting was selected. A lot of time was spent getting the taper and shape of that white gold section just right.
The finishing touch: Gallery
The finishing touch to any design is the detail in areas that are not normally seen. Via email I explored different designs for the gallery. The design chosen can be seen above.
Making the ring 3 times.
The ring during the third time making.
To make sure that rings that will not resize easily are the correct size I always make a draft in silver. That draft allows me to modify it to determine the perfect finger size for that design on the hand. It also allows the customer to double check the design and make small last minute adjustments.
Article: Why you should avoid resizing a new ring
However with this ring when I went to make the ring in gold I became unhappy with certain aspects of how the ring was coming together. Probably things that the customer would have never noticed. I started again to make the ring for a 3rd time. My older brother had a saying hanging in his workshop years ago that went something like this:
“ 95% is good enough, the other 5% will send you mad!”
I wish I could live by that as trying to get that last 5% right might not send me mad but it does cost me money.
Towards 2021
I am now closed for new work and meetings until mid January. I am very busy making sure I get existing orders made and will continue to share those pieces on the website up until Christmas.
Have a great weekend and before I go photos of two of our local residents here in Cairns. Steve Vlasits doing what he does in Barron Gorge yesterday. Like me he truly loves and cares for that beautiful piece of country.
After him a Goanna I have called Gilly. I have seen he/she quite a few times in Barron Gorge at the same spot and it is now so relaxed around me it has no problem with us being as close as 3-5 feet.
Gilly