Buy Hand Made

If I had more faith in the ability of humans to read between the lines than I would have just left the title and not written anything else. Alas, people are mostly dumb and so allow me to explain the simple economics of buying hand made goods versus commercial goods.  As always I will be using the Jewelry trade as an example because I am a silversmith, but this translates to all hand made and hand crafted goods.

What most people do not realize is that the vast majority of jewelry is not made by the person selling it.  This is especially true if you are buying from a store.  Most of those high end jewelers actually buy their innovatory from a catalog of current trendy jewelery which is all mass made in some third world country.  These rings and necklaces are made in bulk in a factory, paying their workers 10 cents an hour so that they can sell us richer countries cheap goods, which the stores mark up at 500% and sell to us, the gullible public. Since everyone likes pictures, I will provide a visual example:

The ring on the Bottom is available for sale from a national jewelry chain.  It has a sapphire, several tiny diamonds and is made from white gold.  The Ring on top I made by hand. It has a sapphire and is made from sterling silver.  They both cost about the same.  Now take a look at the detail in the lower ring.  Do you honestly thing that a human made this by hand?  If so we need to talk...  This was made by a machine in a country very far away and it cost them $50 to make... probably less...and that includes the stones.  If your read my blog post about how a ring is made by hand, then you know that even a simple design like this one takes many steps, and a talented craftsman to create.  Thus, forgive me for getting peevish whenever I overhear anyone saying that it is too expensive.

So where am I going with all of this?  Let me put it this way: Who would you rather give your money to? A fellow neighbor or a aristocrat in China?  The answer should be easy.  As Americans (and other countries are guilty of this too) we have become a "cheaper is better" society.  We demand to have it our way or the highway and we want it now.  We all love to get good deals, but all of our money is filtering into the economies of other countries.  If we don't shape up and start to put our money into the hands of our own shop owners, farmers, craftspeople and tailors, then we are going to find that we are the next third world country, driven into a hole of debt by our own thirst for a good deal.  I think we are all aware of how this works: By spending more money in our own local economies, there is more money flowing around...it is that simple.

The key to making this work is to rewire the way that we think...  to form a connection with what we eat, wear, drive and use everyday.  In the case of jewelry, the bragging right should sound more like this: "I had a local silver smith custom make this for me by hand!", not this" I got a great deal on this ring from the jewelry shop in the mall".  And this starts with having an understanding of what we are buying.

So next time you decide you want a loaf of bread, a cup of coffee, a piece of jewelry or even a car, consider if it would be worth it to spend just a tad more to have the money spent at a shop where they do their own work.  I have found the best part is the personal Karma you  feel afterwards, knowing that you have helped to support the people around you, and we all know that Karma has a way of coming full circle.

Oh! Shiny!

Is it just me or is there more and more junk being pawned off as real these day?  I Make fine hand crafted jewelry and I am always very careful about differentiating between real and fake, treated and untreated, natural and synthetic etc...  the problem is that there are so many hobbyists out there that are muddying the waters with their trinkets that the average buyer has no idea what they are actually paying for.  So here is a little buyers guide on things to look for and the basics of buying jewelry.

Real versus synthetic:
When a jeweler has an items, such as a ruby ring, listed for sale, they are required by law to reveal everything that they know about the stone and the metal.  This includes if the stone is natural or not, any treatments and irregularities as well as the properties of the metal, such as being solid or plated, and how pure it is.

So What is "Real"?
Well, This is sort of a novice question, as the stone you are looking at is always real; it certainly is not imaginary... so asking if it is real wont get you any closer to a relative answer... What you need to ask is if it is "Natural" or "earth mined".  This means that it was mined from the earth, not grown in a laboratory.  However, Most natural stones out there are treated in some way. For example, about 90% of the gemstones on the market have been heat treated to enhance their color and clarity... especially amethyst, sapphire, ruby, and many others...

But I want a 100% Natural Untreated stone!!!
Well, be prepared to pay out the nose for it.  The cost for a natural untreated natural stone will often be ten times that of its heated counter part.

What about grades?
Different stones are graded differently, for example, Diamonds have a grading scale that is different from colored stones.  The highest grade for most colored stones is either AAA Grade or Collection Grade (opals are often referred to as being "Collection Grade").  Usually the difference between AAA and AA Is very subtle and so if you don't care, just go with what looks best to you.  The price is often quite substantial but the true difference is slight.

What the heck are Swarovski Crystals?
These are a brand name artificial crystals made in a factory.  More or less they are expensive glass.  Often they are given names akin to real gemstones such as emerald or topaz swarovski crystals, when they are actually not gemstones at all.  The only similarities are the color.  To me this is fraudulent and misleading.  if the crystal is red, it should be called a "red glass crystal", not a "ruby swarovski crystal".  The general public tends to think that they are actually buying a ruby, not a piece of glass.  the second problem with thesetypes of things is the internet search.  If you search for "Ruby Pendant on google, etsy, artfire etc...  most of the resultrs that come up are actually not rubies at all, they are swarovski.  To test my own theory, I just did a search on Etsy for "Ruby Pendant".  On the first page of results which had 40 items, only a few had actual rubies, the rest were "Crystals", "Red Glass", "Swarovski" and others which were tagged with "Ruby" to get more hits.  I am tempted to go around flagging things like this.

How To Make A Ring

First Ever Post!!! And it is actually helpful!!  

If you are like most rock hounds you probably have piles of rocks in the back yard.  You might have a butane soldering torch from the hardware store too.  And that garage is filled with more tools than you can shake a stick at.  Chances are you have almost everything you need to make some silver jewelry; all you need is the silver.  In this article I will explain step by step how to make a silver ring with a turquoise cabochon using silver smithing tools, or items found in most well stocked garages.  As you read you can develop a list of tools and supplies that you will need to get started.  If you have already begun to make jewelry but are thinking of taking up silver smithing, hopefully this will help you take the next step. 

I like to sketch out the design first on paper so that I can see ahead of time how many pieces the ring will have and what kind of wires, sheets and other elements I will need.  Above is my drawing of what I plan to make.  This tutorial will guide you through step by set on how to make this ring.  This ring has two basic parts; the ring, or band, and the setting.  It does not matter which you make first, I usually like to start with the band.  First I select a wire stock.  Sterling silver comes in many shapes and gauges of wire.  I want a thick and sturdy band so I select a hefty rectangular wire stock.  The wire is bent around a metal ring mandrel by hammering the wire against the mandrel.  You will need both hands so the mandrel is secured in a bench vise.  I use a rawhide hammer because it is hard enough to bend the metal, but will not leave a mark.  You can also wrap a piece of leather around a hammer or wooden mallet to get the same effect.

Once the ring is bent most of the way around, I saw through the wire, guessing where to cut based on the size I need to make the ring.  This "guess" becomes more accurate with experience.  A jewelers saw is useful here but a hack saw will also work.  If you do decide to use a jewelers saw, be sure to use a vertical up and down motion, applying light pressure, any sideways torque will usually snap the saw blade.  After cutting the wire, I file the ends smooth so that when I bend it into a circle the ends will meet up in a smooth joint.  Many people will use a vise to hold the ring while filing and sanding, I prefer to just hold it in my fingers.  If you are using a thicker wire, you may have to hammer the band in order to get the ends to meet.  It is important that they are flush because the solder will not fill large gaps.

Before all soldering operations I apply a thin layer of flux to the entire piece making sure that the flux gets into the joint.  The solder will not flow where the flux was not applied.  It is also important that the pieces be clean from dirt, grim and grease.  The ring is held in a pair of soldering tweezers and a small piece of hard solder (melts at a high temperature) is set on top of the joint in the ring.  This is all arranged on top of a soldering board;  an unglazed piece of ceramic tile will also work.  For those that are thinking of using that lead pipe solder, think again!  Silver solder is used in jewelry making and is available from most supply houses.  I like to keep about six different temperature solders on hand, but three is enough for most projects.  Start with the hard solder so that later when you use a medium solder, the hard solder will not melt.

I use an acetylene torch but I have used a MAPP Gas and a Butane torch before as well.  The ring is heated evenly with a hand held torch.  Be sure to move the flame across the piece to ensure even heating.  The flame is hottest at the tip of the blue flame, so keep that part a good inch away from your work.  The flux will bubble and then dissipate as you heat the silver, this may dislodge the piece of solder from its resting place.  use a small soldering pick to move the solder back into place as you continue to heat the metal.  This is just a piece of metal such as aluminum or titanium with an insulated handle.  You will see the solder start to get glossy and a little runny as it gets hotter.  Just before the solder melts the flame is brought to the opposite side of the joint so that the solder will flow into the joint, towards the flame.   Solder will always follow the heat!

The ring is removed using a pair of copper tongs, careful not to touch the very hot tweezers...and dunked in a bath of mild acid which we metal  smiths call "the pickle".  This will clean off all of the extra flux and any other residue from the soldering operation.  I use copper tongs because steel tongs will react with the acid in a minor explosion!  Just kidding!  It won't explode, but the steel and acid will react and end up copper plating the silver ring... odd and rather counter intuitive but that's chemistry for you!  If you don't have the acid, a glass of water will work too, afterwards just scrub with soap and water to remove and residue.  The ring is then slid back on the ring mandrel and hammered with the rawhide mallet.  This will round out the ring into a near perfect circle.  The edges of the solder joint are filed smooth.   In this design, I am going to make 7 holes spaces evenly around the ring.  I mark along the outside with a pencil where I want to place each hole.  The ring is clamped down in a vise with two pieces of cardboard on either side to keep the vise from leaving a mark.  I use a pointed metal stamp to make a small mark where each hole will be drilled.  One of the few power tools I use, a hand held drill, is used to carefully drill each hole.  The design calls for the outside of each hole to be beveled so I use a round metal bur in a Dremel tool to route out the top portion of each hole.  this also helps the clean up the hole.  The inside of the ring will still need to be sanded and smoothed.  A laborious task involving sanding out the inside with sand paper.  Starting with a fine file and moving through 220, 400, 60 and 1000 grit sand paper is usually the best for achieving a good shine on the silver.   Wet/Dry sand paper used for automotive work is usually much better than wood working sand paper.   

Now that the band is mostly finished I am ready to make the bezel.  The stone is laid out on a smooth flat surface and the bezel wire is wrapped around the stone tightly and cut where the wire it overlaps.  The ends are filed smooth. This part is similar to making the ring, but the wire is much smaller and more delicate.   The flux is applied and the soldering is done to connect the two ends of the bezel into a loop.  Since this is fine silver and is very thin, a lot of care must be taken to not melt any portion of the loop.  After cleaning the piece in the pickle the bezel is set around the stone to ensure a proper fit.  I will tap it lightly all the way around to "set" it and cause it to retain its shape once the stone is removed.  The base will be made from solid sterling silver.  The bezel is placed on top of a sheet and an outline is traced by pencil or pen.  This is cut out with a pair of shears.  Since the metal is often bent at the corners from cutting it, I then place it on a perfectly flat metal anvil and hammer it flat again with the rawhide hammer.  Flux is applied to both the bezel and the base and it is set on top of an elevated metal mesh.   Solder is set against the joint on the inside of the bezel, evenly spaced so that when it melts, it will fill the joint between the bezel and the base.  The heat is applied from the top and the bottom, but since the bulk of the mass is in the base, it is important to heat it up from below so that the solder does not run up the sides of the bezel wire.  After the soldering is complete I trim off the excess base metal and file and then sand the edges smooth.  If the solder joint is clean, it will be invisible once the silver is polished!


Wait... where is the rest of the article!?!  Don't worry!  It is here.  This link will take you to the full article on my webpage which also includes 50 full color pictures along each step.